Naomi Rose, Ph.D. is senior scientist for Humane Society International (HSI), specializing in international marine mammal protection issues. Her areas of expertise include whaling, whale and dolphin watching, marine ecotourism, the dolphin-safe tuna label, marine sanctuaries, acoustic harassment, captive marine mammals (including swim-with-the-dolphin programs), the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and the sport hunting of polar bears, as well as the protection of walruses, seals, sea lions, manatees, dugongs and sea otters.

A member of the International Whaling Commission’s (IWC) Scientific Committee, Rose has been invited to participate in subcommittees on environmental concerns and whale watching since 2000. She has co-edited the State of the Cetacean Environment Report at this forum since 2003 and has authored or co-authored numerous journal articles and book chapters on marine mammal science, welfare, and policy, including the HSUS report The Case Against Marine Mammals in Captivity.

Rose is a member of the Society for Marine Mammalogy and Sigma Xi, the scientific research society. She served as a lecturer and teaching assistant in graduate school and presents college-level lectures on marine mammal welfare, conservation and policy at several east coast universities annually.

Rose received a doctorate in biology—with a dissertation on the social dynamics of male orcas in British Columbia—from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 1992, and a bachelor’s degree in biology and French from Mount Holyoke College in 1984.