Douglas Nowacek

Randolph K. Repass and Sally-Christine Rodgers University Distinguished Professor of Conservation Technology in Environment and Engineering

Sound propagates very efficiently through sea water, and marine mammals take advantage of this medium to communicate and explore their environment. My research is focused on the link between acoustic and motor behavior in marine mammals, primarily cetaceans and manatees, specifically, how they use sound in ecological processes. The cetaceans, or whales and dolphins, are divided into two main groups, the toothed whales (odontocetes) and the baleen whales (mysticetes). One of my specific areas of research is the use of echolocation and foraging behavior in one of the odontocetes, the bottlenose dolphin. Another focus of my current research is the effect(s) of anthropogenic noise on marine mammals.

Appointments and Affiliations

• Randolph K. Repass and Sally-Christine Rodgers University Distinguished Professor of Conservation Technology in Environment and Engineering
• Professor
• Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Faculty Network Member of The Energy Initiative

Contact Information

• Office Location: Duke Univ Marine Lab, 135 Duke Marine Lab Rd, Beaufort, NC 28516
• Office Phone: (252) 504-7566
• Email Address: doug.nowacek@duke.edu
• Websites:
  • Nowacek Lab Page

Education

• Ph.D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1999
• B.A. Ohio Wesleyan University, 1991

Research Interests

Link between acoustic and motor behavior in marine mammals, specifically, how they use sound in ecological processes. Development of tools for marine conservation research

Awards, Honors, and Distinctions

• Visiting Scholar. University of Tasmania. 2013

Courses Taught

• BIOLOGY 270A: Conservation Biology and Policy
• BIOLOGY 279LA: Sound in the Sea: Introduction to Marine Bioacoustics
• BIOLOGY 784LA: Sound in the Sea: Introduction to Marine Bioacoustics
• ECE 291: Projects in Electrical and Computer Engineering
• ECE 292: Projects in Electrical and Computer Engineering
• ECE 384LA: Sound in the Sea: Introduction to Marine Bioacoustics
• ECE 461: Ocean Engineering
• ECE 784LA: Sound in the Sea: Introduction to Marine Bioacoustics
• ENVIRON 270A: Conservation Biology and Policy
• ENVIRON 280LA: Sound in the Sea: Introduction to Marine Bioacoustics
• ENVIRON 461: Ocean Engineering
• ENVIRON 709A: Conservation Biology and Policy
• ENVIRON 784LA: Sound in the Sea: Introduction to Marine Bioacoustics
• ENVIRON 790: Special Topics
• ENVIRON 790SA: Duke-Administered Study Away: Special Topics
• ME 426: Ocean Engineering

In the News

• The Whale Whisperers: How Moms Talk to Calves Without Alerting Predators (Oct 10, 2019 | Nicholas School of the Environment)
• Man-Made Sounds Damage Marine Life. Duke Researchers Are Trying to Protect Them (Mar 26, 2019)
• At Beaufort, the Ocean Is For Engineering Study, Too (Jul 17, 2018 | Pratt School of Engineering)
• Duke Marine Lab's Stunning Journey to Study Antarctic Whales (Jan 19, 2018 | Nicholas School of the Environment)
• Turn Down the Volume: New Guide Helps Reduce Seismic Surveys Impacts on Marine Species (Sep 11, 2016)
• A group of scientists is begging Obama to save right whales (Apr 15, 2016 | The Huffington Post)
• Asking President Obama to Save Right Whales (Apr 14, 2016)
• Douglas Nowacek comments: Deafening Atlantic oil prospecting to go ahead despite threat to marine life (Mar 30, 2016 | The Guardian)
• Douglas Nowacek: Marine life needs protection from noise pollution (Sep 14, 2015 | Scientific American, Nature)
• New International Standards Needed To Manage Ocean Noise (Sep 2, 2015)
• Researchers recommend treating ocean seismic testing as pollution (Sep 2, 2015 | The News & Observer)
• Nicholas' Nowacek Testifies Before Congress On Impacts Of Seismic Activity On Marine Life (Jul 15, 2015)
• Douglas Nowacek comments: Science panel weighs in on potential impacts of seismic testing off N.C. coast (Apr 28, 2015 | WHQR-Wilmington)
• A whale of a fight is brewing over Atlantic coastal drilling (Feb 25, 2015 | McClatchy DC)
• The whale savers (Oct 20, 2014 | Christian Science Monitor)
• Minke Whales Lunge Up To 100 Times An Hour To Feed Under Sea Ice (Aug 14, 2014)

Representative Publications

• van Hoeck, RV; Paxton, AB; Bohnenstiehl, DWR; Taylor, JC; Fodrie, FJ; Nowacek, DP; Voss, CM; Peterson, CH, Soundscapes of natural and artificial temperate reefs: similar temporal patterns but distinct spectral content, Marine Ecology Progress Series, vol 649 (2020), pp. 35-51 [10.3354/meps13434] [abs].
• Davis, GE; Baumgartner, MF; Corkeron, PJ; Bell, J; Berchok, C; Bonnell, JM; Bort Thornton, J; Brault, S; Buchanan, GA; Cholewiak, DM; Clark, CW; Delarue, J; Hatch, LT; Klinck, H; Kraus, SD; Martin, B; Mellinger, DK; Moors-Murphy, H; Nieukirk, S; Nowacek, DP; Parks, SE; Parry, D; Pegg, N; Read, AJ; Rice, AN; Risch, D; Scott, A; Soldevilla, MS; Stafford, KM; Stanistreet, JE; Summers, E; Todd, S; Van Parijs, SM, Exploring movement patterns and changing distributions of baleen whales in the western North Atlantic using a decade of passive acoustic data., Global Change Biology (2020) [10.1111/gcb.15191] [abs].
• Goldbogen, JA; Cade, DE; Wisniewska, DM; Potvin, J; Segre, PS; Savoca, MS; Hazen, EL; Czapanskiy, MF; Kahane-Rapport, SR; DeRuiter, SL; Gero, S; Tønnesen, P; Gough, WT; Hanson, MB; Holt, MM; Jensen, FH; Simon, M; Stimpert, AK; Arranz, P; Johnston, DW; Nowacek, DP; Parks, SE; Visser, F; Friedlaender, AS; Tyack, PL; Madsen, PT; Pyenson, ND, Why whales are big but not bigger: Physiological drivers and ecological limits in the age of ocean giants., Science (New York, N.Y.), vol 366 no. 6471 (2019), pp. 1367-1372 [10.1126/science.aax9044] [abs].
• Parks, SE; Cusano, DA; Van Parijs, SM; Nowacek, DP, Acoustic crypsis in communication by North Atlantic right whale mother-calf pairs on the calving grounds., Biol Lett, vol 15 no. 10 (2019) [10.1098/rsbl.2019.0485] [abs].
• Howle, LE; Kraus, SD; Werner, TB; Nowacek, DP, Simulation of the entanglement of a North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) with fixed fishing gear, Marine Mammal Science, vol 35 no. 3 (2019), pp. 760-778 [10.1111/mms.12562] [abs].