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Douglas Nowacek
Randolph K. Repass and Sally-Christine Rodgers University Associate 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 Associate Professor of Conservation Technology in Environment and Engineering
- Associate Professor
- Associate Professor 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:
Education
- Ph.D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1999
- B.A. Ohio Wesleyan University, 1991
Research Interests
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.
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 293A: Research Independent Study
- BIOLOGY 784LA: Sound in the Sea: Introduction to Marine Bioacoustics
- ECE 384LA: Sound in the Sea: Introduction to Marine Bioacoustics
- ECE 461: Ocean Engineering
- ECE 495: Special Topics in Electrical and Computer 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 790SA: Duke-Administered Study Away; Special Topics
- ME 426: Ocean Engineering
In the News
- 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 )
- Researchers recommend treating ocean seismic testing as pollution (Sep 2, 2015 | The News & Observer )
- New International Standards Needed To Manage Ocean Noise (Sep 2, 2015)
- 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
- Root-Gutteridge, H; Cusano, DA; Shiu, Y; Nowacek, DP; Van Parijs, SM; Parks, SE, A lifetime of changing calls: North Atlantic right whales, Eubalaena glacialis, refine call production as they age, Animal Behaviour, vol 137 (2018), pp. 21-34 [10.1016/j.anbehav.2017.12.016] [abs].
- Albertson, GR; Friedlaender, AS; Steel, DJ; Aguayo-Lobo, A; Bonatto, SL; Caballero, S; Constantine, R; Cypriano-Souza, AL; Engel, MH; Garrigue, C; Flórez-González, L; Johnston, DW; Nowacek, DP; Olavarría, C; Poole, MM; Read, AJ; Robbins, J; Sremba, AL; Baker, CS, Temporal stability and mixed-stock analyses of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in the nearshore waters of the Western Antarctic Peninsula, Polar Biology, vol 41 no. 2 (2018), pp. 323-340 [10.1007/s00300-017-2193-1] [abs].
- Stanistreet, J; Nowacek, D; Bell, J; Cholewiak, D; Hildebrand, J; Hodge, L; Van Parijs, S; Read, A, Spatial and seasonal patterns in acoustic detections of sperm whales Physeter macrocephalus along the continental slope in the western North Atlantic Ocean, Endangered species research, vol 35 (2018), pp. 1-13 [10.3354/esr00867] [abs].
- Rycyk, AM; Deutsch, CJ; Barlas, ME; Hardy, SK; Frisch, K; Leone, EH; Nowacek, DP, Manatee behavioral response to boats, Marine Mammal Science (2018) [10.1111/mms.12491] [abs].
- Stanistreet, JE; Nowacek, DP; Baumann-Pickering, S; Bell, JT; Cholewiak, DM; Hildebrand, JA; Hodge, LE; Moors-Murphy, HB; Van Parijs, SM; Read, AJ, Using passive acoustic monitoring to document the distribution of beaked whale species in the western North Atlantic Ocean, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, vol 74 no. 12 (2017), pp. 2098-2109 [10.1139/cjfas-2016-0503] [abs].