William Halliday
Conservation Scientist/Arctic Acoustics Program Lead
Western ArcticBill is a Conservation Scientist and the Arctic Acoustics lead in WCS Canada’s Arctic Beringia Program.
He is based in Victoria, and works closely with Dr. Steve Insley in WCS Canada’s Whitehorse office, as well as with Dr. Francis Juanes at the University of Victoria. Bill studies marine mammals and fish in the western Canadian Arctic using passive acoustic monitoring (i.e. underwater listening). He examines how climate change and vessel traffic influence these animals, and is particularly interested in underwater noise pollution and the development of effective marine spatial planning.
Bill has a strong background in quantitative ecology, with a specialization on habitat selection and animal behaviour, including four years of experience working at remote field sites in the Arctic on lemmings. Previously, Bill was a post-doctoral fellow with WCS Canada, completed his PhD at the University of Ottawa, and his MSc and BSc at Lakehead University.
Stories and op-eds
What the State of Whales tells us about conservation in Canada
Over half of Canada’s 40 whale species remain at some level of extinction risk.William Halliday, Stephen Insley
Scouting for Sound in the Arctic Depths
Our Western Arctic team is tracking the performance of a new listening device – a “glider” that can roam beneath the water’s surface picking up sounds and other ocean state information.William Halliday
A library full of sound: How a new collection of underwater sounds will help protect marine life
Forget that rule about keeping quiet in the library. I want my library to be full of noise, including sounds from a world that is mostly invisible to human eyes: the ocean.William Halliday
