Philippe Rouget is the executive director and co-founder of the Coastal Wildlife Research Foundation. He has a long-standing interest in marine ecology and conservation biology with an emphasis on marine mammal studies. He competed a master's degree in behavioural ecology at the University of New Brunswick, where his research focused on the underwater vocal behavior of Weddell seals in Antarctica. In 2001, he served as the resident wintering scientist at Mawson Station, the Australian Antarctic Division's research base in Eastern Antarctica, as part of the 51st Australian National Antarctic Research Expedition. More recently, his role as a research scientist for several marine mammal monitoring and mitigation projects around the world have led him to work with several of the world's most endangered whales, including blue, bowhead and humpback whales. In total, he has completed over 20 expeditions to the Antarctic and has lectured on his work at a number of zoological symposiums, conferences and universities worldwide.

Charlie Short is a co-founder and chair of the Coastal Wildlife Research Foundation and currently lives in Victoria, British Columbia. He began his research career by studying endangered sea birds residing along the coastlines of the North West Pacific, although his research interests eventually led him to larger-order marine vertebrates. He now works extensively with marine mammals on both Pacific and Atlantic coasts, specializing in cetacean biology. Short's master's degree focused on the design and placement of marine protected areas (MPA) for large, wide-ranging whale species. He has studied gray whales off the west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, documenting movement patterns of the species and how they interact with their preferred prey types. Short has also conducted satellite tagging of sperm whales in the Gulf of Mexico, and blue and humpback whales off the coast of Californian and Oregon. Most recently, his research has focused on the foraging ecology of humpback whales in SE Alaska. He currently acts as marine specialist for the Government of British Columbia in the Marine Planning Office, where he directs his efforts on marine protected area design and mitigating negative impacts of marine resources used by coastal communities and First Nations groups. He sits on several endangered species recovery teams, including blue whales, fin whales, sei whales, northern right whales residing in western Canada and southern resident killer whales.

Volker Deecke was born in Germany and raised in Austria. He began studying animal biology in Berlin, but soon transferred to Vancouver where he completed a masters degree investigating the evolution of vocal dialects in resident (fish-eating) killer whales. For his Ph.D. at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, he studied the vocal behaviour of transient killer whales in British Columbia and Alaska, as well as the ability of harbour seals to distinguish between the calls of dangerous mammal-eating and harmless fish-eating killer whales. Deecke is currently a post-doctoral fellow and research associate for the Marine Mammal Research Unit in Vancouver studying the interactions between killer whales and Steller sea lions in Southeast Alaska. He is also interested in how mammal-eating killer whales have modified their vocal behaviour to avoid detection by their acoustically sensitive prey.

Terhune's primary research interests are concerned with communication and behaviour of marine mammals, with particular emphasis on the underwater acoustical communication of seals. He has studied marine mammals in the Bay of Fundy, the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Greenland and Antarctica, and these programs have involved collaborations with colleagues within and outside of Canada. Internationally recognized as an expert on marine mammal communication and behavior, Terhune has published 67 peer-reviewed papers and has given numerous conference and invited presentations at national and international meetings. Over the last 10 years, Terhune has worked in collaboration with the Australian Antarctic Division studying aspects of Weddell seal communication in Eastern Antarctica. His current research projects include examining the underwater vocalizations of killer whales in Antarctica, as well as studying aspects of how harp seals in the Arctic and Weddell seals in the Antarctic modify their acoustic behavior to avoid masking effects from background noise. Other studies include the potential of industrial noise pollution on the communication channels of marine mammals and the effect of acoustic deterrent devices used at aquaculture sites on the behaviour and distribution of marine mammals in the Bay of Fundy, Canada.

Michael Hann acts as head research technician and underwater specialist at CWRF. Born in British Columbia and one of our board of directors, Mike is committed to the preservation of our coastlines and the conservation of marine wildlife through his contribution to the design and application of marine research programs. His skills as a specialty dive instructor, wildlife naturalist and eco-guide have allowed him to work with marine mammals throughout the world, including endangered Orcinus orca in the North Pacific and breeding Megatera Novaeangliae (humpback whales) in Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, Australia. Michael will be leading the dive component of this year’s Antarctic Whale Program, as well as coordinating research activities above the surface as a field technician on both the ORCA and AHWP projects. This will represent his second expedition to Antarctica. He currently resides in Victoria, British Columbia.