Ears Wide Open

Current Activities Highlights

Two ongoing projects have been especially rewarding in the past few months; both promise to be important contributions toward deepening appreciation for acoustic ecology issues and solutions among land managers and agency personnel.

First, Jim has been guest-editing a Special Issue of the Journal of International Wildlife Law, on the topic of Ocean Noise. The issue is scheduled to be published in April, and will include contributions from legal and policy experts from academia, the environmental community, and industry, as well from field researchers studying ocean noise. Among the perspectives that will included are the role of Marine Protected Areas in addressing ocean noise, a look at the way the Marine Mammal Protection Act is being applied, and its effect on research aimed at studying the impact of noise on marine mammals, a collection of shorter papers offering a wide range of perspectives on the Precautionary Principle as related to ocean noise, and overviews of existing regulatory and legal frameworks for addressing ocean noise worldwide. It's been a great opportunity for the Institute to step into its role as a source of non-partisan information, and to develop our relationships with a wide variety of players.

Second, we've been preparing comments on several management plans and draft environmental impact statements that involve acoustics and noise issues. In January, we submitted comments on the Naval Undersea Warfare Training Range being planned off the coast of North Carolina (which will include an average of about one mid-frequency active sonar exercise per week). During February, we'll be adding our two cents worth to plans for offshore alternative energy development to be overseen by the Minerals Management Service and a new National Park Service Management policy which makes changes to how the NPS manages soundscapes (they are currently trendsetters among public lands agencies, and we want that to continue). In April, we'll weigh in on the beginning of the home stretch of the long-standing process of developing a long term Air Tour Management Plan at the Grand Canyon; they are currently proud to be protecting the "vast majority" of visitors from air tour annoyance by routing tours away from the popular rim-top parking areas and short hikes, and deep into the back country where solitude-hunters get to enjoy their presence.

Annual Board of Directors Meeting

On January 14 and 16, the Board of Directors met to discuss the direction and priorities of the Institute. [SEE BOARD MEMBER BIOS] As usual, it was a lively and fruitful exchange of ideas, leaving me fired up and raring to go.

One of the challenges of running the Institute is that there is so much that I/we could be doing. In addition to the ongoing maintenance of the website, a palette of project possibilities is always beckoning. I have tended to dive into the ones that it seems no one else is addressing, and to take a less involved role in issues or topics that are being well catalyzed by other organizations. Still, it is easy to pile my plate a bit higher than a one-person staff can really handle. So, the input of the Board was invaluable in helping me to pare down the projects to the ones in which we can do the most good.

Two overarching themes came out of our discussions, both of which will guide the steps we take this year as the Institute moves more into the public eye.

First is the potential for AEI to act as a nexus around which many aspects of art, science, and the environment could connect.  We see the Institute as a hub of a wheel, with spokes of science, policy, advocacy, information/resources, research, and presentation/art. A key piece of this, one that AEI and AE.org has only hinted at so far, is looking at ways that we can present both art and science related to sound in ways that help to engage the public in addressing the state of the world in these times. David Dunn especially spoke for the potential of AEI helping to articulate an interface between research and presentation—that this public outreach need not be simply an ad hoc afterthought to the work of scientists, but that we can enhance and strengthen the nature of the research and/or its impact on the public by how we choose to frame the work. Similarly, we might provide some new forum for artists addressing the environment through sound, and by so doing help to create a context in which both the public and the artists might find such work having more practical impact.

Second, and related, is a realization that it is time for AEI to move from gathering resources and information, to begin to find ways to become more “functionally useful” to various users.  At this point, the sense is that people stumble across the site or use it for relatively focused searches or general background information.  This Functionally Useful idea would aim to find out what we could do to make the site something that specific target audiences would choose to make a regular part of their work, learning, or curriculum.  Among targets could be press, professors, university undergrads and grad students, environmental managers and advocates, and artists. To achieve this goal, we will need to speak to some representatives of each target group, and design some prototypes of new site elements. If you have any ideas, we'd love to hear them!

Moving to specific priorities,

• Continuing News Digest and other online resource maintenance.
• Continuing to submit comments on management plans with significant soundscape elements.
• Developing our Intern program. Thanks to the Orion Grassroots Network, we receive a steady trickle of inquiries from people interested in doing some volunteer work in support of our goals. During 2005, one such intern completed a Spotlight Report on the sound impacts of coalbed methane development. This year, I'll put more energy into working with interns to find areas of mutual interest and facilitate their work. With the addition of this help, we can provide in-depth resources and information on many of the topics that Jim hasn't had time to address.
• Press outreach: continue to learn more about how to best use AEI to educate reporters and spur coverage of these issues. 
• New focus: Shipping.  We are in the early stages of learning how AEI might be able to contribute here.  Ocean shipping is projected to double or triple in the next 25 years; obvious need to be conscious of acoustic impact (shipping is already largest contributor to increases in background ambient noise in the sea).  What strategies make sense to manage it? (concentrate shipping lanes, avoid MPAs, ship quieting technologies, dismantling the foundations of global trade [just kidding….])? What groups or organizations are effective avenues for influence? (IMO, shipping trade groups, national regulatory agencies?)  There is no other group taking the lead here, though NRDC and others have addressed it in the context of larger initiatives.

And finally, 2006 must be the year that AEI makes a leap in the fundraising arena. We've been focusing on establishing that there is a need for the work we're doing, and establishing a track record that will help us to be seen as a valuable investment for funders with limited resources. We're now ready to take our story to the funding world, and are confident that the modest annual budget of AEI will be seen as a very appealing choice for funders. Our goal is to find 5-10 individuals or family foundations, who could each commit to supporting our work with $5-10K per year; with $40K to work with, we could do all we've been doing; with a bit more, we could expand our outreach and bring on part-time paid interns or staff to help do more. Again, if you have any suggestions or would like to discuss joining us as a supporter in this way, please be in touch.