Over the weekend, the Acoustic Ecology Lab presented at the Arid Lands Symposium at Scottsdale Community College in three different ways, providing meaningful outreach to the scientific communities (both professionals and citizen-scientists) of the Valley. Anne-Marie Shaver, Bailey Reynolds, and I created a poster about the sounds of the McDowell Sonoran Preserve, mostly regarding how the flight noise above the land is adversely affecting the wildlife; Garth Paine gave a talk on Psychoacoustic Diversity; and I led a soundwalk planned by Anne-Marie during the Saturday lunch break.

I think it’s important to preface this blog with the fact that this conference was strongly rooted in the life sciences domain, so I’m extremely happy with how well our semi-arts-based presentations were received there. In fact, we had multiple people ask us for our business card so they could potentially get us involved in their various projects, such as community outreach for Maricopa County, Pima County, and the Town of Scottsdale, as well as brainstorming ways to get people more in touch with nature. While a number of people were intrigued by our poster presentation, the peak interest in our work undoubtedly came from the hands-on experience of the lunchtime soundwalk.

The soundwalk, though it was the largest group I’ve ever taken (there were about 12 people on the walk), it went smoothly and felt quite normal, where people felt awkward at first due to years of social conditioning telling them that all sonic absences need to be filled with music or conversation, but eventually the mood shifted to a point where everyone was comfortable enough to focus on the wide array of sounds that encapsulated them in a fruitful soundscape. The route, carefully crafted by Anne-Marie, was perfect for the walk, including locations with water, grass, gravel, concrete, bridges, heavy vegetation, and ceilings overhead. The birdsong was robust, and the campus was so calm that we could hear the sound of insects flying, with enough concentration.

The most intriguing part of the soundwalk, however, was the discussion that happened afterward. The unique combination of town and county representatives, scientists,  and other professionals helped facilitate a rich discussion about our observations during the soundwalk. One woman notably mentioned that she had accidentally forgotten to do her meditation that morning, but participating in the soundwalk helped clear her mind and essentially replace it. Moreover, another person was very concerned with how noise created by machines was disrupting the sounds of nature and wanted to know of ways to remedy it, which was inspiring to hear.

From the very beginning, one of our main goals in the lab has been to increase sonic awareness in the community, and I think that all three of our presentations greatly succeeded at it this weekend. It was inspiring to see an audience of life scientists captivated by Garth’s talk, and overall, our presence at the event led to a great number of scientists being introduced to Acoustic Ecology for the very first time. I’m proud of our work this year and our performances this weekend, and I think that events like these are the stepping stones to accomplishing even bigger feats in the future.