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About
The Best View of Campus is Your Own
Experience the beauty of the Hudson River Valley. We offer tours and on-campus visit programs daily.
About
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Academics
The Best View of Campus is Your Own
Experience the beauty of the Hudson River Valley. We offer tours and on-campus visit programs daily.
Academics
-
Admission & Financial Aid
The Best View of Campus is Your Own
Experience the beauty of the Hudson River Valley. We offer tours and on-campus visit programs daily.
Admission & Financial Aid
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Student Life
The Best View of Campus is Your Own
Experience the beauty of the Hudson River Valley. We offer tours and on-campus visit programs daily.
Student Life
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Dr. Kristy L. Biolsi
Associate Professor of Psychology
Bio
Dr. Kristy Biolsi is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology. She earned her B.S. in Psychobiology from Long Island University, Southampton College, and her PhD in Cognitive Psychology from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She has held faculty positions at Cabrillo Community College, the University of California at Santa Cruz (UCSC), and St. Francis College. She serves on the editorial board for the Journal of the Association for the Study of Ethical Behavior and Evolutionary Biology in Literature (ASEBL) and serves as a co-editor for the journal Aquatic Mammals. Her research focus is on marine mammal behavior and cognition, with an emphasis on species ecology and natural history. She is the co-founder and Director of the Center for the Study of Pinniped Ecology and Cognition (C-SPEC).
Education
PhD in Cognitive Psychology from the University of California, Santa Cruz (2007)
BS in Psychobiology from Long Island University, Southampton College (2001)
Research Interests / Areas of Focus
Her current research interests are in comparative cognition, focusing on marine mammals, and she has two main lines of scientific inquiry; laboratory work that is conducted at the Long Island Aquarium in Riverhead NY investigating category learning with two trained, California sea lions and field work which consists of data collection from surveys and naturalistic observations of the local wild gray and harbor seal population.
Selected Publications
Nolan, K.A., Wydner, K., Biolsi, K., & Burdowski, A. (2023). Recording animal vocalizations at the San Diego Zoo: Animal vocalizations IV. Article 2024 In: Boone E & Thuecks S, (Eds). Advances in biology laboratory education, 44. 1-13.
De Vreese, S., Sørensen, K., Biolsi, K., Fasick, J., Reidenberg, J., Hanke, F. (2023). Open questions in marine mammal sensory research (Report of the 2022 workshop "Marine mammal sensory systems: recent advances and emerging technologie" held at the 24th Biennial Conference of the Society for Marine Mammology in Palm Beach, USA, 2022)
Louong, V., Woo, K. L. Biolsi, K. L., Pradhakrishna, P., & Kils, B. (2023). Directional orientation of harbor (Phoca vituline vitulina) and gray (Halichoerus grypus atlantica) seals at haul out locations in New York City. Aquatic Mammals, 49(4).
Biolsi, K. L., & Woo, K. L. (2022). Equivalence classification, learning by exclusion, and long-term memory in pinnipeds: cognitive mechanisms demonstrated through research with subjects under human care and in the field. Animal Cognition, 25(5), 1077-1090.
Hanke, F.D., Biolsi, K.L. & Harley, H.E. (2022). Cognition in marine mammals: the strength of flexibility in adapting to marine life. Animal Cognition 25, 1015–1018 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-022-01681-x
Biolsi, K. L., & Nolan, K. A. (2021). Thoughts on marine mammal cognition & consciousness. ASEBL Journal,15, 27-28.
Woo, K.L. & Biolsi, K.L. (2018). In situ observations of pinnipeds in New York City, 2011-2017, Aquatic Mammals. 44(3), 244-249. doi: 10.1578/AM.44.3.2018.244
Biolsi, K. L. (2017). Pinniped: Life History. In J. Vonk & T. Shackelford (Eds.). Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior, (pp.1-16). Springer International Publishers. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_942-1
Digby, J., Nolan, K., & Biolsi, K. (2016). Immersion in Nature —Quite Literally, Partners in the Parks: US Virgin Islands. In H.Thiessen-Reilly & J. Digby (Eds.) Partners in the Parks: Field Guide to an Experimental Program in the National Parks. Second Edition (pp.79-88). National Collegiate Honors Council: Lincoln, NE.
Lindemann-Biolsi, K.L. (2014). Sea lions and honors students: More in common than you might think, Honors in Practice: National Collegiate Honors Council, 10,71-80.
Lindemann-Biolsi, K. & Reichmuth, C. (2014). Cross-modal transitivity in a California sea lion. Animal Cognition, 17(4), 879-890. doi: 10.1007/s10071-013-0721-0
Lindemann-Biolsi, K., (2013). What does it mean to be a moral animal?. Association for the Study of Ethical Behavior and Evolutionary Biology in Literature (ASEBL).
Lindemann-Biolsi, K. L., & Paparo, C. H. (2013). Can you recognize this? Transfer from objects to pictures using a simple discrimination task with California sea lions (Zalophus californianus). Soundings, 3, 18-21.
Selected Presentations
Meza- Prudencio, F., Bader, J., & Biolsi, K. L. (2023). Promoting Conservation Education Through Signage at Long Island Aquarium. Student Conference for Conservation Science, American Museum of Natural History.
McKenzie, K., Castro, K., Biolsi, K.L., & Woo, K.L. (2023). Population dynamics and social behavior of harbor and gray seals in New York City: Negotiating the challenges of an urban environment. STEM Resource Center at St. Francis College.
Castro, K., McKenzie, K., Biolsi, K.L., & Woo, K.L. (2023). Observations of pinniped in New York City. SUNY Undergraduate Research Conference. SUNY Maritime College.
Woo, K.L., & Biolsi, K.L. (2023). Investigating Urban Ecology with Pinnipeds. SUNY Stonybrook University, School of Marine Science.
Biolsi, K.L., (2020). Marine Studies Consortium.
"What can we learn from Lab work with Marine mammals?"
Biolsi, K.L., Azaah, A., & Izzo-McDonald, N. (2019). Do pinnipeds exhibit a gravity bias?: Investigations in the California sea lion (Zalophus califiornianus). ). Annual International Conference on Comparative Cognition. Melbourne Beach, FL.
Nolan, K., & Biolsi, K.L. (2018). Current Conflicts between the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act. Columbia University Seminars, Population Biology, Columbia University New York, NY.
Neal, A., Woo, K.L., & Biolsi, K.L. (2018). Stable seasonal populations of seals in the urban marine environment of New York City. Student Conference on Conservation Science, American Museum of Natural History, NY
Biolsi, K .L., & Paparo, C. (May 2013). Object to picture transfer in two California sea lions.
A Northeastern Regional workshop for the International Marine Animal Trainer's Association (IMATA). Mystic Aquarium, Mystic Connecticut.
Biolsi, K., & Raymond, J. (March, 2013). Object-picture recognition in a California sea lion. 20th Annual International Conference on Comparative Cognition. Melbourne Beach, FL.
Media Links
- Sharks and the City – New York: Aired July 25rd, 2017 on Discovery Channel
See: https://www.discovery.com/tv-shows/shark-week/videos/sharks-in-the-city-new-york)
- Super Smart Animals. Aired February 8, 2012, 2012 on BBC-1.
See: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01by4w1/characters/rio-sealion
- Smart Marine Mammals. Aired February, 23, 2011 on NOVA: Science NOW.
See: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/nature/smart-marine-mammals.html
- Smart Marine Mammals: Ask the Expert. Online question and answer,
See: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/nature/reichmuth-lindemann-biolsi.html
- Extraordinary Animals: The Smartest Sea Lion. Aired January 4th, 2008 on UK Channel 5 (also shown on Animal Planet in the USA).
See: http://animal.discovery.com/tv-shows/other/videos/extraordinary-animals-chimpan-genius.htm
- Wild Connection: The Podcast. What's On Your Mind? Exploring cognition and consciousness in other animals with Dr. Kristy Biolsi. Aired May 16, 2021.
See: https://wildconnection.podbean.com/e/whats-on-your-mind-exploring-cognition-and-consciousness-in-other-animals-with-dr-kristy-biolsi/
- Spit and Twitches: The Animal Cognition Podcast, Episode 19. Aired June 28, 2016.
See: http://www.spitandtwitches.com/2016/06/episode-19-kristy-biolsi.html?spref=fb