Aimee Kate Darias O’Hara

Associate Scientist

Email: akdo@smruconsulting.com

Aimee is a Project Scientist for SMRU Consulting Europe. During both her degrees at Bangor University and the University of St. Andrews, Aimee has gained experience working with marine mammal species in relation to behavioural studies, population assessments and impacts of anthropogenic disturbances. Aimee’s main scientific research interests include marine mammal responses to anthropogenic disturbances, bioacoustics and behaviour.

  • Degrees and Education

    • 2020 University of St. Andrews, MSc Marine Mammal Science

    • 2019 Bangor University, BSc Marine Vertebrate Zoology (1st class honours)

    Skills and Expertise

    Bioacoustics (Matlab, Pamguard, Raven); Behavioural analyses; Rehabilitation; Statistical analyses (R- GAMs, GEEs, GLMs); Spatial mapping (ArcGIS, QGIS, MAMVIS); Survey design; Data processing (DTAGs, Hydrophones); Databases (SequelPro); Microsoft office (Word, PowerPoint, Excel).

    Field Experience

    Experience handling pinnipeds and conducting health assessments. Experienced in tagging pinnipeds prior to release into the wild. Experience leading and participating in land and vessel cetacean surveys. Experience in calibrating and deploying hydrophones for vessel surveys. Experienced in remote lone working. Advanced PADI SCUBA license, experience conducting underwater habitat mapping surveys for pinnipeds.

    Speciality

    Aimee has experience working with marine mammals in both rehabilitation and research. Aimee has worked with both Harbour and Grey seal pups in rehabilitation in Ireland in 2016. Further to this work, Aimee designed and completed her BSc dissertation assessing the implications of rehabilitation through a weight-gain analysis of both harbour and grey seal pups. Aimee has trained as a Marine Mammal Medic with BDLMR and has assisted with marine mammal stranding’s and rescues across the U.K. In 2018, Aimee gained research experience assessing the abundances and distributions of Mediterranean Monk Seals in the Aegean Sea, identifying and assessing key habitats for this endangered species, and writing subsequent protocols for the rehabilitation of these seals for upcoming marine life sanctuaries in the area. Aimee also gained experience conducting and leading marine mammal land and vessel surveys, acoustic and behavioural analyses on bottlenose and common dolphins in the Aegean Sea. During her MSc, Aimee completed her dissertation assessing the behavioural implications of recreational vessel noise on mother-calf pairs of bottlenose dolphins in Sarasota Bay, Florida. Aimee is now using her previous experience in marine mammal science to inform her consultancy work within SMRU Consulting. Outside of work, Aimee continues to work with BDLMR, conducts teaching sessions for high school students in relation to marine mammal conservation and assists in teaching graduate students about wildlife technology.

  • Key Projects

    • Floating Offshore Wind Farm Scoping

    • Fixed installation Offshore Wind Farm – EIA support

    • Passive Acoustic Monitoring Analyses – Multiple projects.

  • Phone: +44 (0) 1334 466011

    Email: akdo@smruconsulting.com

    Mail: Scottish Oceans Institute

    East Sands

    University of St Andrews

    KY16 8LB

    Scotland