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Kelly Benoit-Bird
Marine scientist From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Kelly Benoit-Bird (born 1976) is a marine scientist and senior scientist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute.[1] Benoit-Bird uses acoustics to study marine organisms and was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2010.[2][3]
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Work and discoveries
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Benoit-Bird has been fascinated by the ocean since fourth grade, and is the first in her family to attend college.[4] She earned her B.S. from Brown University and her Ph.D. from the University of Hawai‘i, later completing a postdoctoral fellowship at the Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology, where she advanced the use of active acoustics (sonar) to study animal behavior and spatial patterns in marine ecosystems.[5]
Benoit-Bird's research uses acoustical tools to study the interactions between predators and their prey in marine environments. Key linkages characterized in the lab's research include simultaneous tracking of predator-prey pairs such as northern fur seals and their prey juvenile pollock,[6] spinner dolphins and micronekton,[7] fish and zooplankton in thin layers in Monterey Bay,[8] and beaked whales and squid.[9] Benoit-Bird's research has also used acoustic measurements to examine how changes in the phase of the moon impact the migration of small marine organisms[10] and the ability of predators such as spinner and dusky dolphins to find their prey.[11] In research conducted off California, Brandon Southall and Benoit-Bird determined that beaked whales prefer to forage within a Navy test range due to the high density of prey available to the peaked whales in that region.[12] Benoit-Bird has also developed instrumentation to make acoustic measurements with submersibles[13] and autonomous vehicles.[14]
Awards
- 2020: Medwin Prize in Acoustical Oceanography, Acoustical Society of America (ASA)[15]
- 2017: Fellow, Acoustical Society of America[16]
- 2007, 2013: Kavli Frontiers Fellowship, United States National Academy of Sciences[17]
- 2010: MacArthur Genius Award.[3]
- 2009: R. Bruce Lindsay Award, for contributions in marine ecological acoustics, Acoustical Society of America[18]
- 2008: Ocean Sciences Early Career Award, American Geophysical Union[19]
- 2005: Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers
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