Moira Brown, Ph.D.
Scientist Emeritus
Kraus Marine Mammal Conservation
T: 508-237-3852
mwbrown@neaq.org
Education
Doctor of Laws honoris causa, Mount Allison University, Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada, 2012
Ph.D., Marine Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, 1995
B.Sc., Environmental Conservation and Land Planning, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, 1985
B.Ed., Physical Education, McGill University, June 1977
About
Dr. Moira Brown is a Scientist Emeritus who has worked with the Right Whale Research Team at the Anderson Cabot Center since 2003. She lives on Campobello Island, NB Canada where she is a Senior Scientist with the Canadian Whale Institute/Campobello Whale Rescue Team. Before, she was a research scientist at the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown, MA, and a professor at the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, ME. She has focused on research and conservation issues of right whales in the western North Atlantic since 1985, when she joined the Right Whale Research Team as a volunteer. Her objective is to apply the results of right whale research to work with industry and government to develop, implement, and monitor measurable mitigation measures to reduce the risk of vessel strikes. She has many years of experience working in partnership with the shipping and commercial fishing industries in Canada and internationally through industry-focused stewardship programs. By collaborating with the shipping and commercial fishing industries as well as various agencies in the Canadian federal government, Moira aims to help marine industries provide maximum protection for right whales with minimal disruption to their operations. Her work in Canada has led to many conservation successes for right whales and paved the way for future mitigation measures as new right whale habitats emerge.
Select Publications
Mayo, C.A., L. Ganley, C.A. Hudak, E. Burke, S. Brault, M.K. Marx, and M.W. Brown. In press. Distribution, Demography, and Behavior of North Atlantic Right Whales (Eubalaena glacialis) in Cape Cod Bay Massachusetts: 19982013. Marine Mammal Science.
Reimer, J, C. Gravel, M.W. Brown, and C.T Taggart. 2016. Mitigating vessel strikes: the problem of the peripatetic whales and the peripatetic fleet. Marine Policy 68: 91-99. doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2016.02.017
Baumgartner, M.F, D.M. Fratantoni, T. Hurst, M.W. Brown, T.V.N. Cole, S.M. Van Parijs, and M.P. Johnson. 2013. Real-time reporting of baleen whale passive acoustic detections from ocean gliders. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 134:1814-1823. doi.org/10.1121/1.4816406
Pendleton, D.E, P.J. Sullivan, M.W. Brown, T.V.N. Cole, C.P. Good, C.A. Mayo, B.C. Monger, S. Phillips, N.R. Record, and A.J. Pershing. 2012. Weekly predictions of North Atlantic right whale Eubalaena glacialis habitat reveal influence of prey abundance and seasonality of habitat preferences. Endangered Species Research, 18: 147-161. doi.org/10.3354/esr00433
Silber, G.K., A.S.M. Vanderlaan, A. Tejedor Arceredillo, L. Johnson, C.T. Taggart, M.W. Brown, S. Bettridge, and R. Sagarminaga. 2012. The role of the International Maritime Organization in reducing vessel threat to whales: Process, options, action and effectiveness. Marine Policy, 36: 1221–1233. doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2012.03.008
Clark, C.W., M.W. Brown and P. Corkeron. 2010. Management applications of visual and acoustic surveys for North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) in Cape Cod Bay, Massachusetts, 2001-2005. Marine Mammal Science 26: 837–854. doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-7692.2010.00376.x
McLeod, B.A., T. R Frasier, M.W. Brown, and B.N. White. 2010. DNA profile of a 16th century western North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis). Conservation Genetics 11:339-345. doi.org/10.1007/s10592-009-9811-6
Brown, M.W., D. Fenton, K. Smedbol, C. Merriman, K. Robichaud-LeBlanc and J. Conway. 2009. Recovery Strategy for the North Atlantic Right Whale (Eubalaena glacialis) in Atlantic Canadian Waters. Species at Risk Act Recovery Strategy Series. Fisheries and Oceans Canada. vi + 66p. publications.gc.ca/pub?id=9.579439&sl=0
Brown, M.W., S.D. Kraus, C.K. Slay, and L.P. Garrison. 2007. Surveying for discovery, science, and management. Chapter 4 in Kraus, S.D. and R.M. Rolland (eds.). The Urban Whale: North Atlantic Right Whales at the Crossroads. Harvard University Press. Cambridge. MA. doi.org/10.1644/08-MAMM-R-133.1
Knowlton, A.R. and M.W. Brown. 2007. Running the Gauntlet – Right Whales and Vessel Strikes. Chapter 14 in Kraus, S.D. and R.M. Rolland (eds.) The Urban Whale: North Atlantic Right Whales at the Crossroads. Harvard University Press. Cambridge. MA. doi.org/10.1644/08-MAMM-R-133.1
News
Awards
2009 Environmental Stewardship Award, Bay of Fundy Ecosystem Partnership
2006 Lifetime Achievement Award, International Fund for Animal Welfare
2003 Canadian Environment Award, Gold Medal for Restoration and Rehabilitation
2002 Gulf of Maine Visionary Award, Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment
Affiliations