Event Title

SSA12 - Noise and Nature in the Anthropocene: Soundscape Ecology

Presenter Information

Robert Clarke, University of Central Florida
Jonathan Beever, University of Central Florida
Patricia Thomas
Bartley Argo

Location

CB1-120

Streaming Media

Start Date

4-11-2017 3:15 PM

Description

Thanks to the recent rise of work in soundscape ecology, there is growing evidence of impacts of anthrophony, or human-created noise on both human and nonhuman animal listeners. The study of anthrophony's impact on other species and environments can help us better understand the pervasive ecological and geological impacts of the human species in the Anthropocene. Some projects have sought to understand species-specific behavior in response to anthrophonic noise while others have examined the ways in which "nature sounds" positively impact human wellbeing and sense of place. Yet a specific gap remains at the intersection of these two: in liminal natural spaces that regularly occur around developed spaces. Some liminal spaces, like nature parks in urban settings, have been the object of study for cultural soundscape design. Our ongoing interdisciplinary study, at the intersection of field-based science and humanitiesbased critical inquiry, proposes a different and unique focus for interdisciplinary bioacoustic research: one that asks about the sense of place and value implications of these liminal spaces as transitional, between the borders of wild and domestic spaces. And indeed, while some spaces are clearly marked as liminal, we identify more and more space as effectively liminal as we better understand the diverse and far-reaching impacts of human influence within the natural world. This study asks the targeted question: what is the impact and implications – scientific and normative – of "liminal" natural spaces? Understanding the impacts on both human sense of place and on nonhuman species diversity of natural spaces as spaces moved through as transitional rather than experienced as destination lets us better understand the nature of Nature in the quickly changing world of the Anthropocene. This research gap is of specific interest because of the implicit assumption that liminal natural spaces are more than mere aesthetic spaces but, instead, are examples of ethically-important natural conservation. To date, there is little scientific evidence to support such a claim. Our project seeks to fill that gap, using the scientific tools and methodologies of soundscape ecology to address and evaluate a fundamentally normative claim about the ethical importance of liminal space. This roundtable presentation will engage the HASTAC community in conversation about this concept of liminal spaces. Led by a philosophy professor and a panel of graduate student researchers and undergraduate collaborators, the roundtable will offer diverse perspectives on the idea, drawn together by our shared research experience, and then engage the audience in discussion of how the idea of liminal space shapes the ways hearing organisms relate to their environments.