Tom Norris

Mr. Norris is the founder and president of Bio-Waves, Inc. He has over 15 years of research experience in the marine and biological sciences with a focus on marine bioacoustics. He has served as the principle investigator on research projects to study the acoustic ecology and behavior of marine mammals, the effects of noise on marine organisms, and has developed a variety of new technologies to study large marine vertebrates. Mr. Norris has led research efforts around the world for a variety of organizations including the U. S. government, universities and the private sector.

Mr. Norris received his bachelor`s degree in Zoology from U.C. Santa Barbara and a graduate degree in Marine Science from Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, in Monterey Bay, CA. He has held federal research permits to conduct work on protected and endangered species of marine mammals. Mr. Norris is an active member of several professional and scientific research societies, including the Acoustical Society of America and the Society for Marine Mammalogy.

Prior to founding Bio-Waves Inc., Mr. Norris worked for five years as a Senior Scientist with the Marine Biology and Ecology Division of Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), one of the largest employee-owned companies in the United States. Before his tenure at SAIC, Mr. Norris was the sole-proprietor of a marine acoustics consulting company (Bio-Waves) where he served as a principle investigator, scientific consultant, and senior staff scientist on a variety of research projects.

Since founding Bio-Waves in 2006, Mr. Norris has been involved in the development and implementation of a variety of new bio-acoustic technologies including passive acoustic monitoring systems (PAMs) for the U.S. Coast Guard, towed arrays for the U.S. Navy and NOAA, analysis of diving and 3-D tracking of sperm whales (in collaboration with Scripps Institution of Oceanography) for the Minerals Management Service. Most recently, he has been serving as the principle investigator for a multi-year research project to investigate the acoustic ecology and behavior of minke whales in the Hawaiian and Pacific Islands.