The National Academies Keck Futures Initiative (NAKFI)– a project of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine – announced today the recipients of 11 grants awarded to support interdisciplinary projects related to art and science, engineering, and medicine frontier collaborations, the subject of the 13th annual Futures conference, held last November.These competitive seed grants aim to fill a critical gap in funding for bold new ideas. Major federal funding programs do not typically provide support in areas that are considered risky or unusual. The Futures grants allow creative practitioners to start recruiting students and postdocs to the research effort, purchase new equipment, acquire preliminary data, develop prototypes of exhibits, or create new collaborative teams and modes of inquiry — all of which can position the project to compete for larger awards from other public and private sources.
Project ECAT was chosen as one of the 11 awards for NAKFI 2015.
Timothy Weaver, University of Denver, Emergent Digital Practices (EDP)
Jonathan Berger, Stanford University, Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA)
ECAT — EcoAcoustic Toolkit for research and the advancement of scientific and creative literacy in ecology
Ecoacoustics – an interdisciplinary science that investigates natural and man-made sounds and their relationship with the environment – has deepened our understanding of ecological issues and established profound visceral connections to ecological data. The EcoAcousticToolkit (ECAT) will expand the scope of this research. New software and hardware tools integrating sonification and auralization of endangered environments will be developd to enhance awareness and preservation of acoustic ecologies.
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