Dr. David Weller has been studying the biology and ecology of whales and dolphins for 40 years. In this lecture he shares insight from his lifetime of research on gray whales, including updates on the Eastern North Pacific and Western North Pacific populations.
Dr. Weller's specialization is in the areas of wildlife science, population assessment, and evaluation of potential disturbance impacts from human activities. He received his Ph.D. in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences from Texas A&M University in 1998. Prior to that, he completed B.A. and M.A. degrees at the University of Hawaii and San Diego State University, respectively. He has been in residence at Southwest Fisheries Science Center since 1998.
Dr. Weller has decades of experience designing field projects, collecting data, and completing analyses to produce scientific end products. He has supervised multi-cultural field teams in remote and often dangerous conditions and oversaw laboratory and analytical work. A major component of his research since 1997 has been focused on gray whales, and he has authored or co-authored 90+ papers or reports on this species. These papers cover both the eastern and western North Pacific, including areas off Mexico, California, Canada, Russia, Korea, Japan and China.