Manager, National Geographic Remote Imaging
An inquisitive wildlife enthusiast by birth and biologist by training, Kyler Abernathy has been a member of the Remote Imaging team at National Geographic since 1999. Kyler works closely with researchers to evaluate, organize, and conduct Crittercam research projects around the world. He is responsible for overseeing the general operations of the Remote Imaging department, and supports the Remote Imaging team's engineering efforts in the development and application of new technologies for studying behavioral ecology. Kyler has developed extensive field and species experience spanning the globe over the past decade. Kyler received his bachelor's degree in marine biology from the University of California, Berkeley, and his master's degree in wildlife conservation from the University of Minnesota.
Biologist, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Jacksonville, Florida
Nicole Adimey is a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Jacksonville, Florida. She received a master’s degree in Marine Biology and Coastal Zone Management with a focus on marine mammals. Nicole has been with the Service for over five years; her major duties include manatee and sea turtle management, conservation, and recovery. Prior to working for the Service, Nicole worked as an independent contractor on monk seals and spinner dolphins in Hawaii and also spent five years off the coast of Vancouver Island researching killer whales in Johnstone Strait. In 2002 Nicole teamed with National Geographic Television/Remote Imaging to look at the feasibility of attaching Crittercam cameras to wild manatees in Belize. Preliminary results show a view of manatee behavior never observed from manatees residing in Belize. The project will eventually be taken to Florida to provide a greater understanding of manatee behavior and habitat use for recovery of the species.
Chief of the Protected Species Division, Pacific Island Fisheries Science Center, Honolulu, Hawaii
Dr. George “Bud” Antonelis has been the Chief of the Protected Species Division, Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, Honolulu, Hawaii since 1996. He oversees research on population assessment and monitoring, foraging ecology, and health and disease of Hawaiian monk seals, cetaceans, and sea turtles in the Pacific Island region. Prior to his work in Hawaii, he was the Northern Fur Seal Task Leader at the National Marine Mammal Laboratory, National Marine Fisheries Service, Seattle, Washington, where he conducted studies in Alaska for nine years on fur seal population dynamics, foraging ecology, and migration patterns. He also spent twelve years of his early career as a Wildlife Biologist conducting ecological studies on five different pinniped populations at San Miguel Island, California. Dr. Antonelis graduated with a B.S. and an M.S. from San Diego State University, and obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Nagasaki.
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Smithsonian Marine
Station, Fort Pierce
Karen Arthur is currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce. Her research focuses on the impacts of harmful algal blooms on marine ecosystems, especially their impacts on large herbivorous grazers such as the green turtle and dugong, or manatee. For her Ph.D. work Karen looked at the impacts of the toxic cyanobacterium Lyngbya majuscula on green turtles in Moreton Bay, Australia, and in the Hawaiian Islands. Her current Post-doctoral research is focused on the role Lyngbya plays in the ecosystem, potential causes of blooms, and the fate of toxins in food chains. Karen’s research uses innovative techniques such as stable isotope analysis, toxicology, and the Crittercam to elucidate how harmful algal blooms may be impacting on local wildlife.
Researcher, Alaska Department of Fish and Game
LaVern Beier became a “wilderness junkie” over thirty years ago, and has made his livelihood in the wild of Southeast Alaska trapping, guiding hunters, and researching wildlife for the state of Alaska since the early 1970s. As part of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, he has specialized in trapping deer, wolves, mountain goats, martens, black bears, and brown bears. Starting from a simple curiosity about the great beasts that he occasionally crossed paths with in the wilderness, Vern is now on the leading edge of brown bear research in Alaska. Few individuals have captured more bears than Beier—since 1975 he has captured over two hundred black bears and four hundred brown bears. His extensive time in the wilderness, both as researcher and hunter, has provided him unique insight and perspective into the lives of bears. Since 1970, he has traveled to the lower forty-eight States fewer than twelve times, spending the majority of his time in seasonal employment with Alaska Fish and Game and, since 1979, guiding bear hunters during the hunting season.
Senior Research Scientist, Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
W. Don Bowen, Ph.D. is a senior research scientist in the Population Ecology Division, Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia and an Adjunct Professor of Biology at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia. He received his doctorate at the Institute of Animal Resource Ecology, University of British Columbia. His research includes studies on the ecology, energetics, and population dynamics of North Atlantic phocid seals. For the past twenty years, he has conducted research on the reproduction and foraging ecology of grey and harbour seals at Sable Island, Nova Scotia, using a variety of data loggers and satellite telemetry. He and his colleagues have used animal-borne video to investigate prey-specific foraging tactics and prey profitability in free-ranging seals. The overarching goal of his research is to understand the impact of grey seal predation on the structure and functioning of continental ecosystems off eastern Canada.
Carnivore Ecologist, National Wildlife Research Center,
Fort Collins, Colorado
Stewart Breck, Ph.D. is a carnivore ecologist for the National Wildlife Research Center in Fort Collins, Colorado, U.S.A. Stewart obtained his B.S. from Colorado State University in Wildlife Biology (1990), an M.S. from University of Nevada Reno in biology (1995), and a Ph.D. from Colorado State University in Ecology (2001). His research interests include animal behavior and movement patterns, predator-prey dynamics, carnivore ecology, and human/carnivore conflict mitigation. A common theme in Stewart’s research is the development and application of technology that enhances data acquisition for species that are difficult to study and manage. Examples of the integration of technology into his research program include non-invasive genetic sampling of wolves for mark-recapture studies, the use of animal-borne imaging of problem black bears in Yosemite National Park, and the application of GPS technology to delineate fine scale movement patterns of black bears in urban environments. Current projects include work with wolves, mountain lions, brown bears, and black bears in Montana, Minnesota, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado, and Norway.
Senior Scientist, Edgerton Research Lab, New England Aquarium
Moira Brown is a senior scientist in the Edgerton Research Lab at the New England Aquarium. She is the Scientific Advisor with the Canadian Whale Institute in Bolton, Ontario, and spent the last seven years as a Senior Scientist and director of the right whale research program the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown, Massachusetts. She was a member of the Canadian North Atlantic and North Pacific Right Whale Recovery Teams, is a co-chair of the Canadian North Atlantic Right Whale Implementation Team and the Canadian Fishermen’s Right Whale Working Group. Her recent research includes population biology and demographics of right whales in Canadian waters since 1985 and Cape Cod Bay since 1997, and genetic studies since 1988. Her conservation work is most recently focused on the issue of right whales and ship collisions in Canadian waters. She is the co-chair of the Canadian Vessel/Whale working group and was instrumental in working with industry and government regulators to gain approval of an amendment to the Bay of Fundy shipping lanes by the International Maritime Organization. This achievement was recognized with a Gulf of Maine Visionary Award, 2002, and a Canadian Environment Award, 2003. Brown’s conservation work continues to be focused on the issues faced by right whales in Canadian waters and the identification of measures to reduce the impact of human activities on their numbers. She received a B.Ed. and B.Sc. from McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, and a Ph.D. from the University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario.
Supervising Producer, National Geographic Remote Imaging
As a principal force in the technical evolution and field application of Crittercam, Birgit has spent over a decade on research expeditions to field sites around the globe. Living and working in some of the world’s most remote places—from islands in the middle of the Pacific to Antarctic camps—Birgit’s “whatever it takes” work ethic and field skills have inspired collaborators in over thirty Crittercam research expeditions. She is personally responsible for well over a hundred deployments, generating almost a thousand hours of Crittercam data and images. Whether sidling up to seals, sea lions, or whales, spying on the secret lives of great white and tiger sharks, or diving with hawksbill sea turtles, she continuously works to advance and disseminate Crittercam research. Birgit believes in the power of images and is using Crittercam’s unique perspective to communicate conservation through documentary production and educational outreach. She has produced numerous conservation-themed documentaries that have aired to audiences around the world.
Research Biologist, Cascadia Research
John Calambokidis is a Research Biologist and one of the founders of Cascadia Research, a non-profit research organization formed in 1979. He periodically serves as an Adjunct Faculty member at the Evergreen State College teaching a course on marine mammals. His primary interests are the biology of marine mammals and the impacts of humans. He has authored two books on marine mammals (on blue whales and a guide to marine mammals) as well as more than fifty technical reports and publications in scientific journals. He has conducted studies on a variety of marine mammals in the North Pacific and long-term research on blue, humpback, and gray whales. His work has included examining the underwater behavior and calls of blue, fin, and humpback whales using suction-cup attached instruments, including Crittercams.
President of the American Elasmobranch Society
While growing up near the northeast coast of Florida, Dr. Jeff Carrier was drawn to sharks as a diver, surfer, and sport fisherman, before eventually studying them as an undergraduate. Jeff attended Florida State University and the University of Miami, where he completed B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees; he now holds the W. W. Diehl Endowed Professorship of Biology at Michigan's Albion College, where he's taught since 1979. For the past thirteen years, Jeff has researched the physiology and life cycle of nurse sharks with Harold "Wes" Pratt. Their pioneering underwater studies have revealed intimate, never-before-known details of the mating and reproductive behaviors of sharks, and their video footage and photographs have appeared in media outlets throughout the world. Jeff has published extensively in scientific journals and is co-editor of the book The Biology of Sharks and Their Relatives. He is a long-time member and currently president of the American Elasmobranch Society, a professional society of research scientists who work with sharks and their relatives.
Vice President, Research Conservation and Exploration,
National Geographic Society
John Francis serves as Vice President for Research, Conservation, and Exploration at the National Geographic Society, directing funding of these disciplines through the Committee for Research and Exploration, the Conservation Trust, and the Expeditions Council. Francis also oversees the Society’s Center for Sustainable Destinations and the Remote Imaging Laboratory and serves on boards for the National Park System, UNESCO, and the IUCN. Since his beginning roles as grantee and then producer of wildlife films for National Geographic, he has worked to enhance connections between the scientific/conservation community and the public—made possible through the Society’s global media and the funding of path breaking projects and technologies. John received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and spent five years as a postdoctoral fellow and research associate at the Smithsonian Institution. He is a seasoned field biologist with particular interest in the behavioral ecology of marine mammals.
President, Pisces Design
Bill Hagey began designing oceanographic instruments in the early 1980s at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. He continued developing marine cameras, batteries, and time-lapse video systems as one of the partners at DeepSea Power and Light. Bill founded Pisces Design in 1987, where he specialized in video and data recording. Working with Randall Davis, Ph.D., he developed a simple camcorder that was attached to a Weddell seal in Antarctica in 1987. Since then, he has developed four generations of animal-borne video and data recorders with Davis, taking these projects from concept through application, with five trips to Antarctica. The current animal-born system emphasizes oceanographic and positioning sensors to allow three-dimensional tracking of the animals that includes oceanographic conditions. He is presently developing the fifth generation that will be much smaller than the present video systems.
Assistant Professor, Missouri University
Zhihai He received a B.S. degree from Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China, and an M.S. degree from the Institute of Computational Mathematics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China, in 1994 and 1997 respectively, both in mathematics. In 2001, he received a Ph.D. degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara, in electrical engineering. That same year, he joined the Sarnoff Corporation in Princeton, New Jersey, as a Member of their Technical Staff. In 2003, he joined the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Missouri, Columbia, as an assistant professor. He received the 2002 IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems for Video Technology Best Paper Award and the SPIE VCIP Young Investigator Award in 2004. His current research interests include image/video processing and compression, network transmission, wireless communication, computer vision analysis, sensor network, and embedded system design. He is a member of the Visual Signal Processing and Communication Technical Committee of the IEEE Circuits and Systems Society, and serves as Technical Program Committee member, or session chair of several international conferences. He has been working on an energy-efficient integrated camera and sensor system design for wildlife activity monitoring.
Assistant Professor of Biology, Florida International University, Miami, Florida
Mike Heithaus, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Biology at Florida International University, in Miami, Florida. Most of his work has been in the relatively pristine seagrass community of Shark Bay, Western Australia. The overall goals of the project are to understand the ecological role of tiger sharks in the system and to determine the importance of predation risk in shaping habitat-use decisions by multiple prey species. More recently, Mike has initiated studies in the coastal Everglades estuary of Florida to determine the factors shaping movement decisions by large consumers and how these movements might facilitate nutrient flow within the system. Hopefully, these studies will help inform management decisions during Everglades restoration projects. Mike and his students use a variety of techniques in their research including transect surveys, time-depth recorder deployments, stable isotopic analyses, and animal-borne imaging. In addition, Mike has helped out on a number of animal-borne imaging projects around the world.
Master's student, Coastal Environmental Management,
Duke University
Elia Herman is a second-year master’s student in Coastal Environmental Management at Duke University, where she is also a Doris Duke Conservation Fellow. She received her B.A. from Brown University in 2001. Elia participated for many years in the dolphin research program at the Kewalo Basin Marine Mammal Laboratory (KBMML) in Honolulu, and was a Co-Investigator for four seasons with KBMML’s humpback whale research program in Maui waters. While part of National Geographic’s Remote Imaging Department she helped coordinate a collaboration with KBMML to use Crittercams with humpback whales in Hawaiian waters and has presented several papers on the findings. Past experience also includes co-managing the long-term Shark Bay dolphin database at Georgetown University, as well as studying manatees at Mote Marine Laboratory and bottlenose dolphins at Zoomarine, Portugal. Most recently, she worked with fishermen in Virginia to reduce dolphin bycatch. She is co-author of two refereed papers on dolphin cognitive abilities, as well as a series of reports on anthropogenic threats to humpback whales.
Marine Ecologist, Sea Mammal Research Unit ,
University of St Andrews, UK
Sascha Hooker, Ph.D. is a marine ecologist at the Sea Mammal Research Unit at the University of St Andrews, UK. Sascha has been involved in research involving the ecology and conservation of marine mammals since 1993. Her particular focus is on the interaction between marine mammal behavior and the surrounding environment, and the application of this to map and protect productive ocean areas. Sascha received her Ph.D. in 1999 from Dalhousie University, Canada, where she studied the foraging ecology of northern bottlenose whales. She then obtained a post-doctoral fellowship with the British Antarctic Survey, and most recently a Royal Society Fellowship at the University of St Andrews. She has been involved in developing methods to incorporate environmental and oceanographic data into studies of marine mammal foraging, in particular the use of digital video to investigate the fine-scale behavior of Antarctic fur seals in relation to prey density and distribution.
Director of Engineering, National Geographic Remote Imaging
Corey Jaskolski is the Director of Engineering at the National Geographic Remote Imaging Department. The Remote Imaging engineering team is responsible for the design, testing, fabrication, and deployment support of the Crittercam and many other remote imaging and data collection platforms. Before joining the Remote Imaging team, Corey was president of Hydro Technologies, a company primarily focused on developing cutting-edge underwater communications and sensing technologies for the defense industry. Corey has led R&D projects in areas such as turbulent drag reduction, wireless communications through metal barriers, underwater sound production, and power systems that were used to power the remote-operated vehicles used in support of the filming of the James Cameron documentary, Ghosts of the Abyss. Corey received his master’s degree in electrical engineering from MIT and a dual bachelor’s degree in mathematics and physics from the University of Wisconsin.
Curator of Mammals, New York State Museum
Roland Kays is the curator of Mammals at the New York State Museum. His research examines ecological and evolutionary questions about mammals, typically with a focus on carnivores. His research has included studies of kinkajous in Panama, lions in Kenya, and coyotes in New York. He seeks out questions that are scientifically interesting but also have real-world relevance through educational or conservation value. Roland has collaborated to develop an Automated Radio Telemetry System (ARTS) at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, where they are now also adding networked cameras. He is also a Principle Investigator on the Movebank project (
www.movebank.org), which will provide an interactive database for the animal tracking and camera-trap research community. He is the author of
The Mammals of North America (Princeton Press).
Associate Vice President for Research and Associate Professor of Marine Biology, University of Alaska
Dr. Brendan Kelly is Associate Vice President for Research and Associate Professor of Marine Biology at the University of Alaska. Presently, he is serving a two-year assignment as Program Director for Arctic Biology in the Office of Polar Programs at the National Science Foundation. He received degrees in Biology from the University of California Santa Cruz (B.A.), the University of Alaska Fairbanks (M.S.), and Purdue University (Ph.D.). Brendan has been studying polar marine mammals for the past thirty years, and he serves on local, state, national, and international scientific panels.
Ph.D. candidate, Zoology Department, University of Cape Town (UCT) Shark Research Centre, Iziko Museums of Cape Town South Africa
Have you ever wanted to get up close and personal with one of our oceans’ top predators? Alison Kock comes face to face with great white sharks on a regular basis, whether it’s tagging them with small transmitters to monitor their intimate movements, or observing them breach out of the water attempting to catch their preferred prey. She has presented her results both internationally and locally, and her expertise and knowledge has been critical in the development of the City of Cape Town’s policy on white shark conservation and recreational safety. Her research is contributing to the overall understanding of white sharks and is being used to drive change in how the public perceives these sharks and influence policy makers with up-to-date, objective research results on all white shark-related issues.
Research Professor, Center for Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Dr. Gerald “Jerry” Kooyman is a leading authority on what he calls an “icon of the Antarctic,” the emperor penguin. Jerry’s work with penguins and other animals in Antarctica–spanning over thirty years–has brought significant attention to a timely controversy: global climate change. Jerry believes that emperor penguins in particular are “excellent biological indicators of environmental change in a region that has powerful influence on the world’s weather.” Jerry received his Ph.D. from the University of Arizona in 1966, and is now a research professor at the Center for Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, at the University of California, San Diego. He has been awarded the Antarctic Medal and the Special Creativity Award from the National Science Foundation and holds fellowships through the National Science Foundation as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of London, and at the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Jerry has an Antarctic Mountain named after him: Kooyman Peak, in the Queen Elizabeth Range. Jerry is also a pilot and a big-wave surfer.
Ecologist for the Protected Species Division at the
NMFS Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center
Charles Littnan, Ph.D. is an ecologist for the Protected Species Division at the NMFS Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center. Charles is interested in the practical application of conservation biology of marine mammals and understanding the links between population biology, ecology, and environment. He has a B.Sc. in Marine Biology from Texas A&M University at Galveston, and a Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences at Macquarie University in Australia, where he worked on the foraging ecology of Australian fur seals. Charles currently leads the Hawaiian monk seal foraging program where he is utilizing various diet analysis (fatty acids, stable isotopes, fecal) and telemetry (Crittercam, cell phone tags, dive recorders) to understand the ecology of this critically endangered seal.
Professor in the Boston University Marine Program and the Department of Biology
Dr. Phillip Lobel is a Professor in the Boston University Marine Program and the Department of Biology. He is also the Diving Safety Officer (AAUS) for the University. He teaches courses in ichthyology, coral reef ecology, and scientific diving. Phil received his B.A. from the University of Hawaii (1971-1975) and Ph.D. in Biology from Harvard University (1975-1979). From 1983 to 2004, he was chief scientist for the Army and Air Force marine ecological monitoring and assessment program on Johnston Atoll. This atoll was a major DoD facility for weapons testing, storage, and destruction, and had been historically impacted by aborted nuclear detonations, Herbicide Orange, and PCBs among other things. He is now working with the Legacy Program in support of DoD’s Coral Reef Task Force team and, in the spirit of cooperative conservation, he is currently applying the tools and applied skills developed during the Johnston Atoll project to the conservation of coral reef animals in Palau and Belize in partnership with those governments and local NGOs. The current subject of Phil’s scholarly research is the behavioral ecology of fish bioacoustics; topics include examination of the morphology and evolution of fish sonic mechanisms, defining and comparing fish sounds and associated behaviors, and passive acoustic monitoring of fish reproduction using bioacoustic signals. He has published seventy-five scientific journal papers, one book, and dozens of technical reports and popular science articles. He works extensively throughout the Caribbean and Pacific Ocean.
Executive Producer, Director National Geographic Remote Imaging
Greg Marshall is Executive Producer/Director of National Geographic’s Remote Imaging program. He earned a B.A. in International Relations from Georgetown University and an M.S. in Marine Environmental Science from SUNY Stony Brook. When serving as director of a three-year USAID marine research program he produced his first film, which encouraged appropriation of millions of dollars for marine conservation in Belize. In 1986 he conceived of and began developing the Crittercam concept. In the following years, and while at EPA as an Environmental Scientist, Greg received grants from National Geographic to pursue development of this new research program. With successful research collaborations increasing, he became staff at National Geographic in 1995 and established the Remote Imaging Program. Some hundred expeditions later he continues to lead a cutting-edge animal-borne imaging program. While focused on scientific research, Crittercam deployments also capture images that can inspire audiences. Greg has been involved with or responsible for more than seventy National Geographic films and is a two-time Emmy Award Winner.
Researcher, National Institute of Polar Research Japan
Yasuhiko Naito was awarded a Ph.D. from the University of Tokyo in 1972. He studied the breeding system of harbor seals (Phoca largha and Phoca vitulina), and the difference of systems between land-breeding and ice-breeding harbor seals and other seals in the Sea of Okhotsk. Then he had a dream to look into the underwater world where seals, whales, marine birds and others inhabit. He recognized that studies on these animals in their habitats are fully dependent on tools that are virtually invisible and undetected by the animal. Since he had a position at the National Institute of Polar Research in 1978, he started to develop animal-borne bio-logging instruments to visualize behavior, ecology, and environments of marine animals from fish to marine mammals. His development goal is the miniaturization of tools for all applications. His next dream is visualization of social behavior and monitoring of physio-eco dynamics of these animals.
Biological Oceanographer, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Horn Point Laboratory, Cambridge, Maryland
Judy O’Neil is a Biological Oceanographer from the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES), Horn Point Laboratory in Cambridge, Maryland. She studies nutrient and plankton dynamics in both open ocean and coastal regions, specializing in cyanobacterial bloom ecophysiology and trophodynamics. Originally from New Jersey, Judy was a biology major at Boston College as well as a student in the Sea Education Association (SEA) semester program out of Woods Hole, Massachusetts. She went on to pursue a master’s in Environmental Science at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, and a Ph.D. in Oceanography at the University of Maryland, College Park. She spent ten years at the University of Queensland, in Brisbane, Australia, studying cyanobacterial blooms and coral reef nutrient dynamics, before taking up her current position as a Research Assistant Professor at UMCES.
Vice President and Co-director of research and education
for The Dolphin Institute, Hawaii
Adam A. Pack, Ph.D. is the Vice President and Co-director of research and education for The Dolphin Institute, a Hawaii-based non-profit organization dedicated to the scientific study of dolphins and whales and to the education of people worldwide about these marine mammals. He is also an affiliate graduate faculty member at the University of Hawaii and a research advisor to the American Cetacean Society and the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council. Adam has been studying dolphins and whales since 1983 and received his Ph.D. from the University of Hawaii in 1994 focusing on marine mammal science. Adam has authored and co-authored thirty-nine scientific publications on such diverse topics as learning and memory in sea lions; sexual displays, escorting strategies, body size relationships, migratory trends, and song characteristics of North Pacific humpback whales; and concept formation, social cognition, self recognition, and abilities for sensory integration across vision and echolocation in bottlenose dolphins. During the winters of 2005 and 2006, Adam’s research group deployed Crittercam successfully on male humpback whales in competitive groups in the clear waters off Maui to learn more about the mating system of this species. The results provided an unprecedented “whales-eye” view of the micro-interactions occurring between humpbacks within the competitive group.
Director, Center for Environmental Filmmaking, American University
Chris Palmer is an environmental and wildlife film producer who has spent twenty-five years producing more than three hundred hours of original programming for prime time television and the large format film industry. His films have been broadcast on the Disney Channel, TBS Superstation, Animal Planet, Home and Garden Television, The Travel Channel, The Outdoor Life Network, the Public Broadcasting System, and in the global system of IMAX theaters. His IMAX films include Whales, Wolves, Dolphins, Bears, India: Kingdom of the Tiger, and Coral Reef Adventure. He joined American University in August 2004, establishing the Center for Environmental Filmmaking at the School of Communication. Chris is also president of the MacGillivray Freeman Films Educational Foundation, which produces and funds IMAX films. He is also chief executive officer of VideoTakes Inc., a film production company in Arlington, Virginia, where he produces environmental films, videos, DVDs, and new media.
Fishery Biologist
Fishery biologist Frank Parrish is a key player in the race to identify the critical habitat of the endangered Hawaiian monk seal. Frank grew up SCUBA diving in Hawaii. During his adolescent years he and his high school friends devoted all their spare time to exploring the island reefs. In 1981, Frank enrolled in the University of Hawaii and jumped at an opportunity to dive as a volunteer for a research project working in the remote Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. This led to a series of opportunities with different organizations that has resulted in Frank working in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands annually for the last two decades. Most of the years have been with the Honolulu laboratory of NOAA Fisheries. As a fishery biologist, he specializes in habitat ecology and has studied and published papers on lobsters, bottom fish, reef fish, deepwater corals, and most recently the Hawaiian monk seal. To conduct these studies he employs a range of tools including mixed gas diving, submarines and, since 1995, Crittercam. Frank received his Ph.D. in biogeography from the University of Hawaii, Honolulu.
Lecturer in vertebrate biology at the School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Australia
Richard Reina, Ph.D. is a lecturer in vertebrate biology at the School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Australia. He obtained his Ph.D. from the Australian National University studying physiology of green sea turtles, and since then has worked extensively investigating the biology of a number of sea turtles species. For the past ten years, Rich has worked with colleagues researching and protecting leatherback turtles on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, at Las Baulas National Park. His research has focuses on understanding the physiology, reproductive biology, ecology, and behavior of turtles to better inform programs for their protection. This work has included studies of diving and behavior using Crittercam systems in collaboration with National Geographic. Other research interests include physiology and ecology of penguins, effects of environmental salinity on wetlands animals, and the effects of fisheries capture on post-release survival of sharks.
Director of the Australian Marine Mammal Research Centre
Tracey Rogers, Ph.D., Director of the Australian Marine Mammal Research Centre (
www.ammrc.org.au) (University of Sydney/Zoological Parks Board of NSW, Sydney, Australia) is an Ecologist and received her doctoral degree in 1997 from the Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Sydney. Tracey has been conducting research on seals and cetaceans in Antarctica, Australia, and New Guinea for the past fifteen years. Tracey is an integral part of a team of international researchers under the International Polar Year Program (2007-2009) which is looking at how climate change is impacting upon the Southern Ocean ecosystem. Her component of this study focuses on the top-order-predators within the Antarctic pack ice zone using the leopard seal as a model. In order to understand how their pupping habitat may be influenced, Tracey has been using satellite telemetry, remote sensing, and acoustic surveys to identify their spatial preference. Then, to predict future impacts, she will dovetail data on their spatial preference with predictive ice models which have been specifically developed for varying climatic regimes. To look at how diet may be impacted, Tracey will use animal-borne imagery to identify their foraging patterns, and through stable isotope analyses, follow how these patterns have changed over long time periods. Using archived whisker samples, Tracey will unravel foraging patterns extending over the past century to understand how Antarctic fauna has changed with time. Tracey is not only committed to her own scientific research, but also to sharing her love of science with students of all ages and encouraging future generations of scientists. In 2005, Tracey was awarded the Young Tall Poppy Award for Excellence in Science from the Australian Institute of Policy and Science.
Associate Professor, University of Tokyo
Katsufumi Sato, Ph.D. is investigating comparative behavior and ecophysiology of aquatic animals using animal-borne recorders. He started studying body temperatures of sea turtles using time-temperature recorders. After receiving an M.S. (1992) and Ph.D. (1995) from Kyoto University, he moved to National Institute of Polar Research (NIPR) as a post-doctoral fellow of the Japan Society for Promotion of Science (JSPS). He received a position of Research Associate in NIPR (1998) and moved to Ocean Research Institute (ORI), The University of Tokyo, as an Associate Professor (2004). He has contributed to the development of data loggers including accelerometers and digital still picture systems in a team with Professor Yasuhiko Naito (NIPR). Now he is involved in BIO-LOGGING project of ORI, which aims to investigate aquatic animals and surrounding environment using integrated data sets including visual information.
Ecologist, Marine Turtle Research Program, U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service, La Jolla, California, U.S.A
Jeffrey Seminoff, Ph.D. is an Ecologist for the Marine Turtle Research Program of the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service in La Jolla, California, U.S.A. Since 1992, Jeff has been actively involved in ecological research and conservation of sea turtles in Mexico and Central America. In 1993, he co-founded the Coastal Conservation Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to educating people throughout the US and Mexico about current issues in marine ecology and conservation. After receiving an M.S. (1994) and Ph.D. (2000) from the University of Arizona, he was a Post-doctoral Fellow at the Archie Carr Center for Sea Turtle Research at the University of Florida from 2001-2002. Jeff’s research uses innovative approaches such as stable isotope analyses, biotelemetry, animal-borne imaging, and aerial surveys to elucidate the life history of sea turtles throughout the Pacific Ocean.
Research Director, Alaska Whale Foundation
Dr. Fred Sharpe is the Research Director of the Alaska Whale Foundation, and has spent the past twenty years studying humpback whales in southeast Alaska. His research focuses on the behavioral biology of socially foraging humpbacks, which he investigates aboard his 50-foot (15-meter) research vessel, Evolution. Fred's research has received international recognition; he has been awarded the Fred Fairfield Award for Innovative Marine Mammal Research and the Society for Marine Mammalogy Award for Excellence in Scientific Communication. Fred received his Ph.D. from Simon Fraser University in 2001, is co-author and illustrator of various books, including Wild Plants of the San Juan Islands, Birds of the San Juan Islands, and the soon to be released Songbirds of the Olympic Peninsula. Fred also co-authored Voyaging with the Whales, a book on the cooperative foraging behavior of humpback whales.
Senior Marine Fisheries Biologist, Massachusetts
Division of Marine Fisheries
Gregory Skomal, Ph.D. is a Senior Marine Fisheries Biologist with the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries and the director of the Massachusetts Shark Research Program (MSRP). He is also currently adjunct faculty at the University of Massachusetts School of Marine Science and Technology in New Bedford, Massachusetts, a guest investigator at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, and an adjunct scientist with the Center for Shark Research in Sarasota, Florida. He has an M.S. and a Ph.D. from the University of Rhode Island and Boston University, respectively. Through the MSRP, Greg has been actively involved in the study of life history, ecology, and physiology of sharks since 1987. Much of Greg's current research centers on the use of acoustic telemetry, satellite-based technology, and animal-borne imaging to assess the physiological impacts of capture stress on the post-release survivorship and behavior of sharks, tunas, and marlin.
Fisheries Research Scientist, Alaska Science Center,
U.S. Geological Survey, Juneau, Alaska
S. James Taggart, Ph.D. is a Fisheries Research Scientist at the Alaska Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey in Juneau, Alaska. Jim received a B.S. from Utah State University (1976) and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Cruz (1987). Since 1990, Jim has been studying the effectiveness of high latitude marine protected areas (MPAs) at Glacier Bay National Park. His research on MPAs has included work on an array of species including red king crabs, Pacific halibut, Tanner crabs and Dungeness crabs. To accomplish the MPA research goals, he has led a research team to develop new sonic tracking methods and technology that make it possible to determine the precise movements of highly mobile marine animals. Jim has developed collaborations with an array of scientists and industry technical experts from diverse disciplines to predict and determine how marine animal populations respond to creation of high latitude MPAs.
Senior Scientist and Walter A and Hope Noyes Smith Chair in the Biology Department of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Peter Tyack received an A.B. in Biology from Harvard College in 1976, and his Ph.D. in Animal Behavior from Rockefeller University in 1982. He is interested in social behavior and acoustic communication in whales and dolphins, and has conducted research on bottlenose dolphins, sperm whales, humpback whales, gray whales, right whales and beaked whales. He has focused on developing new techniques to monitor vocal and social behavior of marine mammals. These include methods to tag whales, to locate their calls and for video monitoring of behavior. Tyack’s research has focused on how these animals use sound for critical activities. This made him sensitive to the possibility that human-made sounds might pose a risk to marine mammal populations by disrupting critical behaviors. He has been involved in the design, planning and field work for a series of experiments investigating the possible impact on marine mammals of human-made sources of noise. The DTAG developed by Tyack and Johnson allows similar experiments with deep diving whales whose behavioral responses to noise have previously been impossible to study. Peter has co-authored four books, Animal Social Complexity: Intelligence, Culture, and Individualized Societies (2003), Cetacean Societies: Field Studies of Whales and Dolphins (2000), Marine Mammals and Low Frequency Sound (2000), and Low Frequency Sound and Marine Mammals: Current Knowledge and Research Needs (1994).
Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology,
University of California
Terrie M. Williams, Ph.D. is a Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California at Santa Cruz. For the past thirty years Terrie has studied the physiology of survival by large mammals in both marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Her research has taken her around the world including Antarctica to study Weddell seal foraging using animal-borne instrumentation, Africa, where she has studied cheetah and elephant physiology, and Alaska, where she evaluated the impact of the Exxon Valdez oil spill on sea otters and the role of killer whale predation on recent marine mammal declines. By defining the biological needs of animals, Terrie’s research identifies vulnerable species and pathways for their conservation. Interested in the challenges faced by underrepresented groups in the sciences she has used
interactive websites, popular articles (Natural History Magazine), and books (
The Hunter’s Breath about her Antarctic expeditions) to inspire the next generation of explorers.
