Bioacoustics Team Lead
Center for Marine Acoustics, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management

Erica Staaterman is a marine bioacoustician who is fascinated with the chirps, rumbles, buzzes, and grunts of marine species. During her academic career, she conducted bioacoustics research on a range of species and ecosystems. Today, she is the bioacoustics team lead at the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s (BOEM) Center for Marine Acoustics. BOEM oversees the responsible development of energy and marine mineral resources on the outer continental shelf. Many industrial activities produce underwater noise, and Erica’s role is to help interpret potential impacts of that noise on marine life. She also helps to advise on strategies to mitigate impacts and to fill key knowledge gaps in a rapidly evolving field. While she is not actively involved in field research anymore, she enjoys interfacing with the scientific community and applying scientific findings to marine policy. She is an avid nature enthusiast and while she misses the days of SCUBA diving for her work, she still manages to get outside as much as possible. She was featured on Shark Week in 2021 in an episode that explored how sharks respond to underwater sounds (see: https://www.discovery.com/shows/brad-paisleys-shark-country).