STAFF

Much of our success is due to the experience and knowledge of our staff who run the programs year round. Occasionally, visiting graduate students, volunteers and researchers will also be present. The researchers are biologists experienced with the study area, the animals, the research protocols, safety and other logistics.

Every member of our team is multi-talented, combining the practical skills essential to the operation of a field research program with the more traditional university, graduate and post-graduate degree education.

BDRI's Director and Chief Biologist:

Mr Bruno Díaz López, originally from Spain, is the founder and chief biologist of the BDRI. He has published over 40 scientific articles in international journals and conferences and has delivered a number of lectures and public talks on cetacean research and conservation around Europe.

His main interests are behavioural ecology, dolphins communication and effects of human activities on bottlenose dolphins, particularly fisheries, tourism and aquaculture. Bruno has studied marine mammals since 1995, in both the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. He has also performed specific bottlenose dolphin studies in Sardinia since 1999. From the University of Santiago de Compostela and University of Vigo in Spain, he has worked in different research teams in Italy and Spain, teaching marine mammals biology, animal behaviour and mentored graduate students. He has trained a number of research assistants and has supervised more than 30 students working on their thesis about cetaceans in the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean in the years of the BDRI.

Bruno is moreover a reviewer of the most important journals of marine biology (Marine biology, ICES journal of marine science, Marine mammals science, Journal of marine biology association of the UK, Current zoology, Scientia marina, Latinoamerican Journal of Aquatic Mammals, etc.). He can speak English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Galician. Since 2004 Bruno has been living in Golfo Aranci year round and conducts research along the north-eastern coast of Sardinia. He is responsible for the overall goals of the project and for training and supervising field research course students, volunteers and internships.

You can download the resume of the BDRI's Directorhere.

Marine Biologist:

Miss. Selma Bajraktarevic, born in Bosnia and Herzegovina and grew up in Sweden, is since 2011 a new member of the BDRI team. She obtained her Master degree in Marine Biology trough Lund University, Sweden. Selma started as an internship at the BDRI where she carried out her master thesis on dolphins communication, more specifically the acoustic communication and associated behaviour of the common bottlenose dolphins. Hence, her main interest is the study of communication and behaviour of bottlenose dolphins.

After performing her degree project, she was offered to become a member of the BDRI. She speaks fluent English, Swedish, Bosnian and some German. Since 2011, Selma is living in Golfo Aranci and helps Bruno to conduct the research. She also helps to train and supervise internships and volunteers that visit the centre.  

Research assistants, invited researchers and interns are vital components of the project. These young scientists’ volunteer months of their lives in exchange for research experience. Interns are generally college seniors or recent graduates with backgrounds in biological, environmental, or marine science. Many are completing their thesis work with the BDRI. The project has had students from Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Estonia, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Ireland, Island, Israel, Italy, Japan, Nederland, Norway, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Scotland, Switzerland, Turkey, US and Venezuela.