top of page
Lake

Listen

Listening to Coastal Futures

 

Listening is a form of inquiry that can immerse hearers in a living environment and connect people across boundaries. Scroll down to the Soundstage to discover different ways we are listening to the changing shore of this biosphere.

SOUNDSTAGE

IMG_7524.JPG

SOUNDSCAPES OF RESTORATION

Soundscapes of Restoration advances projects in sonification and soundscape ecology that intersect with current environmental and social science research at the Virginia Coast Reserve. In particular, this project looks at several restoration and conservation projects running in parallel with the scientific research.  For more information, click here. 

Sounds of Erosion & Barrier Island Migration
 

Waves On Shore Gravel


Sea Grasses
 

Seagrass Sonification
Seagrasses- July South Bay


Oyster Reefs
 

Oysters- Long Term Underwater Field Recording


Nesting Bird Migration
 

Barrier Islands Birds Soundscape
ListeningConservatorywee_edited.jpg

BIOSPHERE SOUNDSCAPES

The Virginia Coast Reserve is a UNESCO Biosphere and the Conservatory’s Long Term Field Recording (LTFR) method can provide a valuable resource for those studying long term change at the Virginia Shores through sound. Our LTFR soundscape project uses sound to offer a comparative analysis between transition zones and core zones that offer habitat for the fragile biodiversity of the region under stress from global warming. For more information, click here. 


Ghost Forest
 

Ghost Forest


Crab Flutes
 

Crab Flutes Field Recording


Barrier Island Soundscape

Cobb Island- Barrier Island Soundscape


Human/Nature Interaction
 

US-13 Roadside Soundscape
Boat Launch
Hydrophone Recording- Underwater Boat Launch
Fishkin-Recording-Tech-image-tree-box-2048x1536.jpeg

LONG TERM FIELD RECORDING

Long Term Field Recording (LTFR) is a method for ecological sound recording as a part of long term ecological research (LTER) at the Coastal Futures Conservatory and Virginia Coast Reserve (VCR). Three approaches work together to offer a sonic profile of the evolving Virginia coast during these most precipitous times of rapid global warming. 


Streambox 
(perpetual broadcast of oyster reef site)

 

Oyster Reef Restoration Streambox


Sea Turtles
(seagrass recorders)

 

South Bay Seagrasses


Water Bears
(underwater long term recording)

 

4pm Oyster Reef
2am Oyster Reef


Sand Bears
(land-based long term recorders)

 

Cobb Island- Barrier Island Soundscape
Oyster-closing.jpg

SONIFICATION

Sonification: Listening to Science

​

Sonification is the technique of converting non-audio data into sound. The technique allows us to listen to environmental changes that don’t make sound, or that happen over such long periods of time that we wouldn’t be able to comprehend the change. For example, we might sonify the migration of barrier islands, sea level rise, ocean acidification, or the chemistry, temperature or light of different processes in the environment. Like visualization, these sonic mappings of data help us understand what science is revealing. 


Seagrass Sonifications
 

Seagrass Carbon & Nitrogen Sonification
Seagrass Respiration Sonification
Dreams Of Seagrasses- Matthew Burtner


Dune Erosion
 

Hannah Martin-Dune Erosion Sonification


Keeling Curve

Anthony Murphy-Neilson- Keeling Curve Sonification


Barrier Island Water Quality Sonification
 

bottom of page