QUT Ecoacoustics Symposium 2022

B Block, Level 1, Room 117

Welcome to Country by Uncle Cheg

Introduction by A/Prof Susan Fuller and Prof Paul Roe

Official opening by Prof Hugh Possingham, Queensland Chief Scientist and Professor at UQ

Chaired by Dr Daniella Teixera, B Block, Level 1, Room 117

Keynote Presentation, “Unlocking the secrets of bird migration in Australia” by Prof Rich Fuller, University of Queensland

Speed talks 

• Geoff Smith “Post the wallum-heath wildfires of 2019-20 in SEQ: what did acoustic detection show about eastern ground parrots?” 
• Saskia Gerhardy “Acoustic monitoring for drought response: Plains-wanderer (Pedionomus torquatus) detections in the South Australian semi arid rangelands” 
• Lin Schwarzkopf “Our journey to extracting species lists from long-term recordings by the Australian Acoustic Observatory” 
• Aaron Grinter “Improved conservation outcomes for the critically endangered Plains-wanderer through bioacoustic analysis of landscape-scale population dynamics” 

Morning Tea, D Block concourse open area

Chaired by Dr Kellie Vella, B Block, Level 1, Room 117

Speed talks 

• Daniella Teixeira “Acoustic occupancy monitoring of threatened glossy black-cockatoos in bushfire-affected south-east Queensland” 
• Berndt van Rensburg “Assessing acoustic competition between sibling frog species using rhythm analysis” 
• Rob Clemens “The potential for ecoacoustic data to transform our understanding of species distributions” 
• Susan Campbell “Application of remote acoustic detection technology enhances wildlife management” 

Lunch, D Block concourse open area

Lunchtime workshop with Frontier Labs, D block, room 101

Workshops, S Block, Level 6, Rooms 636/637

Ecoacoustics Basics – Dr Michael Towsey, Callan Alexander, Marina Scarpelli and Dr Anthony Truskinger

This workshop is designed for students and those new to ecoacoustics methods. This 2-hour workshop will cover the nature of sound, sound recording and recorders, sound representation (files, formats and manipulation), playing sound and basic effects and analyses (filtering, plotting, and more), freely available tools, calculating and interpreting acoustic indices, and false-colour spectrograms. The workshop is broken up into five hands on sessions: 

• Sound basics 
• Sound recording and labelling 
• Acoustic indices 
• Sound file wrangling 

OR

Best practice monitoring of Australian terrestrial vertebrates using ecoacoustic field surveys – facilitated by A/Prof Susan Fuller and Dr Daniella Teixeira

The objective of this workshop is to create a best practice guideline for terrestrial ecoacoustic surveys in Australia. A diverse range of practitioners from non-profit, government and academic sectors will be invited to contribute their experiences. This will ensure that outputs are relevant to real-world monitoring. The intention is to publish the workshop’s findings as a peer-reviewed paper, but also to work with relevant stakeholders (government and non-profit organisations) to help encourage the adoption of best practice methods. 

Afternoon Tea, D Block concourse open area

Meet the Experts Panel, B Block, Level 1, Room 117

Join Prof Almo Farina, Prof Jerome Sueur, Dr Alice Eldridge and Dr Amandine Gasc for this informal and interactive discussion on 1) what motivated them to become involved in Ecoacoustics research, 2) what their current research interests are and the big questions they want to investigate and 3) what challenges exist and future innovations and research direction are needed to address them. Facilitated by A/Prof Susan Fuller

Dinner at the The Ship Inn

(Please note: dinner is ‘buy your own’ and is not included in registration fee)

Coffee and registration, Z block, level 4 Atrium

Chaired by Assoc Prof Susan Fuller, Z Block, Level 4, Room 401

Keynote Presentation – “Acoustics for Conservation” by Dr Michael Towsey & Dr Liz Znidersic

Speed talks 

• Sheryn Brodie “Bridging bioacoustics and ecoacoustics: revealing ecological patterns in a chorusing frog community” 
• Dominique Potvin “Effects of ecotourist noise on an avian community: a case study from a UNESCO world heritage site” 
• Elisa Girola “Long-term acoustic monitoring of Australian ecosystems” 
• Simon Linke “Biosecurity: Early detection and community change monitoring using passive acoustics”  
• Mohammad Abdur Razzaque Sarker “Chorusing behaviour of frog communities in response to environmental flow in Gwydir River catchment, Australia” 

Morning Tea, Z Block, Level 4, Atrium

Chaired by Prof Paul Roe, Z Block, Level 4, Room 401

Keynote Presentation, “A Tutorial for DIY Ecoacoustic International Programs” by Dr Amandine Gasc

Speed talks 

• Leroy Gonsalvez “Considerations for landscape monitoring of forest fauna using acoustics” 
• Peter Griffioen “Progressing deep learning species call recognition from a research topic to an everyday tool” 
• Brad Law “Using acoustic arrays to cost-effectively estimate density” 
• David Watson & Liz Znidersic “Acoustic restoration: Using soundscapes to benchmark and fast-track recovery of ecological communities”
• Paul McDonald “Linking acoustic indices with avian biodiversity on the New England Tablelands: a cautionary tale from a multi-year dataset” 

Lunch, Z Block, Level 4, Atrium

Lunchtime workshop with Wildlife Acoustics, Z block, Level 4, Room 401

S Block, Level 6, Rooms 636/637

Birds of a Feather – Participant-generated informal discussions based on mutual interests. Facilitated by Prof Paul Roe 

We will begin the session by asking participants to nominate a topic of interest for discussion/research area or collaboration that they would like to develop. Topic proposers move to different tables and the rest of the participants move around the room to converse. This is a free-form session -we particularly encourage early-career researchers to take advantage of this opportunity to engage with the vast range of experts attending the symposium.

Open Ecoacoustics demo

Discussion – Ecoacoustics Network, Facilitated by A/Prof Susan Fuller & Dr Daniella Teixeira

Do we need an Australian Ecoacoustics Network? Acoustic monitoring is revolutionising how we survey biodiversity; providing a permanent, direct, and objective record of the environment. Ecoacoustics offers a solution for scalable ecosystem monitoring and initiatives such as the A2O will contribute towards a national ecosystem observatory capability (2016 Roadmap).  From a research perspective, Ecoacoustics is now recognised and respected as a scientific field of inquiry.  But, how do we put Ecoacoustics on the National agenda? 

Poster Session & Reception – Drinks & Networking, P Block, the Cube

• Yasara de Mel “Using acoustic data to resolve species boundaries in lyrebirds, the masters of mimicry” 
• Callan Alexander “Using Passive Acoustic Monitoring and Deep Learning Tools to Detect a Cryptic Threatened Owl (Ninox strenua)” 
• Marina Scarpelli “Continental scale biodiversity assessment through combined acoustic and satellite remote sensing” 
• Stephen Molan “Measuring frog communities with acoustic sensing across a sub-tropical urban matrix” 
• Lana Prior “Vocalisation patterns of the Eastern Ground Parrot (Pezoporus wallicus wallicus) and implications for acoustic monitoring efforts” 
• Thomas Napier “Species Classification Using Deep Learning Signal Processing Techniques in Large-Scale Natural Soundscapes” 

All day hands-on workshop – Make Your Own Recogniser* – facilitated by Dr Philip Eichinski and Dr Lance De Vine, P Block, Level 4, Room 413/413A

Coffee, P413

Train Your Recogniser, P413A

Lunch, P413

Test and Validate Your Recognizer, P413A