Jason Bruck

Jason N. Bruck, Ph.D. is a cetacean scientist and tenured Associate Professor of Biology at Stephen F. Austin State University in Texas, where he directs the Bruck Integrative Biology Lab. He is also Director of Research and Education at Marineland Florida. His research focuses on dolphin communication, cognition, sensory biology, social behavior, conservation and welfare, with particular emphasis on how dolphins recognize and remember one another, how they use signature whistles as individually distinctive signals, and how human-generated noise affects cetacean behavior and cognition. His research has demonstrated that dolphins can retain memories of former companions’ signature whistles for decades and has provided evidence that these whistles function in ways analogous to names. He is also a co-developer of P.H.A.S.M., a drone-based system designed to collect respiratory samples from wild dolphins and porpoises for noninvasive health assessment. Bruck earned his Ph.D. in Behavioral Biology from the University of Chicago and has conducted research with cetaceans in both managed-care and wild settings. He is a founding board member of the Marine Mammal Research Network and a scientist member of the Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums. His work has been featured by National Geographic, The Washington Post, BBC, NPR and other international media outlets.