Barbara Wienecke is a senior research scientist with the

Australian Antarctic Division The Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) is a division of the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. The Division undertakes science programs and research projects to contribute to an understanding of Antarctica and the ...

. She is a

seabird Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same enviro ...

ecologist who uses satellite tracking to investigate seabird population dynamics and

ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overl ...

. Wienecke has played a key role in enhancing the quality of, and overseeing the implementation of, a number of Antarctic Specially Protected Area management plans for wildlife concentrations in East Antarctica.

Early life and education

Wienecke was born in

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

but graduated from high school in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. After travelling and living in a number of different countries, including

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

and the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, she moved to Australia to begin her bachelor's degree. She has a Bachelor of Science degree from Murdoch University, where she completed an honours thesis on the penguins of Penguin Island, Western Australia. This research led into a PhD from Murdoch University in Perth, Australia, which she completed in 1993.

Career and impact

Wienecke is a seabird ecologist at the

(AAD), where she has worked since 1993. She has been studying penguins and other seabirds for over twenty-five years, participating in over fifteen expeditions to

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

and the sub-Antarctic islands. Her first expedition was an overwintering expedition to Australia's

Mawson Station The Mawson Station, commonly called Mawson, is one of three permanent bases and research outposts in Antarctica managed by the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD). Mawson lies in Holme Bay in Mac. Robertson Land, East Antarctica in the Austra ...

in 1994, during which she was employed as a seabird ecologist conducting a field program on emperor penguins at

Auster Auster Aircraft Limited was a British aircraft manufacturer from 1938 to 1961.Willis, issue 122, p.55 History The company began in 1938 at the Britannia Works, Thurmaston near Leicester, England, as Taylorcraft Aeroplanes (England) Limited, ma ...

and

Taylor Glacier __NOTOC__ The Taylor Glacier is an Antarctic glacier about long, flowing from the plateau of Victoria Land into the western end of Taylor Valley, north of the Kukri Hills, south of the Asgard Range. The middle part of the glacier is bounded ...

for fourteen months. Wienecke is primarily interested in the foraging ecology and population dynamics of seabirds, using satellite tracking to conduct research geared toward protecting seabirds and their habitat from humans and climate change. She also has collaborated on research mitigating the incidental bycatch of seabirds in commercial longline fisheries. This work has directly contributed to the

Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources The Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, also known as the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, and CCAMLR, is part of the Antarctic Treaty System. The convention was opened for s ...

(CCAMLR) conservation measures, which led to a major reduction of bycatch in pelagic long-line fisheries. She also was lead author of the 2011 five-yearly Australian report detailing the state of the East Antarctic environment and a co-author of BirdLife International’s assessment of Important Bird Areas in Antarctica, a report identifying Antarctic sites and populations of international conservation significance.

Awards and honors

In 2013, Wienecke was awarded the Australian Antarctic Division’s Australian Antarctic Medal for "exemplary research into sea birds and the effect of commercial fishing operations on sea bird populations".

Selected works

* Fretwell, P.T., LaRue, M.A., Morin, P., Kooyman, G.L., Wienecke, B., Ratcliffe, N., Fox, A.J., Fleming, A.H., Porter, C. and Trathan, P.N., 2012. An emperor penguin population estimate: the first global, synoptic survey of a species from space. ''PLoS One'', ''7''(4), p.e33751. * Robertson, G., McNeill, M., Smith, N., Wienecke, B., Candy, S. and Olivier, F., 2006. Fast sinking (integrated weight) longlines reduce mortality of white-chinned petrels (Procellaria aequinoctialis) and sooty shearwaters (Puffinus griseus) in demersal longline fisheries. ''Biological Conservation'', ''132'' (4), pp. 458–471. * Wienecke, B.C. and Robertson, G., 1997. Foraging space of emperor penguins Aptenodytes forsteri in Antarctic shelf waters in winter. ''Marine Ecology Progress Series'', ''159'', pp. 249–263. * Constable, A.J., Melbourne‐Thomas, J., Corney, S.P., Arrigo, K.R., Barbraud, C., Barnes, D.K., Bindoff, N.L., Boyd, P.W., Brandt, A., Costa, D.P. and Davidson, A.T. et al. 2014. Climate change and Southern Ocean ecosystems I: how changes in physical habitats directly affect marine biota. ''Global Change Biology'', ''20'' (10), pp. 3004–3025.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wienecke, Barbara Australian women scientists Australian ecologists Namibian scientists Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Australian Antarctic scientists Women Antarctic scientists Women ecologists