Exploring and Protecting
the Oceans Around Us
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..Dr. Jack Lawson.............................
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Biopsychology is one of those college majors that you probably have never heard of. Tell your parents you want a PhD in it and they might imagine you sitting in a lab doing esoteric experiments on fruit flies. My guest, Dr. Jack Lawson, dreamed of exploring the oceans and emulating Jacque Cousteau. Now he is working for the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Whether it is studying sea lions, leatherback turtles, whales or other species at risk, his findings will help enlighten all of us on how to help protect our big blue planet.
Questions or comments? Email Dr.Cruz at: thepetdoctor@petliferadio.com.
Dr. Jack Lawson joined the Department of Fisheries an Oceans in 2002, as a research scientist working on cetaceans and leatherback sea turtles in the Newfoundland and Labrador region. He is a member of the Society of Marine Mammalogy.
Dr. Lawson has been studying marine mammals since 1981. His research has examined (1) social behaviour and communication of seals, (2) seal and cetacean diet and foraging ecology, (3) physiological processes such as digestive efficiency and metabolism of captive seals, (4) abundance of seals, cetaceans, and leatherback sea turtles, and review of the potential impacts of manmade sounds (such as seismic exploration) on marine mammals and sea turtles. He has conducted these studies in the wild, and using captive animals, at sites in Canada, the UK, the United States, and Russia. Current research on some of these topics is ongoing within the context of the Canadian Species at Risk Act, with cooperative research in Newfoundland and Labrador, and other DFO regions.
