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David William Johnston
Professor of the Practice of Marine Conservation Ecology
Marine Science and Conservation
david.johnston@duke.edu
Suite 3103, Grainger Hall, 9 Circuit Drive, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708
Research
More About This Person
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At a Glance
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Credentials
Education
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Academic Experience
Current Appointments & Affiliations
Previous Appointments & Affiliations
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Expertise
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Research
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Publications
Selected Publications
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Advising & Mentoring
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Selected Grants
Evaluation of Unoccupied Aircraft Systems (UASs) as an Alternative Data Collection Platform for Monitoring Marine Mammals
Research
Principal Investigator ·
Awarded by National Park Service ·
2019 - 2028
Expanding Capabilities for Tag Deployment on Marine Mammals using Small Unoccupied Aircraft Systems
Research
Principal Investigator ·
Awarded by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ·
2025 - 2027
Impacts of rebounding Asian elephant populations on forest structure and carbon storage
Research
Principal Investigator ·
Awarded by National Aeronautics and Space Administration ·
2024 - 2027
Drone support for Malaclemys terrapin inventory at Cape Lookout (CALO), Cape Hatteras (CAHA), and Gulf Islands (GUIS) National Seashores
Research
Principal Investigator ·
Awarded by National Park Service ·
2025 - 2027
High-resolution mapping of drainage ditches in eastern North Carolina and southeastern Virginia for wetland restoration planning and saltwater intrusion vulnerability assessment
Research
Co-Principal Investigator ·
Awarded by NC Department of Environmental Quality ·
2025 - 2026
Connectivity for a Complex Life Cycle: Conserving the Crystal Skipper Butterfly in a Coastal Urban Environment
Research
Principal Investigator ·
Awarded by North Carolina State University ·
2024 - 2026
NC Flies to MaRRS
Research
Co-Principal Investigator ·
Awarded by Burroughs Wellcome Fund ·
2021 - 2025
Wild 3.0: Water Innovation and Leadership Program Development
Conference
Principal Investigator ·
Awarded by Spring Point Partners LLC ·
2024 - 2025
REU Site: Undergraduate Research in Estuarine and Coastal Marine Systems
Research
Senior Investigator ·
Awarded by National Science Foundation ·
2021 - 2025
NSF Engines: Type-1: North Carolina Ecosystem Technology (NCET) Economic Engine
Research
Senior Research Scientist ·
Awarded by University of North Carolina - Wilmington ·
2023 - 2025
Wild 2.0: Water Innovation and Leadership Program Development
Inst. Training Prgm or CME
Principal Investigator ·
Awarded by Spring Point Partners LLC ·
2023 - 2024
Microclimate Controls on the Distributions and Dynamics of Penguin Colonies and Moss Peatbanks on the Western Antarctic Peninsula
Research
Principal Investigator ·
Awarded by National Science Foundation ·
2021 - 2024
Research to Operationalize the use of UAS in Wetland Monitoring in support of the NOAA/NERRs science mission.
Research
Principal Investigator ·
Awarded by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ·
2020 - 2024
SMARTWHALES: INNOVATIVE, SPACE-BASED SOLUTIONS FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE NORTH ATLANTIC RIGHT WHALE
Research
Principal Investigator ·
Awarded by Hatfield Consultants, LLP ·
2021 - 2024
Tracking shoreline position, elevation change, and habitat shifts in the Rachel Carson Reserve using UAS-based remote sensing
Research
Principal Investigator ·
Awarded by NC Division of Coastal Management ·
2022 - 2023
Monitoring hurricane impacts and understanding coastal ecosystem resilience using deep learning and a tip-and-cue approach to integrate satellites and drones
Fellowship
Principal Investigator ·
Awarded by National Aeronautics and Space Administration ·
2019 - 2022
Region-wide integration of UAS technology into DOD natural resource management through demonstration, coordination, training, and outfitting.
Research
Principal Investigator ·
Awarded by Naval Facilities Engineering Command ·
2019 - 2022
Enhancing the capability and efficiency of DoD land management by using commercial unmanned aerial vehicles to assess the impacts of fires and coastal storms
Research
Principal Investigator ·
Awarded by Department of Defense ·
2018 - 2021
Collaborative Research: Foraging behavior and ecological role of the least studied Antarctic krill predator, the Antarctic krill predator, the Antarctic minke whale (Balaenoptera bonaerensis)
Research
Co-Principal Investigator ·
Awarded by National Science Foundation ·
2017 - 2021
Mapping Intertidal Oyster Reefs in Apalachicola Bay
Research
Principal Investigator ·
Awarded by Florida State University ·
2020 - 2020
Rapid, High-Resolution Mapping of Coastal Strategic Habitats
Research
Principal Investigator ·
Awarded by NC Division of Marine Fisheries ·
2017 - 2020
LTER Palmer, Antarctica (PAL): Land-Shelf-Ocean Connectivity, Ecosystem Resilience and Transformation in a Sea-Ice Influenced Pelagic Ecosystem
Research
Principal Investigator ·
Awarded by University of California - Santa Cruz ·
2017 - 2019
Developing rapid, cost-effective methods for evaluating coastal biodiversity and resilience
Research
Principal Investigator ·
Awarded by World Wildlife Fund ·
2019 - 2019
Ecological Barcodes Scanning from UAVs
Research
Principal Investigator ·
Awarded by National Geographic Society ·
2018 - 2019
UAS Imagery
Research
Principal Investigator ·
Awarded by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ·
2018 - 2018
Community-based Marine Debris Removal at Harkers Island, NC
Research
Principal Investigator ·
Awarded by North Carolina Coastal Federation ·
2017 - 2018
Unoccupied aircraft survey imagery of marine mammals at Otter Island, AK
Research
Principal Investigator ·
Awarded by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ·
2017 - 2018
Assessing a Novel Method for Geolocating Subtidal Survey Transects
Research
Principal Investigator ·
Awarded by Southern California Research Learning Center ·
2017 - 2018
LTER Palmer, Antartica (PAL: Land-Shelf-Ocean Connectivity, Ecosystem Resilience and Transformation in a Sea-Ice Influenced Pelagic Ecosystem
Research
Principal Investigator ·
Awarded by Oregon State University ·
2014 - 2018
Monitoring coastal and submerged habitats of the Cape Lookout National Seashore using Unoccupied Aircraft Systems
Research
Principal Investigator ·
Awarded by National Park Service ·
2016 - 2018
Discovering how sand tiger sharks rely on shipwrecks of the "Graveyard of the Atlantic" for key habitat
Research
Principal Investigator ·
Awarded by SeaWorld & Busch Gardens Conservation Fund ·
2017 - 2018
Assessing cycles of geophysical disturbance within the Rachel Carson National Estuarine Research Reserve (RC NERR) using Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS)
Research
Principal Investigator ·
Awarded by NC Department of Environmental Quality ·
2017 - 2018
Indices of oyster reef health using UAS remote sensing imagery within the North Carolina central coastal region
Fellowship
Principal Investigator ·
Awarded by North Carolina State University ·
2017 - 2018
Using unmanned aerial systems to inform marine debris removal strategies and assess post-removal habitat change in the North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve
Research
Principal Investigator ·
Awarded by NC Division of Coastal Management ·
2016 - 2018
Integrating the History and Ecology of Shipwrecks with On-Demand Remote Sensing: Digital Conservation of the Ghost Fleet of Mallows Bay
Research
Principal Investigator ·
Awarded by National Geographic Society ·
2017 - 2017
A marine Unoccupied Aircraft Systems (UAS) facility: Building capacity for high-resolution remote sensing and analysis of marine and coastal ecosystems
Construction/Renovation
Principal Investigator ·
Awarded by National Science Foundation ·
2016 - 2017
LTER Palmer, Antartica (PAL): Land Shelf Ocean Connectivity, Ecosystem Resilience and Transformation
Research
Principal Investigator ·
Awarded by Oregon State University ·
2014 - 2017
Unmanned aircraft surveys of gray seals at Muskeget Island, January 2015
Research
Principal Investigator ·
Awarded by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ·
2016 - 2017
Usability Assessments of UAV technology for TNC missions in the Asia-Pacific Region
Research
Principal Investigator ·
Awarded by Nature Conservancy ·
2016 - 2016
Delphinid Cetaceans: Quantifying Behavioral Ecology and Response to Predators Using a Multi-Species Approach
Research
Co-Principal Investigator ·
Awarded by Strategic Environmental Research & Development Program ·
2011 - 2016
Reconstructing past coastal ecology of the Newport River Estuary from historical data
Research
Principal Investigator ·
Awarded by NC Sea Grant ·
2014 - 2016
A Digital Guide for Invertebrates of North Carolina
Research
Co-Principal Investigator ·
Awarded by NC Sea Grant ·
2013 - 2014
RAPID: Linking the movement patterns and foraging behavior of humpback whales to their prey across multiple spatial scales within the LTER study region
Research
Co-Principal Investigator ·
Awarded by National Science Foundation ·
2012 - 2013
Quantifying the effects of human interactions on spinner dolphins in resting bays in Hawaii
Research
Principal Investigator ·
Awarded by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ·
2009 - 2013
Using marine mammal strandings and observer data to estimate life history parameters and assess demographic impacts of marine fisheries on odontocete populations in the northwestern Atlantic Ocean
Research
Principal Investigator ·
Awarded by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ·
2009 - 2013
Augmenting Studies of the Effects of Human Interactions on Spinner Dolphins in Resting Bays in Hawaii
Research
Principal Investigator ·
Awarded by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ·
2010 - 2012
Prey Fields and habitats of deep diving odontocetes: 3D characterization and modeling of beaked and sperm whale foraging areas in the Tongue of the Ocean
Research
Research Scientist ·
Awarded by Office of Naval Research ·
2008 - 2012
Quantifying the effects of human interactions on spinner dolphins in resting bays in Hawaii, and assessing the effectiveness of time area closures as a proposed mitigation approach.
Research
Principal Investigator ·
Awarded by Marine Mammal Commission ·
2010 - 2011
North Pacific beaked whale habitat analysis using Platforms of Opportunity (POP) data
Research
Co-Principal Investigator ·
Awarded by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ·
2009 - 2010
Using predictive habitat modeling to identify potential calving habitats of North Pacific right whales in the Pacific Islands Region
Research
Principal Investigator ·
Awarded by North Pacific Research Board ·
2007 - 2009
