Title: "Toward a Multi-disciplinary Partnership to Tackle the Big Data Problem Inherent in a Global Soundscape Analysis: Can we Homebrew Solutions?"
Speaker: Bryan C. Pijanowski, Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University

Place: BEERING 2280
Date: March 8, 2016; Tuesday
Time: 4:30pm

Abstract:

Soundscapes are the complete acoustic profile of a place. They are composed of sounds from biological, geophysical and human sources. My team and I have traveled to exotic places around the world (Borneo, Denali, Mongolia, Patagonia, Sonoran Desert, Costa Rica, to name a few) to develop the first global soundscape database for research in the ecology of landscapes. We have now collected over 200TB of acoustic, LiDAR, social media, 4K and GoPro360 videos (aka immersive moments) that help us to perceptualize the complexity of nature through the auditory and visual senses. Some of these data span 9 years with 10 minute recordings every hour. How can we make sense of all of this big data? What computational and analytical models are needed? What partnerships are needed to strike new ground in a very novel area of research that is global in scope? How can we use different approaches, like citizen science efforts, which could leverage thousands to millions of ears, eyes and minds?

As an aside, our team is also developing, through NSF funding, an IMAX film on our work. Global Soundscapes! A Mission to Record the Earth has a subtheme of "big data". We could also move to an after hour "true brew" discussion to help us in final script editing: what should we say to the public about this new grand challenge (big data) that is becoming commonplace across all sciences?

Click here www.stat.purdue.edu/~doerge/BIOINFORM.D/SPRING16/sem.html for a full schedule of BIOINFORMATICS SEMINARS, past and present.