Rosenberg Institute Seminar Series - Anne Simonis

Anne Simonis, Acoustic Ecologist, Adjunct Professor of Biology, NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center and San Francisco State University

Active Listening: Using Sound to Study Marine Mammals and the California Current Ecosystem

Acoustic recordings provide an opportunity to monitor marine ecosystems that otherwise may be prohibitively expensive or impossible to observe visually. I will introduce various methods to collect acoustic data and investigate how top predators in the California Current Ecosystem respond to the warming ocean, fishing activity, and ocean noise. I will also explore how acoustics is playing an increasingly large role in the development of offshore wind farms along the US West Coast. Valued partnerships with fishermen, Indigenous and western researchers, students and citizen scientists are essential to this work, and I will describe my efforts to expand participation in research. I will also share a vision of the research and educational programs I hope to develop with students and staff at SF State. 

Dr. Anne Simonis is an acoustic ecologist with NOAA’s Southwest Fisheries Science Center and adjunct professor of biology at San Francisco State University. Her research explores marine mammal acoustic behavior, foraging ecology, and human impacts, including ocean noise and fishery interactions. Anne is passionate about improving youth mentoring programs, forming connections between researchers and the greater community, and getting authentic data and science practices into classrooms. Anne previously worked as a Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Fellow at the National Academies of Sciences’ Board on Science Education. Anne received her PhD in Oceanography at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in 2017.