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143 results on '"Kloepper, Laura N."'

1. Affinity Mixup for Weakly Supervised Sound Event Detection

Author

Izadi, Mohammad Rasool, Stevenson, Robert, and Kloepper, Laura N.

Subjects
Computer Science - Sound, Computer Science - Machine Learning, Electrical Engineering and Systems Science - Audio and Speech Processing
Abstract

The weakly supervised sound event detection problem is the task of predicting the presence of sound events and their corresponding starting and ending points in a weakly labeled dataset. A weak dataset associates each training sample (a short recording) to one or more present sources. Networks that solely rely on convolutional and recurrent layers cannot directly relate multiple frames in a recording. Motivated by attention and graph neural networks, we introduce the concept of an affinity mixup to incorporate time-level similarities and make a connection between frames. This regularization technique mixes up features in different layers using an adaptive affinity matrix. Our proposed affinity mixup network improves over state-of-the-art techniques event-F1 scores by $8.2\%$.

Published
2021

6. Characteristics of wild moose (Alces alces) vocalizations.

Author

Zager, Alex, Ahlberg, Sonja, Boyan, Olivia, Brierley, Jocelyn, Eddington, Valerie, Moll, Remington J., and Kloepper, Laura N.

Subjects
MOOSE behavior, ANIMAL sounds, VIDEOS, BANDWIDTHS
Abstract

Moose are a popular species with recreationists but understudied acoustically. We used publicly available videos to characterize and quantify the vocalizations of moose in New Hampshire separated by age/sex class. We found significant differences in peak frequency, center frequency, bandwidth, and duration across the groups. Our results provide quantification of wild moose vocalizations across age/sex classes, which is a key step for passive acoustic detection of this species and highlights public videos as a potential resource for bioacoustics research of hard-to-capture and understudied species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Published
2024
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9. Graded alarm call behavior in wild fox squirrels (Sciurus niger).

Author

Eddington, Valerie M., Nichols, Hannah K., Calistri-Yeh, Adrienne, Young, Vanessa K. Hilliard, and Kloepper, Laura N.

Subjects
GROUND squirrels, SQUIRRELS, SCIURIDAE, ALARMS
Abstract

Distress or alarm calls are vocalizations made when animals are in stressful situations or faced with a predator. Squirrels (Sciuridae) are known for being very vocal; however, most studies on alarm vocalizations are limited to ground squirrels. We investigated the acoustic behavior of the arboreal fox squirrel (Sciurus niger) under different conditions. Specifically, we tested the hypothesis that fox squirrels modify acoustic alarm behavior in response to different perceived threat levels and that this response is affected by sex and individual experience. Squirrels were trapped, and acoustic data were collected during periods in which the squirrels were alone, approached by humans, manipulated in traps, and handled by humans. Calls were categorized based on acoustic features, and we quantified the call rate (calls/s) across conditions. Threat level significantly affected vocal rate, with squirrels producing more calls overall when alone but shifting the proportion of emitted call types as threat level increased. Sex, capture history, and individual had no effect on call rate. These results suggest that fox squirrels use a graded alarm call response system to respond to threatening situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Published
2024
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20. Birds versus bats: attack strategies of bat-hunting hawks, and the dilution effect of swarming

Author

Brighton, Caroline H., Zusi, Lillias, McGowan, Kathryn, Kinniry, Morgan, Kloepper, Laura N., and Taylor, Graham K.

Abstract

Aggregation is often thought to reduce predation risk, whether through dilution, confusion, or vigilance effects. Such effects are challenging to measure under natural conditions, involving strong interactions between the behaviours of predators and prey. Here we study aerial predation on massive swarms of Brazilian free-tailed bats Tadarida brasiliensis by diurnal raptors, to test how the behavioural strategies of predators and prey influence catch success and predation risk. The Swainson’s hawks Buteo swainsoni that we observed achieved high (31%) catch success without any morphological specializations for bat-hunting, but showed clear evidence of adaptive behaviour: the odds of catching a bat were increased threefold when executing a stoop or rolling grab manoeuvre, one or both of which were observed in three-quarters of all attacks. Catch success was several times higher against the column than against lone bats, so we found no evidence for any vigilance or confusion effect. Attacks on lone bats were infrequent (∼10%), but were >50 times more common than the lone bats themselves. Because of their preferential targeting, the overall risk of predation was >20 times higher for lone bats. Dilution is therefore both necessary and sufficient to explain the higher survival rates of bats flying in column formation.

Published
2020
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41. We need to teach science communication to graduate and undergraduate students. Here's how.

Author

Kloepper, Laura N.

Abstract

Effective science communication ("SciComm") to both a technical and non-technical audience is considered a key skill for contemporary scientists. Unfortunately, most of the SciComm education occurs after individuals receive their degree, and few science students receive formal training in communication. Here, I describe a course that teaches SciComm to first-year undergraduate science students and can be easily modified for graduate curricula. This course consists of a series of modules that teach both technical and non-technical SciComm. I describe these modules and give example assignments. By integrating SciComm early into science education, students can develop both the technical and communication skills necessary to be effective researchers and communicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Published
2017
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42. Promoting active and collaborative learning in large science classrooms.

Author

Kloepper, Laura N.

Abstract

Studies show that traditional lectures are ineffective and result in higher student failure rates than in active classroom settings. Unfortunately, large class sizes at many institutions prohibit some of the active learning strategies that are feasible in small classrooms. Moreover, increased time constraints of faculty members further limit one's ability to assess individual learning in the classroom. This paper demonstrates multiple techniques to incorporate into traditional lecture formats that increase student engagement, provide immediate assessment of lecture material, deepen critical thinking, and motivate student learning--all without increasing the time demands of the instructor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Published
2017
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