Dr Leesa Sidhu Lecturer BSc (Hons), DipEd, MEdSt Qld, PhD UNSW School of Physical, Environmental and Mathematical Sciences UNSW @ ADFA Canberra   ACT   2600 AUSTRALIA Phone: +61 2 6268 8891 Fax: +61 2 6268 8786 Email: l.sidhu@adfa.edu.au Location: PEMS Sth, Room 119

Research Interests:

Statistical Ecology

Biography

• BSc (with 1st class honours in Mathematics), 1989, University of Queensland.
• DipEd, 1990, University of Queensland.
• MEdSt, 1998, University of Queensland.
• PhD, 2007, University of NSW.
• Employed as High School Mathematics teacher at Bremer State High School, Queensland (Jan 1991 - Jan 1997).
• Employed by UNSW@ADFA as Associate Lecturer (Feb 1997 - Jan 2000) and as Lecturer from Feb 2007.

Teaching

Business Statistics
Data Analysis
Reliability and Maintainability

Research - Statistical Ecology

In order to ensure the survival of animal populations it is essential to be able to estimate mortality rates in the wild. Two ways of doing this are from the recovery of bands from animals found dead, and from mark-recapture experiments. Models involving survival, recapture and recovery probabilities as unknown parameters, are developed and fitted.

Current Research

The following projects are currently being undertaken in this area.

Effect of banding on juvenile Little Penguins Eudyptula minor
(Dr Leesa Sidhu & Assoc. Prof. Ted Catchpole)

This work is being conducted in collaboration with researchers from the Phillip Island Nature Park. For more than 50 years, researchers have been marking penguins with flipper bands. Studies of Adélie Penguins and King Penguins have shown that banded penguins have lower survival rates than unbanded birds, and that they use more energy than unbanded birds when swimming. Our earlier work in this area was the first to study the effect of banding on Little Penguins. We showed that banding had a detrimental effect on the survival of adult penguins, with banded birds having an annual survival probability 6% lower than unbanded birds. While the effect of banding on juvenile Little Penguins is currently unknown, it is likely that banding significantly reduces the survival of young birds, particularly in their first year of life, and that our existing estimates of first-year survival underestimate the true survival probability for unbanded birds. A study examining the effects of banding on juvenile Little Penguins is currently underway on Phillip Island. The main aim of this project is to analyse the data from the Phillip Island study, in order to obtain estimates for survival for banded and unbanded juvenile Little Penguins, and for band loss in penguin chicks. The Department of the Environment and Heritage will use the results of this project, together with those from our earlier work, to determine whether banding of Little Penguins will be allowed to continue in Australia.

Banding a Little Penguin on Phillip Island. [Photo courtesy of Phillip Island Nature Park]	Picture of band and transponder used with Little Penguins on Phillip Island. [Photo credit: Dr Leesa Sidhu]

Analysis of recovery/recapture data for Pacific Gulls Larus pacificus
(Dr Leesa Sidhu & Assoc. Prof. Ted Catchpole)

This work is being conducted in collaboration with researchers from La Trobe University. The Pacific Gull is the only large gull occurring naturally in Australia. There is evidence that its population size is falling, its range contracting, and that it could become extinct. While earlier studies of Pacific Gulls have focused on their biology, there are no existing survival estimates for these birds. This study will be the first to produce age- and time-varying survival estimates for these birds, by analysing a long-term mark-recapture-recovery dataset. Such a study is crucial to improve our understanding of these birds, and to ensure the survival of this species.

Analysis of recovery/recapture data for Short-tailed Shearwaters Puffinus tenuirostris
(Dr Leesa Sidhu & Assoc. Prof. Ted Catchpole)

This work is being conducted in collaboration with researchers from La Trobe University. Short-tailed Shearwaters have been studied continuously on Fisher Island, Tasmania since 1946, making it one of the longest continuous studies of any wildlife population in the world. Although life-history data have been collected sporadically over this time period, a detailed mark-recapture-recovery analysis has not yet been conducted. This study will produce age- and time-varying survival estimates for Short-tailed Shearwaters, and examine the effect of individual covariates such as egg size on first year survival.

Comparing first year survival for Little Penguins Eudyptula minor in Phillip Island, Australia and Oamaru, New Zealand
(Dr Leesa Sidhu & Assoc. Prof. Ted Catchpole)

This work is being conducted in collaboration with researchers from the Phillip Island Nature Park, the Department of Conservation, New Zealand and the Institute of Marine Research, Norway. While the Phillip Island study has been underway for almost 40 years, the New Zealand study consists of six years of data. Here we estimate and compare the survival of penguins in these two locations and determine to what extent the conclusions of covariate dependence of survival can be extended from Phillip Island to another penguin colony.

A Little Penguin chick on Phillip Island. [Photo courtesy of Phillip Island Nature Park]

Recent Research

Mark-recapture-recovery modelling and age-related survival in Little Penguins Eudyptula minor
(Dr P. Dann, Dr Leesa Sidhu & Assoc. Prof. Ted Catchpole)

In collaboration with Dr P. Dann from Phillip Island, Dr L. A. Sidhu and Assoc. Prof. E. A. Catchpole analysed yearly mark-recapture recovery information collected over a 36-year period for 23,686 flipper-banded Little Penguins Eudyptula minor of Phillip Island, in south-eastern Australia. This study emphasized the importance of collecting and maintaining such rare, long-term datasets, and added important and new information to the existing knowledge of the Little Penguin.

The major results arising from this work are as follows:
• Successfully modelled detailed age dependence for the survival, recapture and recovery probabilities simultaneously (no other studies have been able to do this), and obtained biologically-realistic age structures and estimates for the parameters. This work appears in a highly respected international ornithological journal, The Auk.
• Showed that an increase in first-year survival is associated with warmer sea surface temperatures in the summer and autumn of the previous year, which is in agreement with biological considerations.
• Showed that good seasons produce chicks that are more likely to survive their first year, and that birds born early in the breeding season, relative to the rest of their cohort, have greatly enhanced first-year survival, when compared to birds born late in that season.
• Showed that fledglings survive better in years in which the mean fledgling weight is higher, and fledglings of above average weight have a better chance of survival than their underweight counterparts.

The effect of banding on adult Little Penguins Eudyptula minor
(Dr Leesa Sidhu & Assoc. Prof. Ted Catchpole)

For more than 50 years, researchers have been marking penguins with flipper bands. Studies of Adélie Penguins and King Penguins have shown that banded penguins have lower survival rates than unbanded birds, and that they use more energy than unbanded birds when swimming. This study was the first to examine the effect of banding on Little Penguins. In collaboration with researchers from Phillip Island, Dr L. A. Sidhu and Assoc. Prof. E. A. Catchpole showed that banding had a detrimental effect on the survival of adult penguins, with banded birds having an annual survival probability 6% lower than unbanded birds. This work is currently being prepared for publication and its potential impact is considerable. The Department of the Environment and Heritage will use our results to determine whether banding of Little Penguins will be allowed to continue in Australia.

Collaborators

•  Dr P. Dann (Phillip Island Nature Park)
•  Dr C. Meathrel (La Trobe University Wodonga)
•  Mr B. Robertson (La Trobe University, Wodonga)
•  Dr E. Johannesen (Institute of Marine Research, Norway)
•  Mr D. Houston (Department of Conservation, New Zealand)
•  Dr L. Chambers (Bureau of Meteorology Research Centre, Melbourne).

PhD Opportunities and Scholarships

Contact: Dr Joanne Chapman(j.chapman@adfa.edu.au) OR Dr Leesa Sidhu (l.sidhu@adfa.edu.au) if you are interested in a PhD or Masters by Research in Statistics.

Publications

Journal - refereed

Sidhu, L. A., Catchpole, E. A., & Dann, P., 2007, Mark-recapture-recovery modeling and age-related survival in Little Penguins Eudyptula minor, The Auk, 124(3), 815-827.

Sidhu, L. A., & Carss, M. C., 2000, Dynamics Modelling Activities, Australian Senior Mathematics Journal, 14, 15-31.

Sidhu, L. A., & Carss, M. C., 1999, The Use of Practical Modelling Activities and Technology in Queensland Senior Mathematics, Australian Senior Mathematics Journal, 13, 21--32.

Theses

Sidhu, L. A., 2007, Analysis of recovery recapture data for little penguins, PhD Thesis, University of New South Wales, Australian Defence Force Academy, School of Physical, Environmental and Mathematical Sciences, 252 pp.

Sidhu, L. A., 1998, The development, implementation and evaluation of alternative activities incorporating mathematical modelling and current technology in senior mathematics, MEdSt Thesis, University of Queensland, Graduate School of Education, 217 pp.

Sidhu, L. A., 1989, Some topics in factorial experiments, Honours Thesis, University of Queensland, Department of Mathematics.

Awards

• Dr Leesa Sidhu (PhD Statistics) joint winner with Dr Rhonda Wheate (PhD Chemistry) of the 2007 Ria de Groot
  Prize for the best female postgraduate research student graduating from UNSW@ADFA.
• Joint student prize winner for my presentation entitled "Little Penguins: A Tale of Two Colonies'' at the 2nd Annual Postgraduate Awards Day run by the NSW Branch of the Australian Statistics Society at UNSW(Kensington), 2001.

Grants

UNSW Grants

L. Sidhu, Analysis of recovery/recapture data for Pacific Gulls, An Early Career Researchers Grant, 2008: $12,324.
L. Sidhu, Effect of banding on juvenile Little Penguins, Start-up Grant, 2008: $9,970.
L. Sidhu, Analysis of Recovery/Recapture Data for Little Penguins, Special Research Grant, 2000: $2,000.
L. Sidhu, Awarded grant to fund conference attendance for participation in the First Year Mathematics Key Group for UNSW@ADFA's Diversity Project, 1999: $800.