We have a handful of new students and summer interns starting in the lab who have never worked with acoustics before. Of course, it falls on the PI of the lab to introduce them to bioacoustics. However, there are currently no complementary “intro to bio/acoustics” classes at the University I currently work at. And in the interest of time (especially for summer interns who are only here for a short while), I’d love to provide them with some additional resources.

However, because of its interdisciplinary nature, there are many aspects of bioacoustics from theory and general principles (e.g., digital signal processing, propagation modeling, wave tracing, localization), to data collection (e.g., types of PAM, instrumentation), programming and software (e.g., Audacity, Triton, Raven, Ishmael, XBAT, etc.), and the biological aspects (e.g., sound production, sound reception, types and purposes of sounds).

Not that they can quickly learn everything, but I want to make sure that when they are handed data to analyze, they have a good idea of how it was collected, what they are doing, and why. For example, you can show someone how to open a wav file and draw boxes around a signal, but it doesn’t mean they understand the bigger picture.

In lieu of a class (which I may now need to create!), are there additional **straightforward** and **practical** resources that will lead students through the pipeline of biology, data collection, signal processing, and analysis, specifically for the field of bioacoustics? (Preferably ones that don’t assume you’re an engineer?)