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Bioacoustics Researcher
Studies sounds produced by living organisms — from whale songs to forest soundscapes — for conservation and research.
Did you know?
Healthy coral reefs are noisy, and playing healthy-reef sounds on damaged parts of the Great Barrier Reef attracted twice as many fish.
How subjects help
- Biology: Work out what a whale song or bird call means, such as finding a mate or warning of danger.
- Physics: Record sounds too high or too low for human ears, like bat calls and elephant rumbles.
- Computer Science: Train software to pick out each species' calls from thousands of hours of recordings.
- Environmental Science: Listen to a forest's sounds to judge how healthy it is and detect illegal logging.
A famous name
Bernie Krause: Soundscape ecologist who has recorded the sounds of wild places since 1968.
Try it yourself: Invent a way to sort leaves
- Lay out your collection and look closely at every one. (Do not pick berries or mushrooms, and wash your hands afterwards.)
- Split them into two groups using one question, like "smooth edge or jagged edge?"
- Keep splitting each group with a new question until every item is on its own.
- Give your key to someone else. Can they use your questions to find the same item?
Scientists sort living things this way. A good key lets anyone identify a species just by answering questions.
Also try: Build a paper bridge.
Known for it in
Australia, USA, UK, Costa Rica, Norway