Russ Charif

My principal role in the K. Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics in recent years has been in scientific capacity building, primarily developing and leading our Sound Analysis Workshop (SAW). SAW trains research biologists and conservation practitioners in basic principles and methods of bioacoustics. These principles and methods are useful both for passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) of wildlife populations, and for investigating the behavioral ecology and evolution of acoustically active species.

My capacity building work builds on many years of experience with planning, data analysis, synthesis, and reporting for numerous PAM projects focusing primarily on large cetaceans and birds. I have also consulted with the Yang Center’s software developers about use cases and analysis needs of bioacoustics practitioners, and have contributed to the interface design of our software. I am the primary author of the Raven Pro User’s Manual. My principal scientific interests are in the behavioral ecology and evolution of acoustic signals.

Year Hired: 1992

Contact Information
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
159 Sapsucker Woods Road, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA
Email: r.charif@cornell.edu

Degree(s):
MS, Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, USA
BS, Harvard University, US

Arvind, C. et al. (2022) ‘Species detection framework using automated recording units: a case study of the Critically Endangered Jerdon’s courser’, Oryx, pp. 1–8. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605321000995.

Odom, K.J. et al. (2021) ‘Comparative bioacoustics: a roadmap for quantifying and comparing animal sounds across diverse taxa’, Biological Reviews [Preprint]. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.12695.

Shabangu, F.W. and Charif, R.A. (2020) ‘Short moan call reveals seasonal occurrence and diel-calling pattern of crabeater seals in the Weddell Sea, Antarctica’, Bioacoustics [Preprint].

Charif, R.A. et al. (2019) ‘Phenological changes in North Atlantic right whale habitat use in Massachusetts Bay’, Global Change Biology, 26, pp. 734–745. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14867.

Clark, C.W. et al. (2018) ‘Acoustic data from the spring 2011 bowhead whale census at Point Barrow, Alaska.’, Journal of Cetacean Management and Research, 19, pp. 31–42.

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.

Davis, G.E. et al. (2017) ‘Long-term passive acoustic recordings track the changing distribution of North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) from 2004 to 2014’, Scientific Reports, 7(1), p. 13460. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-13359-3.

Givens, G.H. et al. (2016) ‘Horvitz – Thompson whale abundance estimation adjusting for uncertain recapture, temporal availability variation, and intermittent effort’, Environmetrics, 27(3). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1002/env.2379.