PROVINCETOWN, MA – After a wide-reaching search, the Center for Coastal Studies is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Daniel Palacios as the new Director of the Center’s Right Whale Ecology Program. Dr. Palacios, who will begin in May, will succeed Dr. Charles “Stormy” Mayo, co-founder of the Center for Coastal Studies and long-time director of right whale research. Dr. Mayo is retiring after more than 45 years at the Center.
Dr. Palacios currently serves as the Endowed Associate Professor in Whale Habitats, Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Sciences at Oregon State University, where, in 2020, he established the Whale Habitat, Ecology & Telemetry (WHET) Lab.
Dr. Palacios’ research focuses on the environmental factors that affect whale ecosystems. Specific research interests include quantitative ecology and habitat mapping, analysis and visualization of telemetry and bio-logging data, characterization of critical habitat for large whales, and the study of long-distance migration and navigation in whales.
He received his B.Sc. in Marine Biology from the University of Bogotá Jorge Tadeo Lozano, Columbia, and his Ph.D. in Oceanography from Oregon State University.
Among his many professional affiliations, Dr. Palacios is the President-elect of the Society for Marine Mammalogy, and a Member of the Committee of Scientific Advisors on Marine Mammals for the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission.
“The Center for Coastal Studies is internationally recognized for its whale research. I’m looking forward to continuing the important studies of right whales that the Center has been conducting for many decades and to contributing to solving the conservation challenges they face,” said Dr. Palacios.
North Atlantic right whales are an endangered species, with a total population estimated at just 350 individuals. One of their most important habitats is Cape Cod Bay. For the past 30 years, researchers at the Center for Coastal Studies have worked to learn more about right whales, their use of Cape Cod Bay and their habitat requirements. The Center’s current research includes aerial surveillance, habitat and food resource monitoring and investigation into the acoustic behavior of right whales.
About the Center for Coastal Studies
The Center for Coastal Studies (CCS) in Provincetown MA is a non-profit organization dedicated to understanding, preserving and protecting marine ecosystems and the coastal environment through applied research, education and public policy initiatives. For more information go to: www.coastalstudies.org.
Photo: Dr. Daniel Palacios; Photo credit: Jami Ivory, Oregon State University.
Read more in the Provincetown Independent.
