MMRP STAFF
Director: Paul Nachtigall, Ph.D.
My research interests focus on the sensory and perceptual processes of dolphins and small whales. Past research has focused on taste reception, vision, hearing and echolocation of toothed whales and dolphins. Currently conducting research on hearing (sound localization, low frequency audiometrics, evoked auditory potential measurements as a way to study hearing in large whales, examining hearing while animals echolocate), echolocation (determining acoustic processes of echolocation via phantom echo experiments, effects of noise on dolphins, modeling discrimination abilities) with further interest in aiding stranded animals and may be conducting future studies on vision and taste reception.
Chief Scientist: Whitlow Au, Ph.D
My research has focused on all aspects of dolphin echolocation, including: signal production, beam pattern of incident signals, detection and discrimination abilities, hearing beam patterns, computational models of dolphin hearing, artificial neural network models, and biomimetic models. More recently, I have investigated seasonal and diurnal patterns of humpback whale chorusing in the Hawaiian Islands. I am also interested in the bioacoustics of marine organisms beginning with the detection and characterization of sounds to the social and ecological implications of sounds.
Administrative Assistant: Linda Choy
Visiting Scientist: Sasha Supin, Ph.D.
Research focuses on odontocete hearing abilities using neurophysiological techniques (auditory evoked potentials).
Post Doctoral Fellowship: Marc O. Lammers, Ph.D.
Email Oceanwide Science Institute
My research focuses on the social acoustics of Hawaiian spinner dolphins as well as acoustic methods for 3-D tracking marine mammals (spinner dolphins and humpback whales).
Post Doctoral Fellowship: Julie Oswald, Ph.D. (incoming)
Graduate Students
Kim Andrews Research: Spinner dolphin population genetics
Stuart Ibsen Research: Phantom echolocation
Aran Mooney Research: Net detection via sonar, effects of anthropogenic noise on hearing, AEP audiograms and temporal resolution, humpback whale population genetics, fish bioacoustics. and pen wire repair specialist.
Mark Muller Research: Phantom echolocation
Aude Pacini Research: Odontocete hearing
Michael Richlen Research: Foraging ecology of spotted dolphins using echosounding and acoustic TDRs.
Alison Stimpert Research: Humpback whale social sound production.
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Lora Reeve (incoming)
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Alexis Rudd (incoming)
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Laura Kloepper (incoming)
Undergraduates / Interns
Eric Littman: Data analysis for temporary threshold shifts, humpback social sounds & pinger; fish preparation and general assistance
Affiliated Scientists and Graduates of MMRP
Kelly Benoit-Bird, Ph.D. Research: Odontocete prey distibution and movement patterns, fish bioacoustics
Brian Branstetter, Ph.D. Research: Biological sonar, auditory signal processing, sound localization and imaging, computational modeling.
Michiel Schotten Research: Bioacoustic acquisition
Michelle Yuen Ph.D. Research: Comparison between AEP and behavioral audiograms, perception of complex mutli-harmonic sounds
Kristen Taylor, M.S. Research: Portable AEP system to test hearing of stranded animals
Husbandry / Training Staff / Support Staff
Marlee Breese Head trainer / husbandry coordinator / HISRG director
Stephanie Vlachos: trainer
Dera Look: trainer
Vinnie DePaolo: Can design, build or fix anything