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.

Recent Publications   More Publications

1. R.L. Brownell, Jr., D.P. Nowacek, & K. Ralls, Hunting Cetaceans with Sound: A Worldwide Review, edited by G.P. Donovan, Journal of Cetacean Research and Management, vol. 10 no. 1 (2008), pp. 81-88  [abs]
2. Balmer, B.C., Wells, R.S., Nowacek, S.M., Nowacek, D.P., Schwacke, L.H., McLellan W. A., Scharf, F.S., Rowles, T. K., Hansen, L.J., Spradlin, T.R, and Pabst, D.A., Seasonal abundance and distribution patterns of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) near St. Joseph Bay, Florida, USA, Journal of Cetacean Research and Management (Accepted, 2008)
3. Hogg, C., Barton, K., Shorter, K.A., Miller, P.J.O., Nowacek, D.P., & T. Rogers, Determination of steroid hormones in whale blow: is it feasible?, Marine Mammal Science (Accepted, 2008)
4. R. B. Tyson and D. P. Nowacek and P. J. O. Miller, Nonlinear phenomena in the vocalizations of North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) and killer whales (Orcinus orca), Journal Of The Acoustical Society Of America, vol. 122 no. 3 (September, 2007), pp. 1365 -- 1373, ISSN 0001-4966
5. M. E. Chapla and D. P. Nowacek and S. A. Rommel and V. M. Sadler, CT scans and 3D reconstructions of Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris) heads and ear bones, Hearing Research, vol. 228 no. 1-2 (June, 2007), pp. 123 -- 135, ISSN 0378-5955