Joyce Sanks, outside holding a young sea tortoise

Joyce Sanks

Ph.D. Student

Marine Biology

Fairbanks, AK, 99775
jsanks@alaska.edu

 

Education

Vanderbilt University
B.A. Earth & Environmental Science
2024

 

Thesis Title

Effects of Anthropogenic Sound on Killer Whale (Orcinus orca) Communication in the Gulf of Alaska

 

Research Overview

My research examines how anthropogenic noise influences killer whale communication in the Gulf of Alaska. Increasing vessel traffic has transformed marine soundscapes, potentially interfering with the acoustic signals that killer whales rely on for social interactions and coordinated foraging. Using long-term passive acoustic monitoring datasets from multiple sites across the Gulf of Alaska, I investigate how varying levels of vessel noise affect killer whale vocal behavior. By comparing soundscapes that range from relatively low-noise environments to areas with heavy vessel traffic, this research aims to improve our understanding of how human-generated noise influences marine mammal behavior and habitat use. The findings will contribute to ongoing efforts to assess the ecological impacts of underwater noise and inform conservation and management strategies for killer whales in Alaska.

 

Specialties

  • Marine acoustics
  • Marine mammal behavior
  • Passive acoustic monitoring

 

 

Biography

Joyce Sanks earned her B.S. in Earth and Environmental Sciences from Vanderbilt University, where her honors thesis investigated the echolocation abilities of a fossil river dolphin through analysis of inner ear anatomy. This research sparked her interest in underwater acoustics and the impacts of sound on marine wildlife. Following graduation, Joyce worked as a nesting beach technician with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. She later worked as a sonar technician for a sea turtle conservation nonprofit. There, she helped to implement and develop a novel active acoustic monitoring project aimed at detecting sea turtles and preventing entrapment. Combining her long-standing interest in marine mammals with experience in underwater acoustic instrumentation, Joyce's graduate research uses passive acoustic monitoring to investigate killer whale vocal communication and the effects of anthropogenic noise in the Gulf of Alaska. Her work focuses on understanding how these animals communicate in a region characterized by sustained levels of vessel traffic.

 

Advisors

 

Awards

EMERGE Alaska Fellowship
NSF EPSCoR Graduate Research Fellowship Program
2026