Tilen Genov
Tilen Genov has been involved in cetacean research and conservation for over 20 years, including projects in the Adriatic Sea, eastern and western Mediterranean, Red Sea, North Sea, Arabian Sea, the North and South Atlantic, and the south-east Pacific. After graduating in Biology at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, he enrolled in the Master of Research degree in Marine Mammal Science at the University of St Andrews, United Kingdom, where he graduated with an overall distinction. He is currently a PhD researcher at the Sea Mammal Research Unit, University of St Andrews, with a project on common bottlenose dolphins in the northern Adriatic Sea. His work includes estimating population abundance and dynamics, spatial modelling of habitat use, social network analysis, fishery interactions, the effects of pollutants and novel identification methods. He is particularly interested in using science to assess the status of cetacean populations, identify important habitats and evaluate threats, and in translating that knowledge into effective marine conservation. He is the founder and president of Morigenos – Slovenian Marine Mammal Society, and a coordinator of the Slovenian Dolphin Project, which received the Ford Environmental & Conservation Award. He received the ‘Sustainable Development Award’ by the Slovene Human Resources Development and Scholarship Fund, the ‘Alfred Toepfer Natural Heritage Scholarship’ by Alfred Toepfer Foundation and EUROPARC Federation, and an award for expert volunteer work in natural sciences by the Slovenian Philanthropy. In 2018 he received The Mandy McMath Conservation Award for ‘an outstanding contribution to marine mammal conservation and welfare, with particular emphasis on contributions to environmental education and conservation of cetaceans in practice’ from the European Cetacean Society. He is currently a member of the IUCN Cetacean Specialist Group, a Regional Co-Coordinator for the Mediterranean of the IUCN Joint Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force, member of the Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), member of the IWC Standing Working Group on Bycatch, member of the IWC Small Cetacean Task Team Steering Committee, member of the ACCOBAMS/ASCOBANS Joint Working Group on Bycatch, member of the Scientific Committee of ACCOBAMS, member of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, a National Contact Person for European Cetacean Society and a teaching assistant at the University of Primorska, Slovenia.
Relevant publications
Bearzi G., Genov T. 2021. Imperiled common dolphins of the Mediterranean Sea. In D. DellaSala, M. Goldstein and M.J. Costello (eds.) Imperiled: The Encyclopedia of Conservation. Elsevier, Amsterdam. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128211397000593
Genov T. 2021. The Impacts of Chemical Pollutants on Cetaceans in Europe. In: Under Pressure: The need to protect whales and dolphins in European waters. An OceanCare report, OceanCare: 110-118.
Borrell A., Vighi M., Genov T., Giovos I., Gonzalvo J. 2021. Feeding ecology of the highly threatened common bottlenose dolphin of the Gulf of Ambracia, Greece, through stable isotope analysis. Marine Mammal Science 37:98-110.
Genov T., Kotnjek P., Centrih T. 2021. Occurrence of common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) in the Gulf of Trieste and the northern Adriatic Sea. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 31 (Special Issue: Conservation and Research Status of Mediterranean Delphinus delphis): 69–75.
Brownell R.L. Jr., Reeves R.R., Read A.J., Smith B.D., Thomas P.O., Ralls K., Amano M., Berggren P., Chit A.M., Collins T., Currey R., Dolar M.L.L., Genov T., Hobbs R.C., Kreb D., Marsh H., Zhigang M., Perrin W.F., Phay S., Rojas-Bracho L., Ryan G.E., Shelden K.E.W., Slooten E., Taylor B.L., Vidal O., Ding W., Whitty T.S. and Wang J.Y. 2019. Bycatch in gillnet fisheries threatens Critically Endangered small cetaceans and other aquatic megafauna. Endangered Species Research 40: 285-296.
Genov T., Centrih T., Kotnjek P., Hace A. 2019. Behavioural and temporal partitioning of dolphin social groups in the northern Adriatic Sea. Marine Biology 166: 11. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-018-3450-8
Genov T., Jepson P.D., Barber J.L., Hace A., Gaspari S., Centrih T., Lesjak J., Kotnjek P. 2019. Linking organochlorine contaminants with demographic parameters in free-ranging common bottlenose dolphins from the northern Adriatic Sea. Science of the Total Environment 657: 200-212. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.12.025
Heinrich S., Genov T., Fuentes Riquelme M., Hammond P.S. 2019. Fine‐scale habitat partitioning of Chilean and Peale’s dolphins and their overlap with aquaculture. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 29 (Special Issue: Sea Mammal Research Unit 40th Anniversary: Advances in Marine Mammal Science informing Policy): 212-226. https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.3153
Willson A., Leslie M., Baldwin R., Cerchio S., Childerhouse S., Collins T., Findlay K., Genov T., Godley B.J. Al-Harthi S., MacDonald D., Minton G., Zerbini A.N., Witt M.J. 2018. Update on satellite telemetry studies and first unoccupied aerial vehicle assisted health assessment studies of Arabian Sea humpback whales off the coast of Oman. Paper SC/67B/CMP/13 Rev1 presented to the Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission.
Mannocci L., Roberts J.J., Halpin P.N., Authier M., Boisseau O., Bradai M.N., Cañadas A., Chicote C., David L., Di-Méglio N., Fortuna C.M., Frantzis A., Gazo M., Genov T., Hammond P.S., Holcer D., Kaschner K., Kerem D., Lauriano G., Lewis T., Notarbartolo di Sciara G., Panigada S., Raga J.A., Scheinin A., Ridoux V., Vella A., Vella J. 2018. Assessing cetacean surveys throughout the Mediterranean Sea: a gap analysis in environmental space. Scientific Reports 8: 3126. doi :10.1038/s41598-018-19842-9
Stelzenmüller V., Coll M., Mazaris A.D., Giakoumi S., Katsanevakis S., Portman M.E., Degen R., Mackelworth P., Gimpel A., Albano P.G., Almpanidou V., Claudet J., Essl F., Evagelopoulos T., Heymans J.J., Genov T., Kark S., Micheli F., Pennino M.G., Rilov G., Rumes B., Steenbeek J., Ojaveer H. 2018. A risk-based approach to cumulative effect assessments for marine management. Science of the Total Environment 612: 1132-1140.
Genov T., Centrih T., Wright A.J., Wu G.-M. 2018. Novel method for identifying individual cetaceans using facial features and symmetry: A test case using dolphins. Marine Mammal Science 34(2): 514-528. https://doi.org/10.1111/mms.12451
Authier M., Descroix Commanducci F., Genov T., Holcer D., Ridoux V., Salivas M., Santos M. B., Spitz J. 2017. Cetacean conservation in the Mediterranean and Black Seas: Fostering transboundary collaboration through the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive. Marine Policy 82: 98-103.
Genov T., Angelini V., Hace A., Palmisano G., Petelin B., Malačič V., Pari S., Mazzariol S. 2016. Mid-distance re-sighting of a common bottlenose dolphin in the northern Adriatic Sea: insight into regional movement patterns. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 96 (Special Issue 04): 909-914.
Jepson P.D., Deaville R., Barber J.L., Aguilar À., Borrell A., Murphy S., Barry J., Brownlow A., Barnett J., Berrow S., Cunningham A.A., Davison N.J., ten Doeschate M., Esteban R., Ferreira M., Foote A.D., Genov T., Giménez J., Loveridge J., Llavona Á., Martin V., Maxwell D.L., Papachlimitzou A., Penrose R., Perkins M.W., Smith B., de Stephanis R., Tregenza N., Verborgh P., Fernandez A., Law R.J. 2016. PCB pollution continues to impact populations of orcas and other dolphins in European waters. Scientific Reports 6: 18573. doi:10.1038/srep18573
Gaspari S., Scheinin A., Holcer D., Fortuna C., Natali C., Genov T., Frantzis A., Chelazzi G., Moura, A. E. 2015. Drivers of population structure of the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. Evolutionary Biology 42(2): 177-190.
Gaspari S., Holcer D., Mackelworth P., Fortuna C., Frantzis A., Genov T., Vighi M., Natali C., Rako N., Banchi E., Chelazzi G., Ciofi, C. 2015. Population genetic structure of common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in the Adriatic Sea and contiguous regions: implications for international conservation. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 25(2): 212-222.
Franzosini C., Genov T., Tempesta M. 2013. Cetacean manual for MPA managers. ACCOBAMS (Monaco), MedPAN (Marseille) and UNEP/MAP-RAC/SPA (Tunis). 77 pp.
Genov T., Bearzi G., Bonizzoni S., Tempesta M. 2012. Long-distance movement of a lone short-beaked common dolphin Delphinus delphis in the central Mediterranean Sea. Marine Biodiversity Records 5: e9. doi:10.1017/S1755267211001163.
Van Bressem M. F., Van Waerebeek K., Aznar F. J., Raga J. A., Jepson P. D., Duignan P., Deaville R., Flach L., Viddi F., Baker J. R., Di Beneditto A. P., Echegaray M., Genov T., Reyes J., Felix F., Gaspar R., Ramos R., Peddemors V., Sanino G. P., Siebert, U. 2009. Epidemiological pattern of tattoo skin disease: a potential general health indicator for cetaceans. Diseases of Aquatic Organisms 85: 225-237.
Genov T., Kotnjek P., Lipej L. 2009. New record of the humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) in the Adriatic Sea. Annales, Series Historia Naturalis 19(1): 25-30.
Genov T., Wiemann A., Fortuna C. M. 2009. Towards identification of the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) population structure in the north-eastern Adriatic Sea: preliminary results. Varstvo narave 22: 73-80.
Genov T., Kotnjek P., Lesjak J., Hace A., Fortuna C. M. 2008. Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in Slovenian and adjacent waters (northern Adriatic Sea). Annales, Series Historia Naturalis 18(2): 227-244.
Francese M., Picciulin M., Tempesta M., Zuppa F., Merson E., Intini A., Mazzatenta A., Genov T. 2007. Occurrence of striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba) in the Gulf of Trieste. Annales, Series Historia Naturalis 17(2): 185-190.
Zucca P., Di Guardo G., Francese M., Scaravelli D., Genov T., Mazzatenta A. 2005. Causes of stranding in four Risso’s dolphins (Grampus griseus) found beached along the north Adriatic Sea coast. Veterinary Research Communications, 29 (Suppl. 2), 261-264.