Sounds of the Southern Ocean 2006 Explorers
Del Bohnenstiehl
Marine Geophysicist
Assistant Professor
Department of Marine Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
North Carolina State University
Del Bohnenstiehl uses sea-floor mapping and passive underwater acoustics to explore remote ocean areas. Understanding submarine earthquakes and their association with volcanic, tectonic, and hydrothermal processes has been the main focus of his research. Other interests include the use of underwater acoustics in support of a Comprehensive Test-Ban Treaty and the monitoring of ice-generated noise within the Antarctic. Bohnenstiehl received a BS in geology from Eastern Illinois University in 1995, an MS in geology from Vanderbilt University in 1998, and a PhD in marine geology and geophysics from Columbia University in 2002. After several years as a lecturer at Columbia University, he recently moved to North Carolina State University’s Department of Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences — one of the largest interdisciplinary physical science departments in the nation.
Robert Dziak, PhD
Principal Investigator
Sounds of the Southern Ocean 2006
Geophysicist
Oregon State University/Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, NOAA
As the principal investigator for the Sounds of the Southern Ocean project, Dr. Robert Dziak is responsible for the planning, logistics, and coordination of the numerous resources and agencies (both national and international) required for this experiment. He has served as a principal investigator within the Vents program of NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory since July 1995, and he leads the Acoustic Monitoring Project, a diversified program in marine geophysics and underwater acoustics that utilizes the US Navy's sound surveillance system for environmental applications. Dr. Dziak is also an associate research professor at Oregon State University in the Cooperative Institute for Marine Resource Studies. He received a BS in geology and mathematics from the University of Illinois in 1985, an MS in geophysics from the University of Memphis in 1988, and a PhD in geosciences from Oregon State University in 1997. Dr. Dziak was named a Presidential Young Investigator in 2000 and a Fulbright Scholar in 1999 in recognition of his efforts in using hydroacoustic techniques to detect sea-floor earthquake and volcanic activity throughout the world’s oceans. His work was highlighted by Discover magazine as one of the top 100 science discoveries of 2004.
Joe Haxel
Research Assistant and Technician
Oregon State University/Pacific Marine Environmental Lab, NOAA
Joe Haxel earned a BS in geology from University of California-Santa Barbara in 1997 and an MS in oceanography from Oregon State University in 2001. He joined the Vents acoustics group as a researcher and sea-going technician in 2001. He has participated in marine acoustic projects around the world and is involved in all aspects of the Vents acoustic monitoring project — from building and deploying instruments to processing and analyzing recovered hydroacoustic data. His interests include geophysical patterns in marine seismicity rates and the ambient noise fields in the world’s oceans.
Haru Matsumoto, PhD
Research Associate
Cooperative Institute for Marine Resources Studies /NOAA
Oregon State University
Newport, Oregon
Born and raised in Matsuyama, Japan, Haru Matsumoto came to the United States in 1976 as a graduate student at the University of Hawaii and studied ocean engineering. He was an acoustic engineer for the sidescan sonar survey group, SeaMARCII, in Hawaii, and served as an interim manager of the same group. He joined the Cooperative Institute for Marine Resources Studies /NOAA in Newport, Oregon, in 1991. He has been involved in developments of several other sonar systems, including an autonomous hydrophone system, often referred to as HARU-phone (or hydrophone for acoustic research in underwater), which has been the tool for a long-term monitoring of underwater acoustic events related to seismicity and marine mammal calls. Currently, 17 HARU-phones remain in operation in the Pacific and the Atlantic oceans, collecting data at the rate of about 1GB/day. Other systems Matsumoto is developing are a tether-free semi-real-time hydrophone float (QUEphone) and a wireless hydrophone buoy (WIBY). Matusmoto was the co-principal investigator for Sounds of the Southern Ocean 2005.
Kate Stafford
Oceanographer
Applied Physics Lab
University of Washington
Kate Stafford has been studying the sounds of large whales for the past 10 years. Her focus has been primarily on baleen whales in the North Pacific with a special emphasis on the Gulf of Alaska region, but she has worked in, or with data from, all the world's oceans. Her research interests include geographic variation in blue whale sounds worldwide; seasonal and geographic patterns in baleen whale vocalizations from long-term hydrophone arrays; and more recently, vocal behavior of Aleutian killer whales. This expedition is the culmination of a year of globe trotting to record whale sounds, including voyages to the East Antarctic, Australia, the Aleutians, and western Greenland.
