Biography
Dr. Ruth H. Carmichael is a Senior Marine Scientist at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab and an Associate Professor of Marine Sciences at the University of South Alabama. She came to Alabama from Maine, where she was Assistant Professor of Marine Science at the University of Maine-Machias. Carmichael holds an MA (1998) and PhD (2004) from Boston University at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA. She is Director of DISL’s Manatee Sighting Network and operates the Alabama Marine Mammal Stranding Network. She is an Editor for two scientific journals, Past President of the Gulf Estuarine Research Society, Co-chair of the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program’s Science Advisory Committee, and Member-At-Large for the Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation.
DISL’s Manatee Sighting Network
Founded in 2007, the Dauphin Island Sea Lab’s Manatee Sighting Network is the only formal manatee sighting network in the U.S. The Network receives and maps sightings from all along the Gulf of Mexico coast. The program is committed to sharing data with other researchers, managers, and the public. The Network provides valuable information regarding where manatees live and what they do while in Alabama and Mississippi waters. The Network is housed at DISL on Dauphin Island, AL.
DISL’s Alabama Marine Mammal Stranding Network
Founded in 2011, the Alabama Marine Mammal Stranding Network is a cooperative regional stranding network partner, which works with NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service to respond to dolphin and whale strandings and with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to respond to manatee strandings in Alabama, Mississippi, and the Florida panhandle.
For more information, to make a donation, or to report a sighting or stranding visit us at:
DISL’s Manatee Sighting Network
Phone: 1-866-493-5803
Web: http://manatee.disl.org
Email: manatee@disl.org
Facebook: Mobile Manatees Sighting Network
DISL’s Alabama Marine Mammal Stranding Network
Phone: 1-877-WHALE-HELP
Web: http://almmsn.disl.org
Email: ALMMSN@disl.org