ABOVE: Tom Norris sits at a computer listening to the sounds of marine mammals in the Arctic in 2006.
JEFF JACOBSON
Tom Norris, an independent marine scientist and founder of the bioacoustic research company Bio-Waves, died September 9 after a months-long battle against pancreatic cancer. He was 55.
Norris’s largest contributions to the field of marine bioacoustics and marine mammal research stem from the hydrophone arrays he designed for passive monitoring of the world’s whales and dolphins. Through the company he founded, he worked alongside groups such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Office of Naval Research (ONR) conducting acoustic surveys that ultimately informed federal policies regarding noise pollution and marine mammal conservation.
“His work as a marine biologist added valuable knowledge to science, and he ran his company with integrity and passion,” Norris’s friends and colleagues shared in a GoFundMe fundraiser to support his wife following ...
