Tag Archives: Toby Gifford

Events

2016 Art Meets Science Exhibition, Brisbane

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The Science Division, Department of Science, Information Technology and Innovation (DSITI) is one of multiple science agencies co-located in the Ecosciences Precinct in Brisbane, Queensland. This world class facility houses research and associated staff from the Queensland Government, CSIRO and University of Queensland.

The DSITI 2016 Art meets Science exhibition opens on August 8th and features works by artists working at the intersection of art and science. The show features works by Alinta Krauth, Kay Lawrence, Jeanette Stok and Donna Davis, who have participated in the 2016 Artist in Residence Science Program. These artist have worked for the past three months with scientists from the Department of Science, Information Technology and Innovation at the Ecosciences Precinct and the Queensland Herbarium. These artists will be joined by 12 other Queensland artists with recent artworks that demonstrate an art-science connection.

The exhibition features a preview of the River Listening augmented reality installation with hydrophone recordings and soundscapes planted through the Ecosciences Precinct.

River Listening is an augmented reality sound installation reimagining the world beneath the Brisbane River in sound. The installation can be experienced by walking throughout the Ecosciences Precinct  with a mobile device and listening to geo-located sounds. These geo-located soundscapes are layered with hydrophone (underwater) recordings and creative responses to the Brisbane River. This installation is part of our interdisciplinary project exploring the art and science of listening to rivers across the world. River Listening explores rivers as the lifeblood of communities and underscores the value of listening in our current state of ecological uncertainty.

To experience River Listening download the free app Recho and your phone will act as a compass guiding you on a sonic exploration. Follow the hashtag #RiverListening on twitter for live updates on site and tweet @LeahBarclay if you have any questions.

Further information available here

 

Events, Publications

Conservation Biology Congress 2016

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Conbio

River Listening is featured at the 2016 Society for Conservation Biology Oceania Congress in a symposium titled “Continuous monitoring of invisible places: bioacoustics in marine and freshwater environments”

DATE: July 6, 2016
TIME: 2:30 pm – 4:00 pm
Brisbane Convention and Entertainment Centre

Monitoring aquatic species in underwater environments – rivers, lakes and oceans – has proven even more difficult than terrestrial surveys of endangered taxa. Traditional methods of aquatic survey techniques bear a) risks to fish health and habitat integrity, b) introduce bias, because it might cause fright responses in key aquatic species and c) standard surveying only produces a snapshot from the time of surveying – which in many cases does not happen more than once a year and d) it can be very expensive, particularly in areas with remote access. Non-invasive passive bioacoustic monitoring can address all four problems. This special session will explore novel techniques in aquatic bioacoustics that can aid conservation managers. Topics will range from holistic ecosystem monitoring (Linke, Gifford) to descriptions of detailed algorithms with which soniferous aquatic taxa can be detected. The symposium will also include talks on the challenges of using acoustical data for monitoring populations and on protocols for monitoring and mitigating impacts of noise. The final talk by Dr Leah Barclay will cover bioacoustics as a tool for engaging with the public. We hope that this first session in freshwater and marine bioacoustics at a continental or worldwide SCB conference will raise awareness and kickstart increased joint efforts by marine and freshwater scientists to establish bioacoustics monitoring as a key survey method.

02:30 Simon Linke Real-time Ecosystem Monitoring in Freshwater Environments using Passive Acoustics

02:40 Toby Gifford Underwater Soundscape Ecology: Holistic Methods in Freshwater Bioacoustics

02:50 Chris Karaconstantis Automatic Detection of a Soniferous Fish Species (Neoarius graeffei) to Facilitate Continuous Monitoring

03:00 Jan-Olaf Meynecke Monitoring cetaceans in nearshore coastal waters using hydrophones

03:10 Angela Recalde-Salas Imperfect detection: estimating detection probabilities of baleen whales using passive acoustics

03:20 Elisa Girola Changes in song characteristics with various sources of noise in humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae)

03:30 M. Montserrat Landero F. Can we generate relevant terrain metrics of the seafloor to model species distribution using a low-cost echo-sounder?

03:40 Leah Barclay River Listening: Raising ecological awareness through community engagement

03:50 Discussion

 

Events, Workshops

International Society of Ecoacoustics (ISE)

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River Listening featured as a sound installation and research presentations at the International Society of Ecoacoustics (ISE) Congress in East Lansing, Michigan in June 2016. Explore the conference proceedings here 

What is ecoacoustics?

Ecoacoustics is an interdisciplinary science that investigates natural and anthropogenic sounds and their relationship with the environment over a wide range of study scales, both spatial and temporal, including populations and communities. Ecoacoustics operates in all types of terrestrial and aquatic (freshwater and marine) ecosystems extending the scope of acoustics and bioacoustics.

Ecoacoustics recognizes that sounds can be both the subject and tools of ecological research. As the subject, sounds are investigated in order to understand their evolution, functions and properties under environmental pressures. As tools, sounds are used to study and monitor animal diversity, abundance, behaviour, dynamics and distribution, and their relationship with ecosystems and the environment.

Brisbane River, Events, Workshops

World Science Festival

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The World Science Festival began in New York in 2008 and is an annual weeklong celebration and exploration of science. The inaugural World Science Festival Brisbane will bring some of the world’s greatest thought leaders to Queensland, showcase local scientists and performers from around the Asia Pacific region, and host the brightest and the best from previous events in New York.

The inaugural World Science Festival Brisbane will take place between 9 and 13 March 2016 and is presented by the Queensland Museum. River Listening is thrilled to be a featured part of the program with our popular River Listening Augmented Reality Sound Installation for the duration of the festival. We are also pleased to present a number of activities on March 12th including a live performance, presentation and series of our signature sound walks (see the program below).

RIVER LISTENING INSTALLATION

River Listening is an augmented reality sound installation reimagining the world beneath the Brisbane River in sound. The installation can be experienced by walking along the river with a mobile device and listening to content that is geo-located along the river. These geo-located soundscapes are layered with hydrophone (underwater) recordings and creative responses to the Brisbane River. This installation is part of our interdisciplinary project exploring the art and science of listening to rivers across the world. River Listening explores rivers as the lifeblood of communities and underscores the value of listening in our current state of ecological uncertainty.

To experience River Listening download the free app Recho and your phone will act as a compass guiding you on a sonic exploration along the Brisbane River. The soundscapes will evolve with new material added every day during WSF. Follow the hashtag #RiverListening on twitter for live updates on site and tweet @LeahBarclay if you have any questions. River Listening launches on March 9th and continues until March 13th.

RIVER LISTENING PROGRAM

Date: Saturday 12th March
Cultural Forecourt, Melbourne Street, South Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

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STREET SCIENCE, RIVER LISTENING LAB

10am – 4pm, Booth 21 (near the Festival Lab)

Come and meet the River Listening team (Dr. Simon Linke, Dr. Leah Barclay and Dr. Toby Gifford), learn about the art and science of listening to rivers, experiment with a hydrophone (underwater microphone), learn more about our sound installation and experience hands-on demonstrations of our aquatic bioacoustics technology.

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RIVER LISTENING – Afternoon tour

15:30 – 16:30, Festival Lab

Meeting point details: The River Listening Walking Tour departs the River Listening tent (located next to the Festival Lab venue) at 3:30pm on Saturday, March 12.

River Listening is an interdisciplinary project exploring the art and science of listening to rivers across the world. Join the River Listening team on a 60-minute guided sound walk along the Brisbane River to learn about the project and explore aquatic soundscapes geo-located throughout the Southbank Parklands. To experience the River Listening installation you will need a mobile device and headphones to use the free app Recho. Participants will also have the opportunity to listen to a live hydrophone in the Brisbane river. Please download the free app Recho before the walk.

Leah Barclay

RIVER LISTENING LIVE

5:30pm-6:30pm, Festival Lab

River Listening is an interdisciplinary research project that explores the creative possibilities of aquatic bioacoustics and the potential for new approaches in the conservation of global river systems. The project inspires community engagement through interactive listening labs, sound maps, immersive performances and augmented reality sound installations that have travelled the world. River Listening combines digital technologies, science and creativity to connect communities and inspire environmental engagement. Join internationally renowned artists and scientists Dr. Leah Barclay, Dr. Simon Linke and Dr. Toby Gifford to learn about the project and hear an exclusive live performance for World Science Festival.

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RIVER LISTENING – Night tour

18:45 – 19:45, Festival Lab

Meeting point details: The River Listening Walking Tour departs the River Listening tent (located next to the Festival Lab venue) at 6:45pm on Saturday 12 March.

River Listening is an interdisciplinary project exploring the art and science of listening to rivers across the world. Join the River Listening team on a 60-minute guided sound walk along the Brisbane River to learn about the project and explore aquatic soundscapes geo-located throughout the Southbank Parklands. To experience the River Listening installation you will need a mobile device and headphones to use the free app Recho. Participants will also have the opportunity to listen to a live hydrophone in the Brisbane river. Please download the free app Recho before the walk.

 
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Dr. Simon Linke is a Senior Research Fellow at the Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith University. Dr. Leah Barclay and Dr. Toby Gifford are Research Fellows at the Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith Univeristy. We acknowledge the support of Griffith University in this project.

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Events

Pause Fest 2016, Australia

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Melbourne’s first River Listening experience explored the Yarra River and launched during Pause Fest 2016. The augmented reality installation can be experienced by walking along the Yarra River with a mobile device and listening to content that is geotagged along the river bank. As you walk along the path, the sounds of the river system are layered with sonic art and river stories for Pause delegates to discover between sessions. In addition to the Yarra soundscapes, this experience stretched through Federation Square with a sound map connecting river systems across the world.

Leah Barclay

Leah Barclay

Leah Barclay

Leah Barclay Toby Gifford   Leah Barclay

Leah Barclay

Events

Invisible Places

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In July 2013, we had the opportunity to present a paper on River Listening at the Invisible Places | Sounding Cities conference in Viseu, Portugal. The presentation outlined the intentions of the project and some of the preliminary results from designing the River Listening labs in Australia and London. 

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The conference had two main goals; a symposium on sound, urbanism and sense of place endorsed by the World Forum for Acoustic Ecology and an exhibition of artistic events that aimed to bring art and science to the streets. It was integrated in Jardins Efémeros edition IV, a renowned ephemeral art festival hosted through the city of Viseu. This highly successful event brought together artists and researchers from across the world in an exceptional program of curated presentations and projects. It highlighted the truly interdisciplinary nature of sound and the diversity of critical projects emerging internationally.  

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Francisco Lopez Masterclass at Invisible Places, Portugal
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The Listening Room, Invisible Places | Sounding Cities, Portugal
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Leah Barclay speaking at Invisible Places | Sounding Cities

Eric Leonardson, The World Forum for Acoustic Ecology President, congratulated the curatorial team on producing such a fantastic event and hopes to support more events like this in the future. The Invisible Places curator, Raquel Castro, was interested in increasing the awareness of the importance of our local and global soundscapes and our role in their experience and design. “As listeners, we are also responsible for the shape and beauty of our own soundscape. Therefore, we must open our ears. Through workshops, performances, concerts, soundwalks and sound installations we intended to transform Viseu into an acoustically conscious city.” She hoped the event would create a “special place of intersection between art, science and life” and this is undeniably what was created.  

We had very positive feedback from the River Listening presentation and also some great advice on other locations that would benefit from collaborating on the project in the future.  

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The research presented at Invisible Places | Sounding Cities is now published online and is available at www.invisibleplaces.org 

Events

Listening to the Thames

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“Look at the plan of London through the ages. What is it that has remained constant throughout? The river Thames. … yet sadly, the city has until now looked away from its river rather than look at it” (Sinha-Jordan 2005).

Leah Barclay listening to the Thames - Photo by Simon Linke
Leah Barclay listening to the Thames – Photo by Simon Linke

As a pilot project for River Listening, the River Listening team was invited to develop an audiovisual installation at the 25th Anniversary of Electronic Visualisation and the Arts (EVA) in London, July 2014. Based on a live hydrophone audio-stream from the Thames, the installation deliberately inhabited a liminal space at the arts-science nexus, seeking to highlight the positive contributions each domain can have on the other, and document an emerging model of aesthetic-scientific exploration. 

Listening to the Thames explores real-time hydrophonics as a means to revealing the hidden world beneath the river surface. Drawing on ‘holistic’ bioacoustics approaches to ecosystem health assessment it adopts a creative approach to an informative audio-visual interpretation of the riverine environment.

Toby Gifford & Leah Barclay experimenting with hydrophones
Toby Gifford & Leah Barclay experimenting with hydrophones

In our EVA London supporting paper, Toby Gifford wrote “Since the dawn of agriculture, rivers have been central to civilisation, affording river cities such as London as thriving hubs of commerce. The health of a river and the community it supports are intertwined. We see and smell the river, yet what do we really know of its secrets below the surface? An open wound we may see, and a gangrenous decay we may smell, but who will hear if the river weeps?”. The Thames was a fantastic river to experiment with the possibilities of River Listening, as it is such an iconic river system in one of the worlds most renowned cities. 

Simon Linke and Toby Gifford listening to the Thames
Simon Linke and Toby Gifford listening to the Thames

We spent five days monitoring the sounds of the Thames and discovered it was a very tidal river. Fortunately we were able to install the hydrophones on the HMS Belfast, originally a Royal Navy light cruiser, permanently moored on the River Thames. The live stream was hosted on PlaceStories, and supported by Feral Arts. While I have used PlaceStories for previous river projects and regularly used the webcasting interface, this was the first time we streamed hydrophones continuously for five days. 

Leah installing hydrophones on the HMS Belfast
Leah installing hydrophones on the HMS Belfast

The live stream formed the foundation for our installation at EVA London, where I composed a series of short soundscapes responding to the Thames that were mixed with the live stream. Toby Gifford created a visualisation of the live stream and we experimented with different diffusion methods throughout the conference. I was particularly interested in gaining feedback online and we used the hashtag #RiverListening to encourage people to listen to the live stream and talk about what they could hear. 

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We found that the sound of the Thames was dramatically different from rivers in Australia. While it’s often quite a surprise to hear exactly what sounds emerge once the hydrophones are in the water, the Thames was incredibly loud, to the point that at times it sounded like a busy highway. Many people in London were surprised by the intensity of the sound, and this provided a great starting point to talk about the value of bioacoustics in understanding river health. 

Listening to the Thames: Day One Field Recording Sample

The Listening to the Thames project gained the attention of the marketing department at Griffith University and we were happy to be joined by Bridget French, Griffith Sciences Development and Alumni Manager to document and promote the event in London. Griffith University also held a VIP event for Listening to the Thames at the Savoy Hotel to officially launch the project with a guest list that included high profile media identities and organisations associated with river preservation, such as the River Thames Society.

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Listening to the Thames was a successful pilot for River Listening and certainly highlighted the diversity of global river soundscapes, the emerging interest in acoustic ecology and confirmed that in our current state of environmental crisis, this type of assessment is critical to understanding the rapid ecological changes taking place across the globe. By unveiling the usually hidden sonic aspect of the underwater environment, we hope to increase awareness of the value of aquatic bioacoustics in comparing and gauging the health of rivers.

Listening to the Thames: Installation sample by Leah Barclay

We hope to return to London and extend the project to multiple locations along the Thames in collaboration with local communities over the coming years, based on the results from River Listening in Australia. 

Leah Barclay and Toby Gifford listening to the Thames. Photo by Simon Linke
Leah Barclay and Toby Gifford listening to the Thames. Photo by Simon Linke

Queensland based science communication researcher Ruth O’Connor also joined us in London. She wrote a short article about the project on her Stream Stories website available online here

Brisbane River, Logan River, Mary River, Noosa River

About River Listening

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River Listening is a research collaboration between independent artist Dr. Leah Barclay and the Australian Rivers Institute to explore new methods for acoustically monitoring four Queensland river systems: the Brisbane River, the Mary River, the Noosa River and the Logan River. The project involves the establishment of site-specific listening labs to experiment with hydrophonic recording and sound diffusion to measure aquatic biodiversity including fresh-water fish populations – a key indicator of river health. River Listening fundamentally explores the creative possibilities of aquatic bioacoustics and the potential for new approaches in the management and conservation of global river systems.

In 2014, The Australian Rivers Institute (ARI) and
Dr. Leah Barclay were awarded a prestigious Synapse grant to support the development of River Listening. Synapse is an initiative of the Australia Council for the Arts and the Australia Network for Art and Technology (ANAT) that supports collaborations between artists and scientists in Australia. This project extends Barclay’s long-term engagement in acoustic ecology to explore the creative possibilities of aquatic bioacoustics in collaboration with an interdisciplinary research team.