John Whiteman

Dr. John Whiteman is Chief Research Scientist for Polar Bears International. He is also an Associate Professor of Biology at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, where he teaches animal biology and trains graduate students and postdoctoral scholars. He is also a Conservation Fellow with the San Diego Zoo. Dr. Whiteman holds a B.Sc. in Biology from the University of St. Thomas (2003), and a M.Sc. in Zoology and Physiology (2008), and a Ph.D. in Ecology (2014) from the University of Wyoming. He has authored or co-authored over 30 peer-reviewed studies, book chapters, and commentaries on carnivore ecophysiology, and his research has been funded by institutions such as National Science Foundation, Environmental Protection Agency, and North Pacific Research Board. His 2015 study published in Science refuted a long-standing hypothesis that polar bears enter a “walking hibernation” state during summer. Instead, he and his co-authors found that polar bears in the Southern Beaufort Sea must endure food deprivation when the summer sea ice retreats to the deep water of the central Arctic basin; this project was the first major expedition to follow polar bears north into the Arctic ice cap via icebreaker-based helicopters. Recent projects have included discovering that the immune system activity of polar bears increases when they use terrestrial habitat, and quantifying how changes in polar bear body condition can influence reproductive choices, such as prioritizing health over raising cubs. Dr. Whiteman joined PBI in 2022 to advance polar bear conservation and enhance public scientific understanding.