Nicole Duplaix

Nicole Duplaix (born 1943) is a French-American zoologist, ecologist, teacher, and photographer who specializes in studying giant otters. She discovered her passion for otters while volunteering at the Bronx Zoo, where the zoo's curator introduced her to these endangered sea and river mammals. She earned her master's degree at the University of Paris in 1965 and 1966. She later studied giant otters in South America. In one year of this study, she managed to identify 249 different animals. She also helped Suriname officials learn how to preserve river otters, though they still face endangerment today. She returned to the University of Paris to complete her PhD. Her 1980 dissertation concerned a colony of river otters on Suriname's Kapoeri Creek. She also worked as a fund-raiser and speaker for the World Wildlife Fund.

She was briefly married to a commodities broker, but divorced him in 1974. Most recently, she has settled in Oregon and is a senior lecturer at Oregon State University.