Founders Highlight Series: Dolphin Research Institute

We are excited to interview the Executive Director of the Dolphin Research Institute (DRI), Jeff Weir!

DRI was founded in 1991 by a passionate group of community members and marine scientists who were concerned about the implications of human disturbance on local dolphin populations. It has grown into a leading not-for-profit conservation and research organisation that actively engages the community in environmental sustainability. 

DRI’s leadership and research facilitated legislation and regulation to license dolphin-based tourism. Victoria led the world in this space by the end of the 1990s. The International Whaling Commission did a case study on what DRI achieved several years ago. The Institute continues to closely monitor and research dolphin and whale populations in Port Phillip and Westernport Bay! It hosts various citizen science opportunities and education programs and promotes Victoria’s dolphin distancing measures.

We discuss all the incredible projects at DRI, and the ‘hot tips’ about executing not-for-profit environmental organisations.

1. What was the initial motivation to lead the founding of the Dolphin Research Institute over 30 years ago?

It came from a relatively warm, fuzzy, and slightly naive sense of protecting dolphins. Dolphins didn’t know what they were to be protected from, and they didn’t know what the risks were, and they didn’t consequently know what the needs would be. But we knew they needed to be protected, and efforts were lacking in this area.

It started with our work on the sustainable tourism dolphin project and has since expanded to various impact-driven purposes. 

2. What is the current focus for DRI, and how are you making an impact for the Victorian marine environment?

At DRI, we are focused on four impact areas to drive change. We want our research to make an impact and commit to our mission to safeguard the health of Victoria’s dolphins, whales, and their coastal environment. Our impact areas are:

• Dolphins and Whales. We coordinate long-term monitoring projects on common and bottlenose dolphins and whales and report our findings to environmental managers and the community. This research informs policymakers and project managers about where dolphin and whale populations are most vulnerable and, consequently, the locations that demand protection measures. We’re always looking to expand our monitoring projects to get as much data as possible! Our primary study is the long-term research on common dolphins as there are other research efforts put into bottlenose dolphins, so we hope to fill the data gaps. We also conduct the Two Bays Whale project which involves integrating citizen science to the identification catalogue of whale species in Victoria. And excitingly, we’ve just received funding to expand this project to more regions across the state, focusing on assessing locations for wind farms and gas projects.

• Environment. DRI leverages its research on marine mammals for environmental assessments and reporting. These findings provide information on the ecological health in Victorian waters as it takes on human disturbances and climate change.

• Community. We host a variety of marine education programs to promote sustainable behavioural change and encourage the next generation of environmental leaders and marine scientists. 

• A strong organisation. We take a whole-of-organisation approach to improve our capacity for impact evaluation, partnerships, fundraising, risk management, and communication. We aim to become a role model for other purpose-driven organisations and deliver a real impact for our communities.

3.Can you tell us about the education program at DRI?

Promoting community inclusion and awareness is at the heart of our operations at DRI. We host 3 major education programs for various ages and skill sets to achieve this. The ‘i sea i care’ ambassador program was built on the whole understanding of social science and motivating behaviour and culture change. It was built to address how DRI can become part of the culture of as many schools as possible. And so, we developed champions at primary schools who are trained to be pure educators, and every year they educate over 20,000 of their peers in their school directly through lessons in their classrooms. They also speak to up to 43,000 people in assemblies per year and volunteer 25,000 hours of volunteer time per year. The program becomes part of the school culture and aims to make the next generation environmentally aware and smart.

Our undergraduate intern program is available for students from quite diverse backgrounds. These students gain experience and support most of our programs at the same time.

We are also excited to announce that we have started up a new role of Intern Director in partnership with the Master of Environment and Sustainability degree at Monash University. This is to have someone on board with a fresh lens on multidisciplinary environmental sustainability and to help develop skills for the next generation of directors as they will have the opportunity to input and learn at board discussions. We have just had someone take on this role for the first time which is very exciting!  

Finally, we have our Research Fellowship for environmental scientists to join the DRI team, coordinate our research projects, and contribute to other programs. This is based on a clear understanding that our core long-term research is quite basic science and perfect for early-career scientists to create impact and also gain a start to their careers.  

4. What are the key citizen science projects that DRI is coordinating and how can one get involved?

There are quite a few citizen science projects going on at DRI. We have the general dolphin and whale sightings which are logged through PodWatch and the data is appropriately added to the Two Bays Whale database or general dolphin sighting data. We then have the Two Bays Whales tracker, which currently has nine volunteers trained to do timed surveys. In 2022, we had 33 whales verified per 100 hours of effort. 

COVID gave us an opportunity to take stock on a lot of things and look at what’s working and what isn’t. We’ve put a lot of time and effort into developing programs that can remain sustainable long-term. We have recently partnered with Killer Whales Australia to ensure that our Two Bays Whale monitoring stays on track and is not reliant purely on Dave (like it is currently). This coordination will also involve a new adopt-a-whale program, so stay tuned for new updates!

5. As an environmental not-for-profit working in Victoria for over 30 years, what would be your advice for new not-for-profits starting up in this space?

First, it is crucial to develop a clear strategy that addresses why you are doing it and the impact you want to make. There needs to be a clear link between external needs and the impact that will be achieved. Part of having a good strategy is about how you will be funded and how you leverage limited resources to achieve the maximum outcome. If you have a good strategy built by some good people, then you'll be in a better spot to navigate your financial strategy. 

Next, if your goal is to build a sustainable organisation that will last a long time, you can’t rely solely on grants. Most organisations start off with getting some grants and they definitely have some merit, but you can’t sustain an organisation to deliver impact based entirely on grants. The government grant structure is based effectively on its abuse of volunteers. It is getting harder and more unsustainable to be awarded grants, and often you end up with all these little short-term projects that don’t add up to anything in the long term. 

Finally, getting a skill-based board is absolutely essential. You want to be getting practical and strategic advice from experts in their space who also believe in the mission and impact you want to achieve.