Bioacoustics Winter School

​

Bioacoustic combines biology and acoustics. It investigates the production, propagation and reception of sounds produced by living beings. Fundamentally, bioacoustics is particularly interested in acoustic communication mechanisms (animal and human "languages"). On the applied level, bioacoustics covers several aspects, such as the study of the effects of anthropogenic noises on animals and humans (e.g. impacts of sounds produced by boats on marine mammals), the use of acoustic probes to characterize the quality of ecosystems, acoustic monitoring of animal populations (e.g. counting of birds), the use of biological sounds for pests’ scaring (e.g. birds on airport runways), etc

​

Learning objectives
 

Training in bioacoustic scientific investigations and tools

​

At the end of the course, the following skills will have been acquired: 

• knowledge in how to use the basic material necessary for any study in bioacoustics (digital recorder, microphones, speakers); 

• basic knowledge in sound and signal processing (use of softwares such as PRAAT and Soundgen); 

• skills in how to set up a bioacoustic study (scientific question, experimental design, realization of experiments, results’ analysis); 

• general knowledge on the bioacoustic world and its interests, both in basic and applied research

 

The two week training is concluded by a written and oral exam, and successful students will receive a certification in bioacoustics by the University of Lyon/Saint-Etienne.

 

Organizers

Nicolas Mathevon, Jérémy Rouch & Frédéric Sèbe

​

Teaching staff

University of Saint-Etienne (ENES Bioacoustics Research Lab)

Nicolas Mathevon, Prof (BWS organizer)

Frédéric Sèbe, Associate Researcher, Office Français de la Biodiversité

Cédric Girard-Buttoz, Researcher, CNRS

Michael Greenfield, Prof

Florence Levréro, Prof

Vincent Médoc, Associate Professor

Kasia Pisanski, Researcher, CNRS

David Reby, Prof

Jérémy Rouch, Research Engineer

ENES PhD students, post-docs

 

External

Olivier Adam, Prof Univ. Sorbonne

Jean-Yves Barnagaud, Associate Prof, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes

Elodie Briefer, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Caroline Casey, Associate Researcher, University of California, Santa Cruz, USA

Isabelle Charrier, Senior Researcher CNRS

Catherine Crockford, Senior Researcher CNRS

Tudor Draganiou, Associate Prof, Univ Nanterre

Paulo Fonseca, Prof, Univ. Lisbonne

Hervé Glotin, Prof, Univ Toulon

Lorène Jeantet, Post-Doc Researcher, African Institute for Mathematical Sciences, South Africa

Mirjam Knörnschild, Prof, Humboldt University Berlin (online)

Mathilde Massenet, postdoc, Lunds University, Sweden

Rafael Marquez, Senior Researcher, Museum of Natural History, Madrid, Spain

Colleen Reichmuth, Senior Researcher Univ.California, Santa Cruz, USA

Tony Robillard, Prof, Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris

Fanny Rybak, Associate Prof, Univ.Paris-Sud

Jérôme Sueur, Prof, Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris

​

 

Registration 
 

Contact: emmanuelle.combe@univ-st-etienne

​

Applications for the 2026 session (January 5-16) is now open (deadline: September 30, 2025).

​

Tuition fees: 1300 € (excluding housing & meals)

Discount rates for students registered at the University of Lyon, at the University of Saint-Etienne and at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes.