BIONB 4960 - [Bioacoustic Signals in Animals and Man]

(PBS)

Fall. 3 credits.

Prerequisite: two majors-level biology courses, PHYS 1101 and PHYS 1102, or PHYS 2207 and PHYS 2208 and permission of instructor. Next offered 2014-2015. (Offered alternate years) Enrollment limited to: junior, senior, or graduate standing. Enrollment limited to: 12 students.

C. W. Clark, R. R. Hoy.

Teaches students about animal acoustic signaling by introducing them to various animal acoustic systems. Presents the physical properties of sound, physiological mechanisms for sound production and hearing, and the behavioral contexts in which sounds are used. Acoustic techniques are provided in the laboratory where students learn how to record, synthesize, and analyze sounds with the aid of recorders and Mac and/or PC computers running customized software. Labs are designed around the lecture material and provide practical real-world exercises designed to stimulate discovery of fundamental principles described in lectures. Class research projects on a selected topic in bioacoustics are required. Engineering students with interests in music, audio analysis, digital signal processing, and computer science are encouraged.

Outcome 1: Mastery of the software analysis tools with which to analyze acoustic signals.

Outcome 2: The ability to interpret the output of analysis tools in a critical framework, e.g. FFT, filters, transforms, etc.

Outcome 3: Mastery of the recording techniques on the quality of signals that comprise “data”, e.g., microphones.

Outcome 4: Statistical measures used to interpret variation among signal sets and between individual signalers.

Outcome 5: The neural and biomechanical understanding of acoustic signal production and its reception/perception by auditory systems, and how these vary among the diverse phyla of auditive animals.