Melbourne Museum Ecoacoustics Symposium 2024

February 20-22, 2024, Melbourne Museum, Melbourne (Naarm) Australia

Rationale & Goal

Ecoacoustics is rapidly becoming a powerful tool for documenting and understanding Australia’s unique faunal diversity. Research interest in the field continues to develop rapidly, leading to new approaches and applications.

Building on the success of our previous symposia hosted at Queensland University of Technology the Ecoacoustic Symposium 2024 will bring together researchers, practitioners, and managers in a new venue at the Melbourne Museum.

This year’s conference will focus on the three key themes including:

Next Generation Ecoacoustics: Emerging Methods of Data Collection and Analysis
Sound Actions: Translating Ecoacoustic Data into On-ground Management and Decision-making
Listening to Country: Incorporating Community and Citizen Scientists into Ecoacoustic Projects

Attendance cost

Late registrations $190
Students $130
Register here https://museumsvictoria.com.au/melbournemuseum/whats-on/ecoacoustics-symposium-2024/

Location

Melbourne Museum, 11 Nicholson St, Carlton, Victoria 3053

Melbourne Museum is located on Wurundjeri Country and Museums Victoria acknowledges the Woi Wurrung (Wurundjeri) and Boon Wurrung peoples of the eastern Kulin Nations where we work.

Information about museum accessibility can be found here.

Enquiries

For any enquiries, please contact: ecoacoustics2024@gmail.com

Presentations and Posters

TBC

Program

The Ecoacoustics Symposium for 2024 will kick off Tuesday evening (20^th February) with a public lecture, followed by two days (21^st – 22^nd February) of themed sessions, panel discussions, and workshop(s).

There will be a poster session the evening of 21^st February.

Themed sessions will be led by a keynote address, followed by speed talks within that theme.

All sessions will take place in the Melbourne Museum Theatre.

We are seeking abstract submissions for short talks and posters around this year’s themes and welcome topics covering terrestrial, marine, freshwater, ultrasonic and audible.

The submission deadline for abstracts is 30 November 2023.

Abstracts can be submitted here.

Tuesday 20 February

15:30 – 17:30
Registration
^{MM Foyer}

16:00 – 17:30
Welcome Reception
^{MM Foyer}

18:00 – 19:00
Public Lecture
Bringing together people, nature and country with ecoacoustics
Free Entry

Join us for a public lecture on the intersection of science, nature and art of soundscapes.

To kick off the Ecoacoustics Symposium in Naarm (Melbourne) for 2024, we welcome two pioneering ecoacoustic practitioners that bring together knowledge of Australia’s unique wildlife, people and sounds to better understand how we are all connected and what we have to learn from the nature that surrounds us.

Daryn McKenny is an Aboriginal man living on Awabakal country on East Coast NSW. Managing an Aboriginal Language Centre allows him to connect with our wildlife in a manner not usually afforded to many, as Daryn says “it’s our old people that teach us our languages and knowledges, but it’s our wildlife that teach our old people”. Daryn will discuss his work to reconnect through the use of both traditional and modern methods and technology to once again listen to our wildlife whether it be with our Whales and Dolphins or our Koalas and Lyrebirds. He will also share some of the amazing moments he has captured that help us once again put voice to our oldest teachers, our wildlife.

Dr Leah Barclay is an Australian artist and researcher who specialises in interdisciplinary research in response to climate change and ecological crisis. Working across ecoacoustics and acoustic ecology, her work focuses on innovative approaches to recording the soundscapes of diverse ecosystems, from the central Amazon Rainforest to the Great Barrier Reef. Barclay’s work explores ways we can use creativity, new technologies and emerging science to reconnect communities to the environment and inspire climate action. Her ecoacoustic installations have been presented across the world from Times Square in New York City to the Eiffel Tower in Paris for COP21.

Drawing from a decade of international research, this presentation highlights how ecoacoustics serves not only as an innovative tool for ecological monitoring and biodiversity conservation but also as a platform for interdisciplinary research, public engagement and creative practice. Listening to ecosystems can inspire and engage communities in new ways and offers accessible and inclusive pathways for conservation and regeneration in times of ecological crisis. This presentation will feature excerpts from a new audio-visual work immersing the audience in the soundscapes of Queensland’s biosphere reserves.
This is a free but separate, ticketed event. Please be sure to register for this event here.

Wednesday 21 February

8:00 – 9:00
Registration
^{MM Foyer}

9:00 – 9:30
Welcome to Country, Introduction
^{MM Theatre}

Session 1 Part 1 – Next Generation Ecoacoustics: Emerging Methods of Data Collection and Analysis.
MM Theatre
_{9:35-9:45. Listening in: the value of passive acoustic monitoring for mammalian biodiversity assessment in Australia. Sebastian Hoefer
9:45-9:55. Using BirdNET embeddings to find vulnerable and threatened species in long-duration audio recordings. Slade Allen-Ankins
9:55-10:05. ARIEL: Flexible, open-sourced software for the rapid validation of acoustic data in your workflow. Lachlan Francis
10:05-10:15. Audio Convolutional Neural Network Design: 2D vs 1D pros and cons. What about using both? Peter Griffioen
10:15-10:25. Real-time bioacoustic monitoring using Edge-AI. Bernd Meyer
10:25-10:35. Open Ecoacoustics: updates and future directions. Anthony Truskinger
10:35-10:45. Freshwater soundscapes and the acoustic ecology of tadpoles in urban ponds. Kirsten Parris}

10:45 – 11:15
Morning Tea
^{MM Foyer}

11:15 – 12:25
Session 1 Part 2 – Next Generation Ecoacoustics: Emerging Methods of Data Collection and Analysis.
^{MM Theatre}
_{11:15 11:25 The use of AI to enable timely management of bat populations. Peter Glorie
11:25 11:35. BoOZ: A TERN-based ultrasound survey and bat call library for the management of Microchiroptera. Simon Robson
11:35 11:45. Building a semi-automated bioacoustic call recognition system for the
Yirlinkirrkirr, the white-throated grasswren Amytornis woodwardi. Kyle N. Armstrong
11:45 11:55. Application of passive acoustic monitoring, artificial intelligence and
robust analytics to generate landscape trends for forest fauna. Leroy Gonsalves
11:55 12:05. Acoustically recognising individual animals. Lifi Huang
12:05 12:15. Using acoustic monitoring and artificial intelligence to identify regional trends in koala populations in the face of major disturbances and climate extremes.
Brad Law
12:15 12:25. Friend or foe? Monitoring avian diversity in vineyards using machine learning and automated acoustic recorders. Callan Alexander}

12:25-12:50
Session 1 Discussion

12:50 – 14:00
Lunch
^{MM Foyer}

13:00 – 14:00
Optional Workshop – Faunatech
^{Meet outside MM Theatre}
_{Join the team at Faunatech to learn about the latest release of Wildlife Acoustic Song Metres.}

14:00 – 15:30
Session 2 Part 1 – Sound Actions: Translating Ecoacoustics Data into On-ground Management and Decision Making.
^{MM Theatre}
_{14:00 14:10. Harnessing bioacoustics for biosecurity. Susan Campbell
14:10 14:20. Acoustic monitoring of invasive species and the values they threaten. Simon Linke
14:50 15:00. Leveraging acoustic technology with insights for adaptive land management. Marina D. A. Scarpelli
14:20 14:30. Acoustic monitoring of rehabilitated sand mines in south-eastern Australia. Susan Fuller
14:30 14:40. Using soundscape analysis to detect grazing intensity and land condition in
dry tropical savanna country. Sheryn Brodie
14:40 14:50. Can machine learning help hear kyloring calling? Kyle N. Armstrong
15:00 15:10. Acoustic monitoring of species to inform management decisions in Parks Australia estates. Jess Williams
15:10 15:20. Effectiveness of call recorders and in person bird surveys for detecting species post-fire. Michelle Gibson
15:20 15:30. Detecting cryptic waterbirds through novel audio analysis techniques. Harriet Kulich}

15:30 – 16:00
Afternoon Tea
^{MM Foyer}

16:00 – 17:00
Session 2 Part 2 – Sound Actions: Translating Ecoacoustics Data into On-ground Management and Decision Making.
^{MM Theatre}
_{16:00 16:10. Acoustic monitoring of floodplain frog communities to inform water management. Louise Durkin
16:10 16:20. Cane Toad Croons: Unveiling Distribution and Spatio-Temporal Calling Patterns by Machine-Learning Classifier Across Australia. Ka Wah Leung
16:30 16:40. Establishing acoustic arrays to monitor amphibian translocation success. David Newell
16:20 16:30. Studying biodiversity: Getting a species list from your ecoacoustic data. Lin Schwarzkopf
16:40 16:50. Passive acoustic monitoring of swift parrots and Tasmanian masked owls:
towards better conservation. Charley Gros
16:50 17:00. Ecoacoustic Monitoring of the endangered Pink Cockatoo (Lophochroa leadbeateri leadbeateri) in Semi-Arid Eastern Australia: Insights into Spatial and Temporal Patterns. Lola Lange}

17:00 – 17:30
Session 2 Panel discussion

18:30 – 20:30
Poster Session
^{MM Foyer}

Close 20:30

Thursday 22 February

9:00 – 9:15
Acknowledgement of Country, Housekeeping
^{MM Theatre}

9:15 – 10:45
Session 3 Part 1 – Listening to Country: Incorporating Community and Citizen Scientists into Ecoacoustic Projects.
^{MM Theatre}
_{9:15 9:25. Listening for Life After Fire: insights from a citizen science project monitoring wildlife after bushfire. Sera Blair
9:25 9:35. Acoustic Monitoring in Nillumbik’s Forests. Eliziane Garcia de Oliveira
9:35 9:45. Bats in Backyards. Alicia Scanlon
9:45 9:55. We need your help! Drawing on citizen scientists to assist Plains-wanderer call recognition. Aaron Grinter
9:55 10:05. Imitate to Appreciate: Gestural simulations of wildlife calls. Andrew Brown
10:05 10:15. Ecoacoustics that Engage with General Audiences – Visually! Leah Gustafson
10:15 10:25. Call Trackers: maximising acoustic data gathered and conservation information shared. Clare E. Hawkins
10:25 10:35. Listening to Sea Country: Beeyali TalloBilla and new methods for engaging with marine ecoacoustics. Leah Barclay, Tricia King, and Lyndon Davis
10:35 10:45. Biosphere Soundscapes Open Microphone Network: Establishing a Live Sound Map of UNESCO Biosphere Reserves in South-East Queensland. Leah Barclay and Toby Gifford}

10:45 – 11:15
Morning Tea
^{MM Foyer}

11:15 – 11:45
Session 3 Part 2 – Listening to Country: Incorporating Community and Citizen Scientists into Ecoacoustic Projects.
^{MM Theatre}
_{11:15 11:25. Owls in the Otways and what came next. Trevor Hodson
11:25 11:35. Immersed in calls of Eastern Ground Parrots on the Sunshine Coast
(Pezoporus wallicus). Lana Prior
11:35 11:45. Key questions to better understand the relationship between the
soundscape and the environment. Katie Turlington}

11:45 – 12:15
Session 3: Panel discussion

12:15 – 14:00
Lunch
^{MM Foyer}

13:00 – 14:00
Optional Workshop – Frontier Labs
^{Meet outside MM Theatre}
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Sound Localisation
In this workshop we will demonstrate how to run an acoustic localisation experiment and process the results.
We will cover:
•Recorder setup,
•Array configuration (recorder separation and positions),
•Testing, Processing and mapping the results.

We encourage you to bring your own laptop, as software and example data will be provided, however it is not necessary, and everyone is welcome to participate.

14:00 – 17:00
Optional Workshop – A20 Unleashed
^{MM Theatre}
The Australian Acoustic Observatory has collected 300 years of audio recordings across Australia. What’s in this data? How do I get access? What analysis methods work? Come participate in our half-day workshop to learn the answers to these questions, see demonstrations of tools and techniques, and to get guidance from researchers actively working with A2O data.

Program
•A2O Overview
•Lighting talks – how are people are using the A2O data
•How to do whatever you want with Ecosounds/A2O
•Practical advice: debugging or analysis strategies (Q/A small group discussions). Bring your code, bring your problems, tell us about your goals. We’ll help you work out how to do what you want to do.
•An introduction to the A2O search tool: how to search for any unlabelled data across the A2O

14:00 – 17:00
Optional – Informal discussion
^{MM Foyer}

15:30 – 16:00
Afternoon Tea
^{MM Foyer}

17:30 – 18:30
Break – head to dinner venue

18:30 – 21:00
Dinner