About the Program

Brian Balmer

National Marine Mammal Foundation

Phone: 877.360.5527 ext. 216
E-mail: brian.balmer@nmmf.org
Personal Website: https://www.nmmf.org


Education

Ph.D., 2011, University of North Carolina Wilmington

Research Interests

  • Marine mammal health and population structure
  • Impacts of anthropogenic stressors on protected species

Current and planned research projects

  • Abundance and distribution patterns of bottlenose dolphins throughout the southeastern U.S.
  • Development of new tools to study the movement patterns of small cetaceans in the northern Gulf of Mexico 
  • Assessing site-specific contaminant profiles in bottlenose dolphin populations
  • Consortium for Advanced Research on Marine Mammal Health Assessments (CARMMHA)

Publications

  • Lander, M., J. Reid, K. Lairde, A. Westgate, and B. Balmer. 2018. Tagging and Tracking. In: CRC Handbook of Marine Mammal Medicine: Health, Disease and Rehabilitation, 3rd Edition. Eds. L.A. Dieraut and M.D. Gulland. CRC Press, Boca Paton.
  • Balmer, B., C. Sinclair, T. Speakman, B. Quigley, K. Barry, C. Cush, M. Hendon, K. Mullin, E. Ronje, P. Rosel, L. Schwacke, R. Wells, and E. Zolman. 2016. Extended movements of common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) along the northern Gulf of Mexico’s central coast. Gulf of Mexico Science 33: 93-97.
  • Balmer, B. C., G. M. Ylitalo, L. E. McGeorge, K. A. Baugh, D. Boyd, K. D. Mullin, P. E. Rosel, C. Sinclair, R. S. Wells, E. S. Zolman, and L. H. Schwacke. 2015. Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in blubber of common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) along the northern Gulf of Mexico coast, USA. Science of the Total Environment 527-528: 306-312.
  • Urian, K., A. Gorgone, A. Read, B. Balmer, R. Wells, P. Berggren, J. Durban, T. Eguchi, W. Rayment, and P. Hammond. 2015. Recommendations for photo-identification methods used in capture-recapture models with cetaceans. Marine Mammal Science 31: 298-321.
  • Balmer, B. C., R. S. Wells, L. E. Howle, A. A. Barleycorn, W. A. McLellan, D. A. Pabst, T. K. Rowles, L. H. Schwacke, F. I. Townsend, A. J. Westgate, and E. S. Zolman. 2014. Advances in cetacean telemetry: a review of single-pin transmitter attachment techniques on small cetaceans. Marine Mammal Science 30:656-673.
  • Balmer, B. C., R. S. Wells, L. H. Schwacke, J. H. Schwacke, B. Danielson, R. C. George, S. M. Lane, W. A. McLellan, D. A. Pabst, K. Sparks, T. R. Speakman, F. I. Townsend, and E. S. Zolman. 2014. Integrating multiple techniques to identify stock boundaries of common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 24: 511-521.
  • Schwacke, L. H., C. R. Smith, F. I. Townsend, R. S. Wells, L. B. Hart, B. C. Balmer, T. K. Collier, S. DeGuise, M. M. Fry, L. J. Guillette, S. V. Lamb, S. M. Lane, W. E. McFee, N. J. Place, M. C. Tumlin, G. M. Ylitalo, E. S. Zolman, and T. K. Rowles. 2014. Response to Comment on Health of Common Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in Barataria Bay, Louisiana, Following the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. Environmental Science and Technology 48: 4209-4211. 
  • Balmer, B. C., L. H. Schwacke, R. S. Wells, J. D. Adams, R. C. George, S. M. Lane, W. A. McLellan, P. E. Rosel, K. Sparks, T. Speakman, E. S. Zolman, and D. A. Pabst. 2013. Comparison of abundance and habitat usage for common bottlenose dolphins between sites exposed to differential anthropogenic stressors within the estuaries of southern Georgia, U.S.A. Marine Mammal Science 29: E114-E135.
  • Balmer, B. C., L. H. Schwacke, R. S. Wells, R. C. George, J. Hoguet, J. R. Kucklick, S. M. Lane, A. Martinez, W. A. McLellan, P. E. Rosel, T. K. Rowles, K. Sparks, T. Speakman, E. S. Zolman, and D. A. Pabst. 2011. Relationship between persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and ranging patterns in common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) from coastal Georgia, USA. Science of the Total Environment 409: 2094-2101.
  • Kucklick, J., L. Schwacke, R. Wells, A. Hohn, A. Guichard, J. Yordy, L. Hansen, E. Zolman, R. Wilson, J. Litz, D. Nowacek, T. Rowles, R. Pugh, B. Balmer, C. Sinclair, and P. Rosel. 2011. Bottlenose dolphins as indicators of persistent organic pollutants in waters along the US East and Gulf of Mexico coasts. Environmental Science & Technology 45: 4270-4277.