When I decided to leave the Scottish coasts and move to the mountains of Trentino, many people wondered what a marine biologist was doing among chamois and spruce trees. The truth is that, even though I spent years listening to ocean sounds and studying marine mammals like dolphins and seals, what has always fascinated me most is the sound of ecosystems—wherever they may be.
Sound is nature’s universal language. In the ocean, marine mammals use it to communicate, navigate, hunt, and socialize. In alpine forests, even though the setting is completely different, sound plays an equally vital role in the lives of animals. Listening to a landscape means connecting deeply with its inhabitants, catching hidden signals, and recognizing the often not-silent impact of human presence.
While ecoacoustics is still a relatively new field, it has progressed rapidly in marine environments—largely because of the urgency to understand how shipping and industrial noise affect ocean life. In terrestrial ecosystems, we’re just beginning to scratch the surface. But the underlying principles and methods are surprisingly similar, and it’s precisely this continuity between seemingly distant worlds that inspired me to take on the challenge of WildSOUND.
In the end, my interest was never limited by a boundary between sea and mountains. My passion is to understand how animals live, how they communicate, and how we can protect them in a rapidly changing world. Even though I’m now surrounded by snow-capped peaks instead of waves, my work is still guided by the same curiosity—and the same desire to listen to nature, one sound at a time.