Science On Screen®: Field studies on film
Austin Film Society (Austin, TX): October 17, 2021

Acoustic ecologist and whale-communication expert Dr. Michelle Fournet and Fathom director Drew Xanthopoulos present a virtual Q&A about the film and Fournet's quest to understand how humpback whales "speak" to each other.

We encourage you to pair this conversation with the film FATHOM, a documentary in which two biologists set out on an undertaking as colossal as their subjects: deciphering the complex communication of whales.

Presenters: Drew Xanthopoulos, Filmmaker
Dr. Michelle Fournet, Acoustic Ecologist

Dr. Michelle Fournet is an acoustic ecologist who studies marine animal communication. Her research program spans the tropics to the poles investigating toadfish, snapping shrimp, Arctic seals, and bowhead whales, but her primary focus is on how humpback whales communicate on their Alaskan foraging grounds and their resilience to changing ocean soundscapes. Dr. Fournet received her MS and PhD from Oregon State University, where she worked with NOAA and the National Park Service. She is a postdoctoral researcher with Cornell University's K. Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics and the director of the Sound Science Research Collective.
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The Science on Screen grant initiative brings science to cinemas nationwide, through creative pairings of current, classic, cult, and documentary films with lively introductions by notable figures from the world of science, technology, and medicine: https://scienceonscreen.org

An initiative of the Coolidge Corner Theatre, in partnership with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.