Liz Ferguson

Liz Ferguson is a marine ecologist and founder of Ocean Science Analytics, specializing in marine mammal ecology, passive acoustic monitoring, and ocean data analysis. Her work focuses on understanding marine mammal occurrence and behavior through acoustic observations and developing tools that make complex ocean data more accessible to researchers.

Ferguson has used acoustic observations from OOI’s cabled arrays off the Oregon coast to study marine mammal vocalizations and underwater noise. In a 2023 study published in Frontiers in Marine Science, she and her colleagues analyzed OOI hydrophone recordings to evaluate how acoustic indices respond to marine mammal calls and human-generated noise, including passing ships. The findings help advance the use of automated acoustic analysis for monitoring marine biodiversity and ecosystem health.

More recently, her work with PAMPortal, a cloud-based platform for exploring marine mammal acoustic detections and soundscape metrics, has helped make OOI acoustic observations more accessible to researchers. The platform features OOI data as a built-in example dataset, allowing users to explore ocean soundscapes through an interactive interface.

Her work highlights the value of OOI acoustic observations for marine mammal research and demonstrates how accessible analytical tools can support broader use of ocean observing data.