Dena J. Clink, Ph.D.

My research interests are focused on conservation bioacoustics, machine learning, and animal vocal communication, with a particular focus on Southeast Asia. My work emphasizes the use of innovative acoustic approaches for monitoring Southeast Asian vertebrates, including benchmarking and development of automated detection approaches. Our team works with local partners to facilitate data-driven management decisions using passive acoustic monitoring. We have multiple active research projects in the region, including large-scale acoustic monitoring programs in Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary in Cambodia and in Kenyir State Park in Peninsular Malaysia, an acoustic monitoring program for southern yellow-cheeked crested gibbons in Jahoo, Cambodia, and the Locally led East Asian Flyway Acoustics (LEAFA) program across the region.

I was awarded a Ph.D. in Evolutionary Anthropology (with a specialization in Primatology) from the University of California, Davis, in December 2017 where I was coadvised by Dr. Meg Crofoot and Dr. Andrew Marshall. I have been the lead scientist for the Southeast Asia Research Program at the K. Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics at the Cornell Lab since 2021.

I cannot presently take graduate students but would love to talk with potential postdoctoral scholars or undergraduate researchers who would like to join our team!

Year Hired: 2018

Contact information
K. Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
159 Sapsucker Woods Road, , USA
Email: djc426@cornell.edu

Degree(s):
Ph.D., University of California, Davis, 2017

Mutalib, A.H. binti A. et al. (2025) ‘Launching of the Locally led East Asian Flyway Acoustics Program’, Oryx, pp. 1–2. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605324001121.

Loo, Y.Y. et al. (2025) ‘Temporal patterns in Malaysian rainforest soundscapes demonstrated using acoustic indices and deep embeddings trained on time-of-day estimationa)’, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 157(1), pp. 1–16. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0034638.

Vu, T.T. et al. (2024) ‘Investigating hunting in a protected area in Southeast Asia using passive acoustic monitoring with mobile smartphones and deep learning’, Ecological Indicators, 167, p. 112501. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2024.112501.

Kershenbaum, A. et al. (2024) ‘Automatic detection for bioacoustic research: A practical guide from and for biologists and computer scientists’, Biological Reviews [Preprint].

Cauzinille, J. et al. (2024) ‘Investigating self-supervised speech models’ ability to classify animal vocalizations: The case of gibbon’s vocal signatures’, in Interspeech 2024. Interspeech 2024, ISCA, pp. 132–136. Available at: https://doi.org/10.21437/Interspeech.2024-1096.

Erb, W.M. et al. (2024) ‘Vocal complexity in the long calls of Bornean orangutans’, PeerJ, 12, p. e17320. Available at: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.17320.

Lakdari, M.W. et al. (2024) ‘Mel-frequency cepstral coefficients outperform embeddings from pre-trained convolutional neural networks under noisy conditions for discrimination tasks of individual gibbons’, Ecological Informatics, 80, p. 102457. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoinf.2023.102457.

Clink, D.J. (2024) ‘Isochronous rhythms: Facilitating song coordination across taxa?’, Current Biology, 34(5), pp. R201–R203. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2024.01.020.

Vu, T.T. et al. (2023) ‘Passive acoustic monitoring using smartphones reveals an alarming gibbon decline in a protected area in the central Annamite Mountains, Vietnam’, American journal of primatology, 85(11). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.23544.

D’Agostino, J. et al. (2023) ‘Evidence for Vocal Flexibility in Wild Siamang (Symphalangus syndactylus) Ululating Scream Phrases’, International Journal of Primatology, pp. 1–22. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-023-00384-5.

Vu, T.T. et al. (2023) ‘Using mobile smartphones and bioacoustics to monitor endangered bird species’, Ibis, n/a(n/a). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/ibi.13215.

Kennedy, A.G. et al. (2023) ‘Evidence for acoustic niche partitioning depends on the temporal scale in two sympatric Bornean hornbill species’, Biotropica, n/a(n/a). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.13205.

Clink, D.J. et al. (2023) ‘A workflow for the automated detection and classification of female gibbon calls from long-term acoustic recordings’, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 11. Available at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2023.1071640 (Accessed: 9 February 2023).

Clink, D.J. (2023) ‘Documenting the disappearance of primates from spaces where they once occurred’, Conservation Biology, 37(5), p. e14140. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.14140.

Adret, P., Clink, D.J. and Dolotovskaya, S. (2023) ‘Duetting and Turn-Taking Patterns of Singing Mammals: From Genes to Vocal Plasticity, and Beyond | Frontiers Research Topic’, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 11. Available at: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/23994/duetting-and-turn-taking-patterns-of-singing-mammals-from-genes-to-vocal-plasticity-and-beyond (Accessed: 28 November 2023).

van Kuijk, S.M. et al. (2023) ‘Automated detection and detection range of primate duets: a case study of the red titi monkey (Plecturocebus discolor) using passive acoustic monitoring’, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 11. Available at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2023.1173722 (Accessed: 29 August 2023).

Clink, D.J. et al. (2022) ‘Tarsier islands: Exploring patterns of variation in tarsier duets from offshore islands of North Sulawesi’, American Journal of Primatology, n/a(n/a), p. e23410. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.23410.

Clink, D.J. et al. (2021) ‘Moderate evidence for heritability in the duet contributions of a South American primate’, Journal of Evolutionary Biology, n/a(n/a). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/jeb.13962.

Clink, D.J. et al. (2021) ‘Limited evidence for individual signatures or site-level patterns of variation in male Northern gray gibbon (Hylobates funereus) duet codas’, International Journal of Primatology [Preprint]. Available at: https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-021-00250-2.

Clink, D. et al. (2021) ‘Not by the light of the moon: Investigating circadian rhythms and environmental predictors of calling in Bornean great argus’, PLoS ONE, 16(2), p. e0246564. Available at: https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0246564.

Clink, D.J. and Lau, A.R. (2020) ‘Adherence to Menzerath’s Law is the exception (not the rule) in three duetting primate species’, Royal Society Open Science, 7(11). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.201557.

Clink, D.J. and Klinck, H. (2020) ‘Unsupervised acoustic classification of individual gibbon females and the implications for passive acoustic monitoring’, Methods in Ecology and Evolution [Preprint]. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.13520.

Clink, D.J., Tasirin, J.S. and Klinck, H. (2020) ‘Vocal individuality and rhythm in male and female duet contributions of a nonhuman primate’, Current Zoology, 66(2), pp. 173–186. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1093/cz/zoz035.

Sethi, S.S. et al. (2020) ‘Characterizing soundscapes across diverse ecosystems using a universal acoustic feature set’, PNAS [Preprint]. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2004702117.

Clink, D.J., Hamid Ahmad, A. and Klinck, H. (2020) ‘Gibbons aren’t singing in the rain: presence and amount of rainfall influences ape calling behavior in Sabah, Malaysia’, Scientific Reports, 10(1282). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-57976-x.

Clink, D.J., Hamid Ahmad, A. and Klinck, H. (2020) ‘Brevity is not a universal in animal communication: evidence for compression depends on the unit of analysis in small ape vocalizations’, Royal Society Open Science, 7(4). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.200151.

Lau, A.R., Clink, D.J. and Bales, K.L. (2020) ‘Individuality in the vocalizations of infant and adult coppery titi monkeys (Plecturocebus cupreus)’, American Journal of Primatology [Preprint]. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.23134.

Clink, D.J., Lau, A.R. and Bales, K.L. (2019) ‘Age-related changes and vocal convergence in titi monkey duet pulses’, Behaviour [Preprint]. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1163/1568539X-00003575.

Clink, D.J., Tasirin, J.S. and Klinck, H. (2019) ‘Vocal individuality and rhythm in male and female duet contributions of a nonhuman primate’, Current Zoology [Preprint]. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1093/cz/zoz035.

Clink, D.J. et al. (2018) ‘Evidence for vocal performance constraints in a female nonhuman primate’, Animal Behaviour, 141, pp. 85–94. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2018.05.002.