Field Bioacoustics and Soundscape Ecology

Course Dates

Dates Tentative: May 19, 2025 to June 2, 2025

Prerequisites

Course Description

Students will gain hands-on introductory experience in bioacoustics and soundscape research, including 1) exploring sound production and hearing across multiple animal taxa, 2) deploying acoustic sensors in terrestrial and underwater habitats, and 3) learning fundamental data analysis methods to quantify, catalog, and interpret sounds. We will focus on “Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM)” which involves non-invasive recording of sounds present in an environment (i.e., soundscapes) with microphones (when deployed on land) and hydrophones (when deployed underwater). We will learn how PAM gives us insights into animal presence and behavior, and how animals’ detection of and responses to sound play key roles in ecology. Gulls and other seabird residents of the Ilses of Shoals will be the main focal animals for terrestrial field work, and opportunistic recordings may be made of other vocalizing animal inhabitants including mammals, fishes, and invertebrates. Students may also explore effects of human-made sounds on natural soundscapes. At the conclusion of Field Bioacoustics and Soundscape Ecology, students will be able to:

• Deploy and recover passive acoustic sensors (microphones, hydrophones) in terrestrial and aquatic habitats.
• Analyze and visualize bioacoustic data (soundscapes, animal vocalizations) using software commonly used by bioacoustics researchers.
• Conduct acoustic playback experiments in the field and measure animals’ (e.g., herring gulls) behavioral responses to sound.
• Explain how animals across multiple taxa (e.g., mammals, birds, fishes) hear and produce sounds, and appreciate the diverse roles that sounds play in ecology.
• Apply fundamental physical acoustic, biological, and ecological concepts to interpret bioacoustic data and results.