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Welcome to our September newsletter, a range of news from across our network reflecting and informing our community.
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Award Winners
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Thank you to all who submitted expressions of interest for the call for expressions of interest (EoI) to support networking, public engagement, advocacy and outreach activities. We had a great response to this call and we pleased to announce the following successful projects:
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- Noise Network Workshop March 2025 - Mark Plumley
- Hybrid Numerical-Asymptotic Boundary Element Methods (HNABEM) - Stephen Langdon
- Enhancement of patterned ionogel sensors through templated methods and woven conductive materials - Andrew Reid
- Hearing Conservation - Make Listening Safe - Stephen Dance
- An investigation of temporal variability in non-pathological speech: a pilot study towards a robust protocol for remote speech collection for psychological assessment - Nicolas Cummins
- Kicking off biodegradable eco-acoustic sensing for scalable, far-reaching, and sustainable biodiversity monitoring - Sarab Sethi
- Scoping Multieared Listening - Alice Eldridge
- Quiet Drones Conference and Acoustics 2024 - Lisa Lavia
- Laser ultrasonics - Theodosia Stratoudaki
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Acoustics professional elected to ANC leadership role
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Louise Beamish, Director of Acoustics at WSP, has been appointed Chair of the Association of Noise Consultants (ANC).
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Elected to the role at the ANC’s recent annual general meeting, Louise takes over from Russell Richardson, and will serve a two-year term of office.
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Louise brings a wide range of experience to the leadership position, built up over decades in the acoustics sector, working on a variety of projects, from small urban developments, through to large, strategically important schemes.
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Her specialism at WSP includes environmental acoustics, with a particular focus on noise and vibration monitoring, prediction, computer modelling and assessment, within industrial, commercial, transportation, industrial, retail and the renewable energy sectors.
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Louise has also provided expert evidence at public inquiries and hearings and throughout her career supported the wider industry with roles at the Institute of Acoustics, as well as leading the ANC’s marketing activity as a Board member.
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Louise said: “I am really looking forward to the term of office, and continuing to progress the good work that is already happening across our membership body.
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“Russell has made an incredible contribution in his role of Chair, and we have members committed to making a positive difference to the ANC and the wider acoustics sector overall.
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“I am particularly keen to continue our collaboration with other technical institutions and trade bodies where there is a desire to further our approaches to technical issues, and to continue raising the profile of the ANC generally.”
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Phil Dunbavin, President of the ANC, added: “Louise brings a wealth of experience and enthusiasm, and we are delighted to welcome her to the role.
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“The Board would also like to thank our previous Chair, Russell Richardson, for his hard work and commitment to the ANC.”
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ICA Early Career Award nominations
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UKAN members are invited to nominate one of their membership for the prestigious ICA Early Career Award. This award will be presented during the ICA 2025 congress in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA (https://ica2025neworleans.org/).
The award is presented to an individual who is relatively early in his/her professional career (less than 15 years of active professional career at the date of the application deadline; the start of the professional career is determined by the year of obtaining the first level College or University degree), who has contributed substantially, through published papers, to the advancement of theoretical or applied acoustics or both and who has been active in the affairs of Acoustics through his/her National Society, other National Society(ies), Regional or International organizations.
The Award consists of an Award Certificate, a Medal, and an Honorarium. The honorarium for the Early Career award to be announced at the ICA 2025 Congress will be Euro 2,000.
If you wish to nominate someone in your Society for this award, please see the nomination information at https://www.icacommission.org/what-we-do/early-career-award/. The deadline for nominations is 30 October 2024; there is some flexibility, though, so if you need more time, get in touch.
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4th International Conference in Biotremology
Ambrosine Clark
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In June 2024, the UKAN+ travel grant partially funded my overseas trip to Toronto and New Hampshire. With the help of this grant, I was able to attend the 4th International Conference in Biotremology, which took place at the University of Scarborough Toronto, and the 2024 BioAcoustic Summer School (SeaBASS) at the University of New Hampshire. Biotremology studies the communication by surface-borne vibrations, detected by specialized perception organs in living species.
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The conference was attended by some of the main researchers in this developing field. Biotremology is the study of the biological use of vibrational waves, which are used by animals for many fundamental ecological processes. It is a relatively new ecological discipline that was outlined in 2016 by Hill and Wessel, and sits at the forefront of acoustic research, a sister discipline to the more well-known Bioacoustics.
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During the conference, I was able to present my work in the understudied field of marine biotremology. Although only in the 1st year of my PhD, I felt that joining this conference was an essential step for my project, as I was able to share, learn and network with the other attendees. For three days, I learned about the different applications of terrestrial biotremology, about the methods and equipment used, and about the cross disciplinary research that stems from this field. I was able to create strategic connections with other PhD students and academics at all career stages, while demonstrating the wider impact of my research and strengthen cooperation in this growing field of research.
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Following this, I then attended the SeaBASS training course at the University of New Hampshire, hosted by Prof. Jennifer Miksis-Olds. SeaBASS aims to provide a solid foundation in both marine biology and acoustics to graduate students that aspire to careers in marine bioacoustics. The program encourages interdisciplinary technical communication and helps students build professional relationships within the field. SeaBASS offers students the chance to learn directly from experts, who cover eight topics related to marine bioacoustics for one week. These include acoustics and propagation, active acoustics, echolocation, sound production/anatomy, fish acoustics, passive acoustics, communication and behaviour, acoustic density estimations and noise impacts. I was able to meet many students and researchers from a wide range of research, as well as different stakeholders and industry workers. This course was an excellent way for me to network and present my own research to many bioacousticians.
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During these two weeks, I was able to combine two important events and attend both a conference in my field of research, and a training course that has many implications for my studies. I am very grateful for the UK Acoustics Network for helping me fund these opportunities!
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World Ecoacoustics Congress
Tom Bradfer-Lawrence
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The 5th World Ecoacoustics Congress took place in Madrid from 8th – 12th July 2024. Well over 200 delegates attended from around the world. Symposia covered a huge range of topics: underwater acoustics, soils and biotremology, soundscapes, density estimation, behavioural ecology, spatial acoustics, and many others. There were also workshops on machine learning for passive acoustics, and the use of BirdNET for detecting animal vocalisations. Plenary talks explored topics including realising autonomous acoustic monitoring and the acoustic ecology of insect-plant interactions. The full programme is available from https://ecoacoustics2024.org/docs/programme.pdf
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I was invited to present a plenary talk, to set the scene for a round table discussion on acoustic indices. Acoustic indices are key tools in soundscapes and ecoacoustics but are often criticised for failing to live up to users’ expectations. My talk title, “Are acoustic indices useless for monitoring biodiversity?”, acknowledged this tension in the discipline. After the talk, I joined the discussion panel with Sandra Müller, Diego Gil, and Sylvian Haupert. We discussed the pros and cons of acoustic indices and took questions from the audience.
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I would like to thank UKAN+, the International Society of Ecoacoustics, and my employer, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, for supporting my attendance at the congress.
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UKAN+ Annual Meeting and Celebration Event
12th September 2024 at Manchester Metropolitan University
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An opportunity to have your input in shaping the legacy from UKAN+, meet with other members in person and to find out about key achievements by UKAN/UKAN+. The UKAN+ event is scheduled for the 12th of September. Attendance at the UKAN+ Annual Meeting is free for UKAN members. The session will be attended by representatives from the EPSRC, industry and IoA.
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Programme
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Poster presentations from UKAN members and SIG leaders will run throughout the day. £250 Amazon gift will be given as the 1st Prize.
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The IoA Acoustics 2024 event will be run in parallel on 12th and 13th of September 2024. A separate registration for the IoA Acoustics 2024 event will be open shortly through this link.
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