Penn State University Sea BASS 2012: A Marine BioAcoustics Summer School

Project Overview

Marine bioacoustics is an interdisciplinary field that includes biologists, engineers, oceanographers, and ecologists. The integration of knowledge from these different disciplines has led to the study of marine animal sound production, sound reception, vocal communication, response to both natural and human events, and the interaction of marine animals within the ecosystem. Given these diverse backgrounds, there is currently no single educational program in the country with the resources to provide background on the variety of topics in the field of marine bioacoustics. SeaBASS was structured after the successful PASS (Physical Acoustics Summer Session) that has been offered in alternate years for over two decades. SeaBASS was designed to support 30 graduate students and 10 expert lecturers. A week long curriculum was created where invited lecturers within the field of marine animal bioacoustics (academic, private, and management) provided half day seminars that described fundamental aspects of underwater sound and marine animal behavior, summarized the present state of the field, identified current obstacles and challenges, and discussed important “hot topics” areas.

Project Objectives

The goal of the SeaBASS (Marine BioAcoustics Summer School) program is to provide opportunity for graduate students interested in pursuing careers in marine bioacoustics to develop a strong foundation in both marine animal biology and acoustics, foster technical communication across disciplines, and develop professional relationships within the field