Dr Enrico Pirotta

Senior Research Fellow

Email: ep343@st-andrews.ac.uk

Research areas

I am a quantitative ecologist based in the Centre for Research into Ecological and Environmental Modelling (CREEM) and the School of Biology.

I work on multiple aspects of the ecology, behaviour, physiology and population biology of marine mammals and other marine predators, at the interface between biology and statistics. I am interested in developing and applying robust analytical tools to quantify the relationships of these species with their environment and their interactions with human activities. In particular, a lot of my research so far has focused on the assessment of the effects of both natural and anthropogenic stressors on marine mammals, ranging from individual responses through to consequences for populations.

I strive for my work to inform policy makers, managers, and the industry, and therefore to support the sustainable use of marine resources and the long-term conservation of marine wildlife.

PhD supervision

David Sweeney

Selected publications

Open access
An experimental approach to assess the combined effects of multiple stressors on a large vertebrate species
Pirotta, E., Harris, C., Schwacke, L. H., Thomas, L., Allen, J. B., Barleycorn, A., Casoli, M., Crossman, J., Dias, L. A., Engleby, L., LaBrecque, E., Litz, J. A., McHugh, K. A., Miller, P. J. O., Moore, M. J., Photopoulou, T., Quigley, B., Smith, C. R., Southall, B. L. & Speakman, T. R. & 5 others, Takeshita, R., Toms, C. N., Wells, R. S., Zolman, E. S. & Tyack, P. L., 9 Feb 2026, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Conservation Biology. Early View, p. 1-14 14 p., e70224.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open access
A synthesis of the effects of multiple stressors on a long-lived vertebrate population to inform effective conservation efforts
Pirotta, E., Thomas, L., Tyack, P. L., Harris, C. M., Smith, C. R., Wells, R. S., Allen, J. B., Allen, R. F., Barratclough, A., Gomez, F. M., Lovewell, G. N., Martinson, R., Ross, K., Speakman, T. R., Takeshita, R., Zolman, E. S. & Schwacke, L. H., 1 Mar 2026, In: Royal Society Open Science. 13, 3, 11 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open access
Dialect variation in Mediterranean sperm whales shows evidence of cultural evolution in an isolated population
Hersh, T., Alexiadou, P., Brotons, J. M., Cerdà, M., Pirotta, E., Frantzis, A. & Rendell, L., Jun 2026, In: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 293, 2073, p. 1-11 11 p., 20260165.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open access
Foraging behavior of critically endangered North Atlantic right whales is associated with ambient noise, prey density, and the acoustic behavior of conspecifics
Schick, R. S., Yack, T. M., Pirotta, E., Mayo, C. A., Clark, C. W., Hudak, C. A., Schosberg, R. B., Martinez, A., Paris, M. D., Kaney, N. A., Yu, N., Gillespie, D., Nowacek, D. P., Thomas, L., Harris, C. M. & Tyack, P. L., 21 May 2026, In: Endangered Species Research. 60, p. 1-18 18 p., esr01499.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open access
Mapping seasonal interaction risk between harbour porpoises and gillnet fisheries
Goh, T., Pirotta, E., Giralt Paradell, O., Jessopp, M. & Rogan, E., 8 Jul 2026, In: Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems. 36, 7, p. 1-14 14 p., e70415.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open access
Methods for analysing wildlife DNA methylation data
Photopoulou, T., Durbach, I., Pirotta, E., Barratclough, A., Schwacke, L. H., Takeshita, R., Himes Boor, G. K., Harris, C. M., Tyack, P. & Thomas, L., 25 Feb 2026, In: Conservation Physiology. 14, 1, 26 p., coaf091.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
Open access
Vulnerability of marine megafauna to global at‐sea anthropogenic threats
VanCompernolle, M., Morris, J., Calich, H. J., Rodríguez, J. P., Marley, S. A., Pearce, J. R., Abrahms, B., Abrantes, K., Afonso, A. S., Aguilar, A., Agyekumhene, A., Akamatsu, T., Åkesson, S., Alawa, N. G., Alfaro‐Shigueto, J., Anderson, R. C., Anker‐Nilssen, T., Arata, J. A., Araujo, G. & Arostegui, M. C. & 290 others, Arrizabalaga, H., Arrowsmith, L. M., Auger‐Méthé, M., Avila, I. C., Bailleul, F., Barker, J., Barlow, D. R., Barnett, A., Barrios‐Garrido, H., Baylis, A. M. M., Bearzi, G., Bejder, L., Belda, E. J., Benson, S. R., Berumen, M. L., Bestley, S., Bezerra, N. P. A., Blaison, A. V., Boehme, L., Bograd, S. J., Abimbola, B. D., Bond, M. E., Borrell, A., Bouchet, P. J., Boveng, P., Braulik, G., Braun, C. D., Brodie, S., Bugoni, L., Bustamante, C., Campana, S. E., Cárdenas‐Alayza, S., Carmichael, R. H., Carroll, G., Carter, M. I. D., Ceia, F. R., Cerchio, S., Ferreira, L. C., Chambault, P., Chapple, T. K., Charvet, P., Chavez, E. J., Chevallier, D., Chiaradia, A., Chilvers, B. L., Cimino, M. A., Clark, B. L., Clarke, C. R., Clay, T. A., Cloyed, C. S., Cochran, J. E. M., Collins, T., Cortes, E., Cuevas, E., Curnick, D. J., Dann, P., de Bruyn, P. J. N., de Vos, A., Derville, S., Dias, M. P., Diaz‐Lopez, B., Dodge, K. L., Dove, A. D. M., Doyle, T. K., Drymon, J. M., Dudgeon, C. L., Dutton, P. H., Ellenberg, U., Elwen, S. H., Emmerson, L., Eniang, E. A., Espinoza, M., Esteban, N., Mul, E., Fadely, B. S., Fayet, A. L., Feare, C., Ferguson, S. H., Feyrer, L. J., Finucci, B., Florko, K. R. N., Fontes, J., Fortuna, C. M., Fossette, S., Fouda, L., Frere, E., Fuentes, M. M. P. B., Gallagher, A. J., Borboroglu, P. G., Garrigue, C., Gauffier, P., Gennari, E., Genov, T., Germanov, E. S., Giménez, J., Godfrey, M. H., Godley, B. J., Goldsworthy, S. D., Gollock, M., Carman, V. G., Gownaris, N. J., Grecian, W. J., Guzman, H. M., Hamann, M., Hammerschlag, N., Hansen, E. S., Harris, M. P., Hastie, G., Haulsee, D. E., Hazen, E. L., Heide‐Jørgensen, M. P., Hieb, E. E., Higdon, J. W., Hindell, M. A., Hinke, J. T., Hoenner, X., Hofmeyr, G. J. G., Holmes, B. J., Hoyt, E., Huckstadt, L. A., Hussey, N. E., Huveneers, C., Irvine, L. G., Jabado, R. W., Jacoby, D. M. P., Jaeger, A., Jagielski, P. M., Jessopp, M., Jewell, O. J. D., Alvarado, D. J., Jordan, L. K. B., Jorgensen, S. J., Kahn, B., Karamanlidis, A. A., Kato, A., Keith‐Diagne, L. W., Kiani, M. S., Kiszka, J. J., Kock, A. A., Kopf, R. K., Kuhn, C., Kyne, P. M., Laidre, K. L., Lana, F. O., Lander, M. E., Corre, M. L., Lee, O. A., Leeney, R. H., Levengood, A. L., Levenson, J. J., Libertelli, M., Liu, K., Mendilaharsu, M. L., Loveridge, A., Lowe, C. G., Lynch, H. J., Macena, B. C. L., Mackay, A. I., Madrigal‐Mesén, J., Mallory, M. L., Mangel, J. C., Mansfield, K. L., March, D., Marcoux, M., Marsh, H., Marshall, A. D., Mattern, T., Maxwell, S. M., McGuire, R. L., McLeay, L., McMahon, C. R., Methion, S., Meyers, E. K. M., Michelot, C., Masere, C., Minton, G., Morales‐Vela, B., Mucientes, G., Murua, H., Nicoll, M. A. C., Niella, Y., Notarbartolo Di Sciara, G., Oppel, S., Orgeret, F., Oswald, J. N., Owen, E., Pacoureau, N., Paiva, V. H., Palacios, D. M., Panigada, S., Papastamatiou, Y. P., Parra, G. J., Parsons, S. K., Patterson‐Fraser, D. L., Peckham, S. H., Petersen, S. D., Pichegru, L., Pierce, S. J., Pipa, T., Pirotta, E., Pistorius, P., Pollom, R. A., Prieto, R., Prosdocimi, L., Pütz, K., Queiroz, N., Quinn, J. L., Ramos, J. A., Raudino, H. C., Recalde‐Salas, A., Rees, A. F., Reina, R. D., Reisinger, R. R., Reynolds, S. D., Richardson, A. J., Riddoch, N. G., Riet‐Sapriza, F. G., Robbins, J. R., Robinson, D. P., Rodríguez, A., Rogers, T. L., Rohner, C. A., Rojas‐Cañizales, D., Ruhomaun, K., Kent, C. S., Sato, K., Scales, K. L., Scheidat, M., Schofield, G., Serena, F., Setyawan, E., Shaffer, S. A., Shea, B. D., Shearer, L., Sheaves, M., Sherley, R. B., Shillinger, G. L., Shimada, T., Silva, M. A., Skomal, G., Smith, R. A., Smoothey, A. F., Soldo, A., Southall, E. J., Steinfurth, A., Stewart, D. B., Stewart, J. D., Takahashi, A., Tatayah, V., Thalmann, S., Thiebot, J., Tomás, J., Torres, L. G., Trathan, P. N., Trillmich, F., Ueda, K., Vandeperre, F., Vanstreels, R. E. T., Vedor, M., Villegas‐Amtmann, S., Waller, L. J., Waller, M., Wanless, S., Waples, K., Watt, C. A., Wege, M., Weir, C. R., Wells, R. S., Wensveen, P. J., White, T. D., Whiting, S. D., Wiig, Ø., Wildermann, N. E., Wiley, D. N., Williams, J. L., Williams, R. S., Wilson, K., Witt, M. J., Womersley, F. C., Yurkowski, D. J., Zhang, J., Costa, D. P., Duarte, C. M., Meekan, M. G., Harcourt, R., Sims, D. W., Hays, G. C., Pattiaratchi, C., Eguíluz, V. M. & Sequeira, A. M. M., Feb 2026, In: Conservation Biology. 40, 1, p. 1-25 25 p., e70147.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open access
A workflow of open-source tools for drone-based photogrammetry of marine megafauna
Bierlich, K. C., Hewitt, J., Bird, C. N., Johnston, D. W., Dale, J., Pirotta, E., Schick, R. S., Stewart, J. D., New, L., Chimienti, E., Goldbogen, J. A., Friedlaender, A. S., Cantor, M. & Torres, L. G., 12 Aug 2025, In: PeerJ. 13, p. 1-25 25 p., e19768.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open access
Bayesian estimation of individual gray whale space use reveals differential exposure to stressors
Hildebrand, L., New, L., Pirotta, E., Stewart, J. D., Hildebrand, I., Newell, C., Bierlich, K., Bird, C. N., Fernandez Ajó, A., Turek, D. & Torres, L. G., May 2025, In: Ecology and Evolution. 15, 5, p. 1-15 15 p., e71330.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open access
Body size, nutritional state and endocrine state are associated with calving probability in a long-lived marine species
Pirotta, E., New, L., Fernandez Ajó, A., Bierlich, K., Bird, C. N., Buck, C. L., Hildebrand, L., Hunt, K. E., Calambokidis, J. & Torres, L. G., Jul 2025, In: Journal of Animal Ecology. 94, 7, p. 1422-1434 13 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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