SPS SLTC/AASP TC Webinar: Computational Bioacoustics: Signal Processing & Pattern Recognition of Animal Sounds
Date: 4 October 2024
Time: 10:00 AM ET (New York Time)
Presenter(s): Dr. Dan Stowell
Abstract
We recognize and appreciate the sounds of animals such as birds and whales - but they can also serve as an indicator of biodiversity: animal populations, species distributions, animal individuality and even health. Using machine learning and signal processing, just how much information can we infer from animal sounds and soundscape recordings? This webinar covers the state of the art in computational bioacoustics, focusing on the application of machine learning to audio data. Starting from birdsong species classification, a core topic, we then consider more complex and open research topics such as other sound signal types, few-shot learning and how we can/should deal with unknown sounds in soundscapes.
From this webinar you will gain an understanding of how acoustic signal processing and machine learning engineers can contribute to the important goal of monitoring nature.
Biography
Dan Stowell received the B.A. (Hons.) degree in natural sciences in 2000 from the University of Cambridge, Cambridge, U.K., and the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering in 2010 from Queen Mary University of London, London, U.K.
He is currently an Associate Professor of AI & Biodiversity, jointly appointed at Tilburg University and Naturalis Biodiversity Center (NL). Since 2012 he has led research on computational bioacoustics using machine learning and signal processing. His research interests include machine listening, applying a wide range of paradigms to bird sounds, voice, music, and environmental soundscapes.
Dr. Stowell is the principal investigator for the EU-funded “Bioacoustic AI” Doctoral Network, and co-investigator in multiple EU Horizon-funded bioacoustics projects. He is a co-founder of the data challenge "detection and classification of sound scenes and events (DCASE)", now an annual IEEE workshop and challenge, and is an elected member of the International Bioacoustics Council (IBAC) Executive Committee. He is cofounder and CTO of Warblr Ltd (UK), a phone app that automatically recognizes bird sounds - the app has received awards and copious press coverage, and has tens of thousands of regular users around the UK.
