Hal Whitehead
University Research Professor
Biology (2006-2016)
Education
- 1973, BA Pure Mathematics, Cambridge University (Senior Optime)
- 1977, MA Cambridge University
- 1977, Diploma in Mathematical Statistics, Cambridge University
- 1981, PhD Zoology, Cambridge University
Professional affliliations
- 2005-2010, World Wildlife Fund Canada - Conservation and Science Committee
- 2005-, Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada - Member of Marine Mammal Sub-Committee
- 2001-2004, Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada - Member and Co-Chair of Marine Mammal Sub-Committee
- 2004-, Department of Fisheries and Oceans - Gully Marine Protected Area Advisory Committee
- 1983-.Species Survival Commission, International Union for the Conservation of Nature - Member of Cetacean Specialist Group
- 1986, 1988, 2011 International Whaling Commission Scientific Committee - Invited Expert
Honours and Awards
- 2010, “Sperm whales; social evolution in the ocean” listed #6 in Guardian (UK) Top Ten Whale Books
- 2007, Marsh Award for Marine and Freshwater Conservation, Zoological Society of London
- 2002, SuperSpeaker, Duke University Marine Laboratory, Beaufort, North Carolina
- 2002, “Top 100 Science Stories of the Year”, Discover Magazine
- 2001, Testimony to U.S. House of Representatives, Subcommittee on Fisheries Conservation, Wildlife and Oceans
- 2001, Hefner Lecturer, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio
- 2000, Faculty of Science Killam Professor, Dalhousie University
- 2000, “Hero for the Planet”, Time for Kids
- 1998, COSEWIC Service Award
- 1986, NSERC University Research Fellowship
Publications
Numerous refereed journal publications, popular articles, conference proceedings, book chapters and books — Analyzing animal socieites: quantitative methods for vertebrate social analysis. University of Chicago Press 2008. Sperm whales; social evolution in the ocean, University of Chicago Press, 2003; and (with Mann, J., R.C. Connor, and P.L. Tyack, editors) Cetacean Societies. Field Studies of Whales and Dolphins, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 2000. Dr. Whitehead is also the author of the true-life adventure book, Voyage to the Whales, Stoddart: Toronto, 1989.
Websites
E-mail: Dr. Hal Whitehead
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A whale of a tale
It's the type of encounter that changes one's life. Hal Whitehead had recently finished studying mathematics at Cambridge University in England and had absolutely no intention of studying cetaceans. While sailing solo along the coast of Nova Scotia (Canada) in 1974, he experienced his first encounter with a whale. It was a minke whale. He was fascinated and the questions piled up in his head. After a few summers of sailing with the whales off Canada's East Coast, he decided to undertake a doctorate on the humpback whales of the Northwest Atlantic.
Soon after the completion of his PhD, he left for the Indian Ocean in search of sperm whales. It wasn't long before these mysterious and social animals had fascinated him. Although he is now a professor at Dalhousie University in Halifax he still studies this species of cetacean more than any other in Nova Scotia, Chile and the Galapagos Islands.
Through all of this, he has not put aside his interest in mathematics, far from it. His work on behaviour, social structure and the protection of sperm whales has led him to develop sophisticated analytical tools. Here his knowledge of mathematics, statistics and computing have proven indispensable. These tools are now used by other researchers studying whales.
The results of his work have led him to become interested in general questions concerning the social structure of mammals. He is particularly intrigued by the numerous parallels that exist between sperm whales and African elephants. He is also studying how knowledge and behaviour are transmitted by way of the social links that exist between animals, a phenomenon biologists refer to as "culture".
(Source: Whales Online) |
