Research
Our projects lie intentionally at the intersection of ocean planning, marine ecology & modeling, and inform processes related to the emerging Blue Economy. Our collaborations with regional ocean management organizations, U.S. national and international planning bodies involve providing and informing on species density and distribution, migrations, oceanographic processes, and effects of anthropogenic disturbances on mammals species. Many of our projects apply spatial analysis to solve current challenges facing our ocean.
Ocean Planning & Management
MGEL has been supporting regional and international ocean planning efforts regarding marine conservation issues in the U.S., High Seas, and Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (ABNJ). We’ve provided data and technical support for the Ecologically and Biologically Significant Marine Areas (EBSA) initiative of the Convention of Biological Diversity. Lead the Marine-life Data and Analysis Team (MDAT) to represent abundance, biodiversity, and species richness for groups of species— all of these datasets are hosted by MGEL for use by several regional, national, and international portals. Our PhD students are active with Duke University’s involvement in both science and policy engagements in the arena.
- iAtlantic, intefrated assessment of Atlantic marine ecosystems in space and time
- Provide scientifica data and technical support for Ecologically and Biologically Significant Areas (EBSAs)
- Migratory Connectivity in the Ocean (MiCO)
- Marine-life Data and Analysis Team to support regional ocean planning and management
- OBIS-SEAMAP, augmenting our understanding of the distribution & the ecology of marine mammals, seabirds, sea turtles, and sharks & rays
- Regional Environmental Management Plans in collaboration with the International Seabed Authority
- Scientific partner to Global Fishing Watch developing methods & applications for advancements in remote sensing.
- Ocean governance to protect and manage outstanding areas in the high seas
Featured publications
- Wedding, L., Maxwell, S., Hyrenbach, D., Dunn, D., Roberts, J., Briscoe, D., Hines, E., & Halpin, P. (2016). Geospatial Approaches to Support Pelagic Conservation Planning and Adaptive Management. Endangered Species Research. https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00716
- Ban, N. C., Maxwell, S. M., Dunn, D. C., Hobday, A. J., Bax, N. J., Ardron, J., Gjerde, K. M., Game, E. T., Devillers, R., Kaplan, D. M., Dunstan, P. K., Halpin, P. N., & Pressey, R. L. (2014). Better integration of sectoral planning and management approaches for the interlinked ecology of the open oceans. Marine Policy. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2013.11.024
- Dunn, D. C., Maxwell, S. M., Boustany, A. M., & Halpin, P. N. (2016). Dynamic ocean management increases the efficiency and efficacy of fisheries management. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 201513626. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1513626113
Marine Ecology
MGEL studies the structure and dynamics of marine-life habitats, populations, and interactions among organisms and the surrounding environment. The lab has been developing and delivering marine mammal habitat-based density modeling for an expanding list of regions [The US Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico, US Navy Atlantic Fleet Area, the Arctic and Mediterranean], creating open sourcing marine geospatial ecology tools, defining marine turtle high use areas, status of the global ocean and fisheries, and assessing the health of the deep-sea and ecosystems across the full span of the Atlantic Ocean.
- Marine mammal modeling for U.S. Navy and NOAA permitting and planning
- Data collection and mapping for the State of the World's Sea Turtles
- Implementing partner for Biologically Important Areas for Cetaceans (BIAs)
- Migratory Connectivity in the Ocean (MiCO)
- Density Surface Modeling Working Group
- iAtlantic, an integrated assessment of the Atlantic marine ecosystems in space and time
- Marine Geospatial Ecology Tools
- Behavioral response to sonar in the Atlantic
- Understanding the ecological boundary of the Sargasso Sea
- Cetacean sound & mapping working group
- Advancing global fisheries conservation in partnership with the Nippon Foundation Nereus Program
- Strategic collaborations for loggerhead marine turtle conservation
Featured publications
- Hewitt, J., Schick, R. S., & Gelfand, A. E. (2021). Continuous-Time Discrete-State Modeling for Deep Whale Dives. Journal of Agricultural, Biological and Environmental Statistics
- Roberts, J. J., Best, B. D., Dunn, D. C., Treml, E. A., Halpin, P. N. (2010). Marine Geospatial Ecology Tools: An integrated framework for ecological geoprocessing with ArcGIS, Python, R, MATLAB, and C++. Environmental Modelling & Software, 25, 1197-1207.
- Roberts, J. J., Best, B. D., Mannocci, L., Fujioka, E., Halpin, P. N., Palka, D. L., Garrison, L. P., Mullin, K. D., Cole, T. V. N., Khan, C. B., McLellan, W. A., Pabst, D. A., & Lockhart, G. G. (2016). Habitat-based cetacean density models for the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. Scientific Reports, 6, 22615. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep22615
Blue Economy
Society’s growing need for ocean-derived food, materials, energy, trade, and knowledge is fueling growth in next-generation maritime or “blue” technologies —an emerging idea called the blue economy. MGEL provides geospatial modeling to bring innovative, practical insights to bear on urgent ocean sustainability challenges such as offshore development projects, wind energy, and fisheries.
Featured publications
- Golden, J. S., Virdin, J., Nowacek, D. P., Halpin, P., Bennear, L., & Patil, P. G. (2017). Making sure the blue economy is green | Nature Ecology & Evolution. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 1. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-016-0017
- Bryan, T., Virdin, J., Vegh, T., Kot, C. Y., Cleary, J., & Halpin, P. N. (2020). Blue carbon conservation in West Africa: a first assessment of feasibility. Journal of Coastal Conservation, 24(1), 8.
- Best, B. D., & Halpin, P. N. (2019). Minimizing wildlife impacts for offshore wind energy development: Winning tradeoffs for seabirds in space and cetaceans in time. PLOS ONE, 14(5), e0215722. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0215722