Patrick Jones Accepted into USC's Ph.D. Program in Marine Science
Patrick Jones, a 2025 graduate of the University of South Carolina Beaufort’s M.S. program in Computational Science, has been accepted into the Ph.D. Marine Science program at the University of South Carolina in Columbia. This is one of the nation’s most competitive programs in the field.
Jones was selected from a pool of approximately 150 applicants and will join the laboratory of Dr. Erin Meyer-Gutbrod, where his doctoral research will focus on the acoustics of the North Atlantic right whale, a critically endangered species.
The achievement represents a major milestone for USCB's Computational Science and Natural Science programs and highlights the university’s growing national impact in research and student preparation.
Jones’s master’s thesis, “Measuring Underwater Radiated Noise of Vessels and Understanding the Soundscape at a Shallow Coastal Ocean Site in the Cape Fear Shipping Channel, North Carolina, USA,” was supported through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Transportation/Maritime Administration (DOT/MARAD), UNC Wilmington, and USCB.
The research subaward to USCB’s laboratory totaled $216,521, and Jones received a competitive stipend throughout his three-year graduate program—reflecting the university’s investment in high-impact, student-centered research.
“This project would not have been possible without Patrick Jones," said Dr. Eric Montie,
professor of Biology and director of USCB's Marine Sensory and Neurobiology Lab. "Through interdisciplinary training in Computational Science and Marine Science, he
developed the programming skills needed to address one of the biggest challenges in
underwater acoustics—understanding how sound propagates in shallow water. "
Scientists need to accurately measure how loud large container ships are as they enter
ports throughout the Southeast U.S., where vessel noise can interfere with marine
life. Jones' work focused on developing a reliable and cost-effective method for measuring underwater
radiated noise (URN) of vessels in shallow coastal waters, an area where traditional
deep-water approaches are often impractical and expensive.
Using controlled acoustic tones, passive acoustic arrays, AIS vessel tracking, and
range-dependent acoustic modeling, Jones successfully characterized sound propagation
and measured source levels from 15 vessels.
Among the key findings, his research demonstrated that range-dependent acoustic models more accurately matched real-world measurements than traditional spreading loss models, and that lower-cost LS1 acoustic recorders performed comparably to higher-end AMAR G4 systems. Seasonal soundscape analyses also identified optimal periods for vessel noise monitoring and times to avoid due to elevated ambient sound levels.
In his doctoral work, Jones will apply this expertise to understanding the acoustic
environment of the North Atlantic right whale, providing critical data that can inform
conservation strategies and help reduce human impacts on one of the world’s most endangered
marine mammals.
"North Atlantic right whales migrate south each winter to give birth along the Southeast
U.S. coast—a unique and vulnerable calving ground where reducing noise impacts is
vital," Montie said.
Jones' acceptance into the Ph.D. program stands as a testament to USCB’s commitment to excellence in research, interdisciplinary training, and preparing students for leadership in science.
- USCB -
CW 1/27/2026