About the Program

Eric Montie

University of South Carolina Beaufort

Address: Dept. of Natural Sciences, Univ. of South Carolina Beaufort, One University Blvd., Bluffton, SC 29909
Phone: 843.208.8107
E-mail: emontie@uscb.edu
Personal Website: https://academics.uscb.edu/natural-sciences/faculty/eric-montie.html?fbclid=IwAR2VhD4zaIiBVR3PhGQBR4UgkqLewS8P4JQXtFcpM0HIYur61i2KgNeQbU8


Education

Ph.D., 2006, MIT/WHOI Joint Program in Biological Oceanography

MS, 1999, Clemson University, Environmental Toxicology

Post-BS studies, 1994, Harvard University, Biochemistry

BS, 1993, Univ. Rhode Island, Zoology

Research Interests

• Acoustic communication of marine life
• Marine soundscapes
• Neuroimaging of marine mammals
• Hearing of fish and marine mammals
• Effects of chemical pollutants and marine toxins on the brain and hearing
• Impacts of stressors on marine organisms and ecosystems (i.e., water quality, chemical
pollution, noise pollution, climate change)

Current research projects

  • Spatial patterns and temporal rhythms of estuarine soundscapes
  • Understanding spawning aggregations of sciaenids using passive and active acoustics
  • Precise and long-term acoustic monitoring of fish spawning aggregations as a means to detect phenological shifts in reproduction associated with climate change
  • Effects of dredging and shipping noise on acoustic communication of fish and bottlenose dolphins
  • Neuroimaging of marine mammal brains
  • Effects of chemical pollutants on the brain and hearing of marine mammals

Publications

  • Transue, L., Monczak, A., Tribble, C., Marian, A., Fair, P., Ballenger, J., Balmer, B.,
    Montie, E.W. (2023). The biological and anthropogenic soundscape of an urbanized port
    – the Charleston Harbor estuary, South Carolina, USA. Submitted revision to PLOS ONE
    on 02/24/2023.
  • Monczak, A., McKinney, B., Soueidan, J., Marian, A., Seder, A., May, E., Morgenstern, T.,
    Roumillat, W., Montie, E.W. (2022). Sciaenid courtship sounds correlate with juvenile
    appearance and abundance in the May River, South Carolina, USA. Marine Ecology
    Progress Series, 693:1-17 (FEATURE ARTICLE).
  • Song, Z., Salas, A.K., Montie, E.W., Laferriere, A., Zhang, Y., Mooney, T.A. (2021).
    Sound pressure and particle motion components of the snaps produced by two
    snapping shrimp species (Alpheus heterochaelis and Alpheus angulosus). The Journal of the
    Acoustical Society of America 150, 3288-3301
  • Soueidan, J., Warren, A., Pearson, M., Montie, E.W. (2021). A changing estuary:
    understanding historical patterns in salinity and fecal coliform levels in the May River,
    SC. Marine Pollution Bulletin 168, 112384
  • Marian, A.D., Monczak, A., Balmer, B.C., Hart, L.B., Soueidan, J., Montie, E.W. (2021). Long-term passive acoustics to assess spatial and temporal vocalization patterns of Atlantic common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in the May River estuary, South Carolina. Marine Mammal Science 37, 1060-1084.
  • Monczak, A., McKinney, B., Mueller, C., Montie, E.W. (2020). What’s all that racket! Soundscapes, phenology, and biodiversity in estuaries. PLoS ONE 15(9): e0236874. https://doi. org/10.1371/journal.pone.0236874
  • Mueller, C., Monczak, A., Soueidan, J., McKinney, B., Smott, S., Mills, T., Ji, Y., Montie, E.W. (2020). Sound characterization and fine-scale spatial mapping of an estuarine soundscape in the southeastern USA. Marine Ecology Progress Series 645, 1-23. (FEATURE ARTICLE).
  • Monczak, A., Mueller, C., Miller, M.E., Ji, Y., Borgianini, S.A., Montie, E.W. (2019) Sound patterns of snapping shrimp, fish, and dolphins in an estuarine soundscape of the southeastern USA. Marine Ecology Progress Series 609, 49-68.
  • Monczak, A., Ji, Y., Soueidan, J., Montie, E.W. (2019). Automatic detection, classification, and quantification of sciaenid fish calls in an estuarine soundscape in the Southeast United States. PLoS ONE 14(1): e0209914. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209914.
  • Smott, S., Monczak, A., Miller, M., Montie, E.W. (2018). Boat noise in an estuarine soundscape – a potential risk on the acoustic communication and reproduction of soniferous fish in the May River, South Carolina. Marine Pollution Bulletin 133, 246-260.