Marine Mammal Acoustics in a Noisy Ocean

Christine Erbe holds an M.Sc. degree in Physics (University of Dortmund, Germany) and a Ph.D. in Geophysics (University of British Columbia, Canada). She worked as a Research Scientist at Fisheries and Oceans Canada, was Director of JASCO Applied Sciences Australia, and eventually returned to academia, where she is now Director of the Centre for Marine Science and Technology at Curtin University (Perth, WA, Australia) and Director of the Centre of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology at Curtin University (Moka, Mauritius). Christine’s interests are underwater sound (biotic, abiotic, and anthropogenic), sound propagation, signal processing, and noise effects on marine fauna. She’s a John Curtin Distinguished Professor, Fellow of the Acoustical Society of America, Board member of the International Commission for Acoustics, former member of the ISO Technical Subcommittee on Underwater Acoustics, former Chair of the Animal Bioacoustics Technical Committee of the Acoustical Society of America, and former Chair of the international conference series on The Effects of Noise on Aquatic Life.

Dorian Houser holds a Ph.D. in Biology from the University of California – Santa Cruz (USA). After completing a National Research Council Post-Doctoral Associateship at the US Navy Marine Mammal Program, he started the research consultation company, Biomimetica, which he operated until 2010. In 2009, he joined the National Marine Mammal Foundation where he currently serves as the Director of Conservation Biology. Dorian’s scientific interests include marine mammal diving, fasting and stress physiology, bioacoustics, and behavior. Dorian is a Fellow of the Acoustical Society of America, from which he received the R. Bruce Lindsay Award (2007). He served multiple terms as the Chair and Vice-Chair of ANSI/ASA S3/SC1 Animal Bioacoustics Accredited Standards Committee and as a member of the ASA Animal Bioacoustics Technical Committee. He has also served as a subject matter expert to the US Navy and multiple governments concerned with the impact of ocean noise on marine life.

Ann Bowles received her Ph.D. in Marine Biology from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and now leads the Animal Behavior and Senses Program at Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute (HSWRI). She has 45 years of experience in the study of animal behavior, sound production, perception of sound, and effects of human-made noise on marine and terrestrial species. She has investigated behavioral responses to sources ranging from intense geoacoustic sources and low-flying military aircraft to low-amplitude net alarms and ultrasonic coded transmitters. Ann has studied a wide range of marine mammal species, including baleen whales, toothed whales and dolphins, seals and sea lions, polar bears, and manatees. She has served on a wide range of advisory panels for agencies and organizations such as the Office of Naval Research, International Union for the Conservation of Nature, National Park Service, and National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. She helped develop criteria for protecting marine mammal hearing from noise and is involved in ongoing efforts to establish criteria for behavioral responses. She has formal affiliations with the Department of Ocean and Environmental Sciences at the University of San Diego and the Department of Biology at the University of California at San Diego.

Michael B. Porter obtained his Ph.D. in 1984 from Northwestern University (Applied Math.). He was a scientist at the then Naval Ocean Systems Center in San Diego, then took a position as a research physicist at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C. He spent 4 years at the NATO Undersea Research Centre in La Spezia, Italy in the Environmental Acoustics group, when he co-authored the standard text on Computational Ocean Acoustics (with Jensen, Kuperman, and Schmidt). He subsequently joined the Mathematical Sciences Department at the New Jersey Institute of Technology as Professor for 10 years. He moved to Science Applications International Corp. in San Diego as Assistant Vice President and Chief Scientist. In 2004, he founded Heat, Light, and Sound Research, Inc. Michael held visiting positions at the University of Algarve (1996) and the Scripps Inst. of Oceanography (1997). Michael’s work has been recognized with the A.B. Wood Medal of the Inst. of Acoustics, the Innovators Award for the Naval Research Lab., the Rabbi Award from SAIC, and the Pioneers Medal of the Acoustical Soc. of Amer. He established the Ocean Acoustics Library, which continues as the primary internet source for ocean acoustics models.