Dave is the Director of the Marine Mammal and Turtle Division at Southwest Fisheries Science Center and has been studying the biology and ecology of whales and dolphins for nearly 40 years. He received his Ph.D. in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences from Texas A&M University in 1998. Prior to that, he completed his undergraduate and master’s degrees at the University of Hawaii and San Diego State University, respectively. His specializations are in the areas of marine mammal biology and ecology, population assessment and evaluation of potential disturbance impacts from human activities.

Dave 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 as well as overseeing 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 80+ papers or reports on the species. These works cover both the eastern and western North Pacific, including waters off Mexico, California, Canada, Russia, Korea, Japan and China.