Research

The Center's Research Overview

Through collaborations with Duke University, National Marine Life Center, Cape Cod Stranding Network (a project of the International Fund for Animal Welfare), and the New England Aquarium, and with the use of novel technology such as gliders, non-invasive animal tags, open access databases, acoustic propagation models, and advanced data visualization, the Center is pursuing new research on:

Marine animal health and survival
Disease transmission between humans and marine animals
Decreased threat of ship collision and fishing gear entanglement
Reduced impacts on mammals from sonar, shipping, and industrial activities at sea
Impacts of climate change on marine populations
Effects of behavioral and physiological disturbances on populations
Whale prey mapping methods
Deep diving physiology
Non-invasive neurobiological measurements in marine mammals.

The Marine Mammal Center is willing to pay for Open Access to peer reviewed papers by WHOI scientists on marine mammal topics - For further information please email jmoore@whoi.edu

WHOI - Duke Fellowship

The WHOI Marine Mammal Center and the Nicholas School of the Environment of Duke University announce a fellowship program for graduate students studying marine mammal science at either institution to apply to work in the lab of an advisor from the other institution for periods of 3-6 months.

The fellowship will support transportation and living expenses with the goal that fellows can work at the partner institution with no additional costs compared to working at their own institution. The student is expected as part of the application process to develop a proposal for a project that is approved by both their advisor and a faculty member at the other institution interested in sponsoring the fellow. As part of the application process, students must work with their academic advisor to contact a faculty member from the other institution. Faculty members who are interested in advising fellows under this program are listed below.

For PhD students, the project can either represent early exploratory research or can be part of ongoing thesis research. For Duke Master’s students, the proposed research should be part of the Master’s project. Selection of fellows will be competitive; selection of successful applications will be based upon the academic merit of the student and the project along with the fit with the advisor from the other institution. Preference will be given to projects that promise scientific progress on important conservation issues for marine mammals. Fellows accepted to participate in the program will receive funding for living and travel expenses.

Please see the JP website for more information.
http://web.mit.edu/mit-whoi/www/academics/WHOI_Duke.html

Infrastructure

This research is enabled and enhanced through access to world-class facilities. The coastal research vessel Tioga provides quick, affordable and effective operations throughout the region. The new, marine research facility houses laboratories for necropsies, CT scanning, instrument testing and development, student study and archives.

Recent WHOI Marine Mammal Research

April 17, 2012