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SyrinxPC Bioacoustic analysis

Version 2.4o
Windows 98 / 2000 / XP

Curriculum vitae

John Michael Burt

Research scientist in animal communication and bioacoustics, with a long record of field and laboratory work on bird song, auditory perception, and recording tools.

Profile

My work connects behavior, acoustic analysis, and instrumentation. I have studied song sparrows in Washington and banded wrens in Costa Rica, built microphone arrays for neighborhood recordings, and developed the Syrinx software for sound recording, playback, and spectrogram analysis.

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Address

Box 351525
University of Washington
Seattle, Washington

Phone: (206) 543 6870

Email: [email protected]

Department of Psychology

Education

Grants and awards

Dissertation

Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA. Birdsong Communication and Perception: Field and Laboratory Studies.

Advisors: Drs. Eliot A. Brenowitz and Michael D. Beecher, 1996 to 1997

Research experience

  • Research Scientist and Engineer, Psychology Department, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington. Lab based song tutoring experiment with song sparrows. Developed a Matlab based virtual tutor software system to replace the traditional tape tutoring paradigm with a more naturalistic and interactive, yet rigorously controlled song learning environment. Young song sparrows, or tutees, are maintained in isolation boxes, where they have acoustic access to four virtual tutors singing from different speakers who interact with one another and with the tutee according to a set of simple rules. The experiment is designed to determine how young birds select the songs they will learn to sing.

    Supervisor: Michael Beecher, 2003 to 2006

  • Postdoctoral Associate, Bioacoustics Research Program, Lab of Ornithology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. Developed 16 channel radio microphone array hardware and software for recording banded wren song in territorial neighborhoods in Costa Rica. Developed an automated analysis system to post process array recordings. Conducted field playback experiments to test hypotheses about complex song use strategies in banded wrens.

    Supervisor: Sandy Vehrencamp, 1999 to 2003

  • Research Assistant, Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA. Field studies of song sparrows. Used song playback experiments and observation of song sparrow males to investigate the function of song sharing and song type matching between neighbors.

    Advisor: Dr. Michael D. Beecher, 1989 to 1999

  • Research Assistant, Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA. Conducted psychophysical experiments on starlings: psychoacoustic performance following regeneration of cochlear hair cells.

    Advisors: Drs. Michael D. Beecher and Edwin W Rubel, 1992 to 1995

  • Research Assistant, Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA. Laboratory studies of song sparrow song perception. Used operant conditioning to investigate song perception.

    Advisor: Dr. Michael D. Beecher, 1991 to 1992

Professional societies

Pending publication

Burt, J.M. (in preparation). Directional playback: a novel method for preventing neighbor interference during playback experiments. To be submitted to Bioacoustics.

Publications

  1. Burt, J. M. and Vehrencamp, S. L. (2005). Dawn chorus as an interactive communication network. In P. K. McGregor (ed), Communication Networks. Cambridge Press, 320 to 343.
  2. Beecher, M. D. and Burt, J. M. (2004). The role of social interaction in bird song learning. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 13, 224 to 228.
  3. Burt, J. M., Bard, S. C., Campbell, S. E. and Beecher, M. D. (2002). Alternative forms of song matching in song sparrows. Animal Behaviour, 63, 1143 to 1151.
  4. Burt, J. M., Campbell, S. E. and Beecher, M. D. (2001). Song type matching as threat: a test using interactive playback. Animal Behaviour, 62, 1163 to 1170.
  5. Burt, J. M., Lent, K. L., Beecher, M. D. and Brenowitz, E. A. (2000). Lesions of avian song nucleus lMAN in female canaries affect song perception in an operant task. Journal of Neurobiology, 42, 1 to 13.
  6. Beecher, M. D., Campbell, S. E., Burt, J. M., Hill, C. E. and Nordby, J. C. (2000). Song type matching between neighbouring song sparrows. Animal Behaviour, 59, 21 to 27.
  7. Nordby, J. C., Campbell, S. E., Burt, J. M. and Beecher, M. D. (2000). Social influences during song development in the song sparrow: a laboratory experiment simulating field conditions. Animal Behaviour, 59, 1187 to 1197.
  8. Hill, C. E., Campbell, S. E., Nordby, J. C., Burt, J. M. and Beecher, M. D. (1999). Song sharing in two populations of song sparrows. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 46, 341 to 349.
  9. Marean, G. C., Burt, J., Beecher, M. D. and Rubel, E. W. (1998). Auditory perception following hair cell regeneration in the European starling (Sturnus vulgaris): frequency and temporal resolution. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 103, 3567 to 3580.
  10. Beecher, M. D., Nordby, J. C., Campbell, S. E., Burt, J. M., Hill, C. E. and O'Loghlen, A. O. (1996). What is the function of song learning in songbirds? In N. Thompson and D. Owings (eds), Perspectives in Ethology, Vol. 12: Communication. Plenum, 77 to 97.
  11. Marean, G. C., Cunningham, D., Burt, J. M. and Rubel, E. W. (1995). Regenerated hair cells in the European starling: are they more resistant to kanamicin ototoxicity than original hair cells? Hearing Research, 82, 267 to 276.
  12. Beecher, M. D., Campbell, S. E. and Burt, J. M. (1994). Song perception in the song sparrow: birds classify by song type but not by singer. Animal Behaviour, 47, 1343 to 1351.
  13. Marean, G. C., Burt, J. M., Beecher, M. D. and Rubel, E. W. (1993). Hair cell regeneration in European starling (Sturnus vulgaris): recovery of pure tone detection thresholds. Hearing Research, 71, 125 to 136.

Abstracts

  • Burt, J. M. (2000). Use of a radio microphone array to study banded wren song interactions at the neighborhood level. Paper presented at the 140th annual Acoustical Society of America meeting, Newport Beach, California. Abstract in Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 108(5, part 2):2583.
  • Burt, J. M. (2000). Animal sound analysis and playback software: building a software tool useful to field researchers. Paper presented at the 140th annual Acoustical Society of America meeting, Newport Beach, California.
  • Burt, J. M., Campbell, S. E. and Beecher, M. D. (1999). Song type matching as threat: an interactive playback test. Paper presented to the annual meeting of the Animal Behavior Society, Lewisburg, PA, June.
  • Burt, J. M., Brenowitz, E. A., Beecher, M. D. and Lent, K. L. (1998). Behavioral evidence for the function of the avian song nucleus lMAN. Paper presented at the 5th annual meeting of the International Society for Neuroethology, San Diego, CA, August.
  • Burt, J. M., Brenowitz, E. A., Beecher, M. D. and Lent, K. L. (1997). Lesions of the avian song nucleus lMAN affect song perception in an operant task. Paper presented at the 27th annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, New Orleans, LA, October.
  • Burt, J. M., Campbell, S. E., Hill, C. E., Nordby, J. C. and Beecher, M. D. (1996). Song type matching and repertoire matching between neighboring song sparrows. Paper presented to the annual meeting of the Animal Behavior Society, Flagstaff, AZ, August.
  • Burt, J. M., Beecher, M. D. and Campbell, S. E. (1993). Song sparrows classify by type but not by singer. Paper presented to the annual meeting of the Animal Behavior Society, Seattle, WA, June.
  • Marean, G. C., Burt, J., Beecher, M. D. and Rubel, E. W. (1993). Hair cell regeneration: recovery of pure tone detection thresholds following aminoglycoside ototoxicity in the European starling. Paper presented at the 16th Midwinter Meeting of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology, St. Petersburg, FL, February.

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