(Image description: A photo of a man in a long-sleeved t-shirt bearing the Nature Conservancy logo. He is seated outdoors, has close-cropped hair and a beard and is wearing headphones, smiling broadly.)

Insects humming. Birds squawking. Chainsaws buzzing? What does the rainforest sound like? Or the oceans outside of port cities? Is the world getting louder? And what can recording devices detect that our ears – especially mine, Alie’s – can’t? Acoustic Ecologist Dr. Eddie Game of the Nature Conservancy has asked conservation questions over decades of work in 20 countries, and even though his microphone for this interview sucked, his stories and wisdom are a pleasure to hear. Also: is it okay to talk to owls? How much of timber harvesting is legal? And how do communities come together to protect the lands around them? Also: the most elusive and coolest midnight parrot.

Listen via Stitcher, Apple, Podbay, Podcast Addict, Overcast, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

TRANSCRIPT

Dr. Eddie Game is on Twitter

Eddie’s Nature Conservancy profile

And his research papers

A donation was made this week to The Nature Conservancy

More links you may enjoy:

”Like Shazam, but for Birds” about the Merlin app

“The Sound of Success: Listening to the birds to measure forest health in the wilds of Maine”

Eddie’s paper: “It's time to listen: there is much to be learned from the sounds of tropical ecosystems”

R Project

Are creepy ghost-y feelings really just infrasound? Here’s the science.