Rate My Professor Patrick Miller

Professor Patrick Miller serves as a Professor in the School of Biology at the University of St Andrews. He holds affiliations with the Sea Mammal Research Unit, Scottish Oceans Institute, Institute of Behavioural and Neural Sciences, Centre for Social Learning & Cognitive Evolution, Bioacoustics group, and the Marine Alliance for Science & Technology Scotland. Miller's research centers on the communication and behavioural ecology of marine mammals. He records and describes behaviour patterns to understand their function and examines how aquatic environments influence behaviour and physiology. Employing advanced tools such as hydrophone arrays to identify calling individuals within whale groups and animal-attached tags, his investigations focus on the effects of anthropogenic underwater noise on cetacean behaviour, including assessments of potential long-term harm from disturbances. This research contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goals including SDG 14 (Life Below Water), SDG 13 (Climate Action), and SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being).

As principal investigator on multiple projects, Miller has led initiatives such as 3S3: Behavioural response studies of acoustically-sensitive species in Norway, Off-range beaked whale studies (ORBS) near Jan Mayen, and expansions of sonar exposure experiments, funded by entities including the Office of Naval Research. His extensive publication record, comprising 148 research outputs, includes highly cited works like "Understanding the impacts of anthropogenic sound on beaked whales" (2006), "Deep-diving foraging behaviour of sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus)" (2006), "Whale songs lengthen in response to sonar" (2000), "Sperm whale behaviour indicates the use of echolocation click buzzes ‘creaks’ in prey capture" (2004), "Swimming gaits, passive drag and buoyancy of diving sperm whales Physeter macrocephalus" (2004), and recent papers such as "Automatic real-time GPS tracking of tagged cetaceans to conduct controlled exposure experimental protocols at sea" (2026) and "An experimental approach to assess the combined effects of multiple stressors on a large vertebrate species" (2026). Miller received the Kobe Award in 2013. He has delivered 16 invited talks, participated in six public and government advisory panels, organized the Sea Mammals and Sonar Symposium (2015), and contributed to public engagement activities.