I'm a research faculty member in the Department of Physics & Astronomy and the Signal Research Center (SRC). For information on the SRC's projects in optical and nuclear physics contact Dr Winstead.  My participation in these projects relates to my doctoral work at Ga Tech.

My colleagues Drs. Grayson Rayborn (Physics & Astronomy) and Stan Kuczaj (Psychology), and I are also involved in marine acoustics through the Littoral Acoustics Demonstration Center (LADC).  The LADC consortium includes Southern Miss, the University of New Orleans, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, and participants from the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL Stennis).  I have a long-standing interest in marine acoustics, both from my service as a naval officer and as a  geophysicist in the oil exploration industry.  

We are active in two main areas of marine acoustics: marine mammal studies and seismic airgun calibration.  For field measurements we employ the Environmental Acoustic Recording System--EARS.

In the marine mammal work we study the vocalizations of several different species, as well as develop tracking procedures.  (See Dr. Kuczaj's website for more information.)  

In the airgun work we conduct field measurements, perform data analysis, and model sound propagation from seismic industry air guns.  The airgun is a device used to produce a burst of acoustic energy in the ocean, which acts essentially as a sonar pulse.  It releases a burst of high pressure air--a bubble--typically 1000-2000 psi several meters below the surface, and this in turn results in a pulse of acoustic energy.  Processing geophysicists use reflections from the seafloor and underlying geologic strata to produce three-dimensional maps, which oil company geologists use to identify traps for oil and gas, and manage depletion of active oilfields. 

Seismic data processing of this sort is very sophisticated.  The people who do this are very good at extracting subsurface geology from reflection data and the industry is  very knowledgeable about the energy output of their guns, but has never concentrated on the propagation of the acoustic output over large horizontal distances in the water.  This issue has become an environmental concern in recent years, and has opened up research opportunities.