Ross Nichols

Ross Nichols from the University of California, Santa Cruz is furthering research that will help IAATO operators minimise the risk of whale ship-strikes around the Antarctic Peninsula. 

Ross grew up in Aromas, California, a small town located inland of the Monterey Bay. Originally interested in working with animals in natural environments, Ross gravitated to marine science during high school, inspired by a course in marine biology. He pursued this interest with an undergraduate degree in Marine Biology followed by an M.S. degree in Ocean Sciences from UC, Santa Cruz. Ross was also part of a cognition and bioacoustics laboratory investigating the effects of high impulse noise on Artic seal species. He has pursued many opportunities working in remote field sites in Hawaii, California, Massachusetts and the Antarctic, performing scientific monitoring of seabird, pinniped and cetacean species. 

Most recently, Ross has been part of the Bio-Telemetry and Behavioural Ecology Laboratory advised by Dr. Ari Friedlaender at the University of California, Santa Cruz’s department of Ocean Sciences. Here, Ross has focused on investigating seasonal effects of Antarctic ecosystems and their interaction with the phenology and foraging ecology of humpback whales. His current projects involve investigating bubble net feeding behaviour and, separately, questions regarding anthropogenic interactions of Antarctic humpback whales.