Call for Proposal: 2023-24 Bioacoustics Equipment and Training Program for Indonesia and Malaysia

Application Deadline: 1 September, 2023 (23:59 WIB)

Grant start date: 8 November 2023

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The K. Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics (www.birds.cornell.edu/ccb) together with the Universitas Gadjah Mada (https://satwaliar.fkt.ugm.ac.id/) and the Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (https://www.umt.edu.my/)  are inviting  applications for the second year of our Bioacoustics Equipment and Training Program (BEAT) for Indonesia and Malaysia. This program is designed to support researchers with training, mentoring, and equipment to establish conservation-oriented acoustic monitoring projects in Indonesia or Malaysia. The program is open to individuals or teams of researchers or conservationists who are interested in obtaining the training and tools necessary to launch independent acoustic monitoring programs. We anticipate funding 4-6 teams of researchers for this funding cycle. Previous experience in acoustic monitoring is not required! We urge participants to imagine how acoustic monitoring can transform or improve their own conservation projects. If you have any questions, please reach out to us via email.

Who Should Apply:

  • Teams  of students, researchers, conservation practitioners, and/or professionals
  • No previous bioacoustics experience is needed

Eligibility:

  • International teams may apply, but the project leader and at least half of the team members must be citizens or permanent residents of Indonesia or Malaysia.
  • At least one member of the team must have moderate English-language proficiency to participate in virtual training sessions. 
  • At least one team member must be available to participate in the initial in-person training session on 8-10 November, 2023 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia (travel funding will be provided).

Over the course of one year, selected teams will receive:

  • Four SwiftOne autonomous recording units (www.birds.cornell.edu/ccb/swiftone), with SD cards, batteries, and two spare microphones
  • Two external hard drives for data storage
  • Training in study design, deployment, and data analysis provided by Yang Center researchers (English and Indonesian)
  • Mentorship from a Yang Center mentor with expertise in the proposed research area
  • A certificate of completion at the end of the training program from the K. Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics

Selected teams are expected to:

  • Collect bioacoustics data for at least 6 months
  • Participate in monthly, 2-hour virtual trainings with Yang Center instructors and other grantees
  • Attend monthly 1-hour Zoom meetings with Yang Center mentors
  • Present preliminary results in a research symposium at the conclusion of the program
  • Attend the opening in-person training session in Yogyakarta on November 8, 2023. This training session will be followed by the Southeast Asia Bioacoustics Symposium on November 9-10, where Year 1 teams will present the results of their research projects. 
  • Develop data sharing and authorship policies within teams (with options to extend beyond).

Applications will be evaluated by researchers from the Yang Center, Universitas Gadjah Mada, and Universiti Malaysia Terengganu on the following components:

  • Rationale and significance of proposed work
  • Feasibility of completing a pilot study within one year of the start of the program
  • Clearly identified next steps or future goals beyond the one-year program
  • Relevance of proposed project to species and/or habitat conservation
  • Research experience (either potential or clear previous experience)
  • Training or engaging with others beyond team
  • Diverse team composition,  including evidence of meaningful roles for participants at different career stages

List of lecture topics

  • Equipment deployment and data collection (Introduction to passive acoustic monitoring, how to operate acoustic recorders, survey design)
  • Data management (File naming, storage, and replication)
  • Analysis (Data visualization, event detection, acoustic measurements, machine learning approaches)
  • Additional topics chosen by the participants (e.g. grant writing, preparing publications, statistics for bioacoustics)

Statement on diversity and inclusion: At the Yang Center, we believe that the tools and knowledge needed for effective acoustic monitoring should be accessible and inclusive, in particular for in-country researchers and conservationists and others who have been marginalized or  excluded from research and conservation. Therefore, we highly encourage applicants from historically underrepresented groups to apply.

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