Acoustic monitoring is coming to the forefront as a powerful observation tool for detecting species presence, characterizing species behavior and interactions, and identifying instances of illegal human activities. 

This course offers a comprehensive introduction to Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) as a tool for studying wildlife and ecosystems. Participants will learn how PAM-derived data can reveal species presence, abundance, behavior, and ecosystem health, while also assessing the impact of human activity on wildlife. The course covers essential topics such as analyzing acoustic data, addressing detection challenges, using modeling techniques, and applying acoustic indices. Through hands-on activities and case studies, you’ll gain practical experience with real-world datasets. Whether you’re a researcher, conservationist, or anyone interested in wildlife monitoring, this course will equip you with the skills to effectively use sound data in ecological research. 

Throughout this course, you will:

• Explore foundational principles of acoustic monitoring, bioacoustics, and ecoacoustics.
• Learn how to design and implement PAM surveys for wildlife research.
• Gain practical experience with data management, annotation, and sound analysis workflows.
• Master techniques for interpreting PAM data to uncover patterns in species presence, behavior, and ecosystem health.
• Tackle challenges in data analysis, including uncertainty and imperfect detection, using real-world examples.

By the end of this course, you’ll have gained the skills and knowledge to apply PAM in your conservation and wildlife research efforts. 

Why take this course:

• Acoustic monitoring is becoming a powerful tool for understanding wildlife behavior, ecosystem health, and the impacts of human activities. This course will give you the knowledge to design, deploy, and analyze acoustic surveys, allowing you to unlock ecological insights using sound.

Who is this course for? 

• These lessons are designed for students, early-career researchers, conservation practitioners, and anyone interested in using acoustic monitoring devices to monitor wildlife.

What do you need to know? 

• This is a course for beginners, no previous experience with acoustic monitoring is required!
• A basic understanding of wildlife ecology, conservation biology, and basic data handling skills are helpful, but not mandatory.
• We will be using R Programming Language in several of our hands-on activities; prior familiarity with R is recommended, but you do not need to be an expert to follow along!