Silent Cities Project: Data Description

Silent Cities: A Global Soundscape Study During COVID-19 (November 3, 2022) Amandine Gasc: Data Description When COVID-19 hit in 2020, countries around the globe halted all travel, businesses shut down, kids stayed home from school, and, in some places, even walking outdoors was restricted. The unexpected result was that soundscapes everywhere changed dramatically. The richness of animal sounds in cities and suburban towns—previously masked by human activity—was suddenly revealed . . . and the result was extraordinary. To document this unprecedented event, the Silent Cities Project began, rallying hundreds of contributors worldwide to build a global acoustic dataset unlike any other. Between March and September 2020, data from 319 sites in more than 37 countries was recorded, compiled, and analyzed using acoustic diversity indices and machine learning. This webinar tells the story of the Silent Cities Project, the resulting dataset (which will soon be available via open access), and the opportunities and challenges of an international project of this magnitude. Dr. Amandine Gasc Amandine Gasc is a permanent researcher at the French Institute of Research for Development (IRD). She has a background in ecology and biological conservation with a particular interest in the acoustic component of the natural environment. She obtained her Ph.D. at the Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle of Paris working on the analysis and monitoring of animal biodiversity using passive acoustics. She pursued her research at Purdue University for three years in the Center for Global Soundscapes focusing on the application of soundscape analysis to detect environmental disturbances. Today, her work focuses on developing, testing, and discussing acoustic tools for natural area management.