Michael Nicholas received the B.Sc. degree (with Honors) in physics from the University of Wales, Cardiff, U.K., in 1979, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in physics from the University of Mississippi at Oxford in 1982 and 1988, respectively. His research was in experimental nuclear physics, with studies of Exotic atoms undertaken at the Los Alamos Meson Physics Facility (LAMPF) and at the Center for European Nuclear Research (CERN).
After a brief period working in the oil and gas exploration industry at Hycalog in Gloscester, U.K., he was a Post-Doctoral Research Associate at the National Center for Physical Acoustics, where he studied basic physical mechanisms for bubble-related underwater ambient noise generation and acoustic surface scattering. In 1992, he became a Research Physicist at the Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC, where he was initially involved in the Navy's Critical Sea Test, studying surface scattering and reverberation. He currently works in the Advanced Acoustics Concepts Section of the Acoustics Division at the Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC. He continues studies in bubble-related acoustics and also specializes in shallow-water matched field processing.
Dr. Nicholas is a member of the Acoustical Society of America.