Soundscape Researcher Lauren Ferguson Is Listening

When Lauren Ferguson was a kid on summer vacation, like a lot of groms, she wanted to ride a jet ski. But it was not meant to be. The family road-tripped from the hustle and bustle of the Chicago area to the quiet of northern Wisconsin, and her father insisted on sailing and windsurfing instead of motorboating so they could hear loons and whippoorwills and recreate in peace.

“As a kid, at first, I’d be like, ugh,” she said. But when she was a little older, she became a camp counselor in those same northern woods, “and that’s when it hit me, being in a place that’s quiet is more relaxing. It’s a way I feel more connected to nature and far away from the noise of the day-to-day.” Then in college, at Colorado State, she heard a guest speaker from the National Park Service lecture about the importance of protecting sounds, just as they protect wildlife, water, and air, and her die was cast.

Today, Ferguson is an assistant professor at the University of New Hampshire, researching soundscapes and the impact of noise on people and animals, especially in national parks. In Alaska’s Denali National Park, she looked at the impact of sightseeing flights on visitor enjoyment (spoiler: people don’t like them). In Muir Woods National Monument, she studied how visitors’ noise levels at home influence their perceptions of the park soundscape. And in Saguaro National Park near Tucson, she measured how signage about noise levels and natural sounds impacts the human experience.

Ferguson in Denali National Park. Photo by Brian Peterson

The Saguaro project was produced with the Leave No Trace organization, which is concerned with more than footprints and photographs. Noise—whether from an airplane, car tires on pavement, or a portable Bluetooth speaker—knows no boundaries. It doesn’t stop at a fenceline, and it has negative consequences for creatures great and small.

In Saguaro, signs were posted on two trails, stating “You Are Entering a Quiet Trail,” and offering guidelines to better enjoy the soundscape. The results of Ferguson’s study? Hikers loved the signs. They perceived the signed trails to be quieter, and they overwhelmingly supported more soundscape messaging. They were strongly against loud, portable speakers, and if that doesn’t shock you, it’s still important. Wrote Ferguson, far from any jet ski lake, “These results provide empirical justification for incorporating messaging into signage, social media outreach, and other communication channels aimed at reducing noise in protected areas.”

More On Lauren Ferguson

Last Great Read An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us, by Ed Yong

Last Great Listen “Years,” by Sierra Ferrell

Last Great Watch A Complete Unknown, directed by James Mangold

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