Who We Are

Sound Science is a marine conservation non-profit committed to robust applied research and developing an equitable platform for scientific growth. Our team of scientists and collaborators is made up of acousticians and ecologists who have agreed to build a scientific community based on these goals.

Michelle Fournet, PhD

Director

Dr. Fournet is an acoustic ecologist who specializes in the animal communication and the impacts of anthropogenic noise on marine animals. More broadly, she seeks to use acoustics as a marine conservation tool. To this end, her work includes documenting the impact of anthropogenic noise on arctic and sub-arctic marine mammals, using sonic fishes as indicators of sub-tropical estuary restoration, and using sound as a means of connecting students with the natural world. She completed a MS in Marine Resource Management and PhD in Wildlife Science from Oregon State University and spent four years as a postdoctoral research scientist at Cornell University’s K. Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics. In addition to being the director of Sound Science, she is also the Associate Director for Education for the Center for Acoustics Research and Engagement at the University of New Hampshire. See her personal website here.

Leanna Matthews, PhD

Assistant Director

Dr. Matthews is a biologist who specializes in the ecology and acoustic behavior of pinnipeds. She completed her PhD from Syracuse University, where her research focused on the impacts of noise on harbor seal reproductive advertisement displays. In addition to her work with Sound Science, she is also an Affiliate Professor of Biology at the Metropolitan State University of Denver. She is primarily interested in the impacts of noise on marine mammals and interspecific interactions.

Samara Haver, PhD

Research Associate

Dr. Haver is an acoustician and oceanographer with a background in soundscape analyses, environmental acoustics, and marine policy. She completed her MS and PhD in Wildlife Science from Oregon State University where she was monumental in spearheading the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and National Park Service Ocean Noise Reference Station Network (NRS). Samara is a postdoctoral scholar in the Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Sciences at Oregon State University where she works within the OSU/NOAA Cooperative Institute for Marine Resource and Ecosystems Studies on soundscape monitoring projects all around the U.S. Read more about Samara and her research here.

Natalie Mastick Jensen, PhD Candidate

Research Associate

Ms. Mastick Jensen’s focus of study are marine parasite ecology and behavioral ecology. She completed her MS in Wildlife Science at Oregon State University studying group foraging behaviors in humpback whales. In addition to being a research associate with Sound Science, Natalie is currently a PhD candidate at the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences at the University of Washington studying the changing landscape of parasite infection risk to marine mammals. Read more about Natalie and her research here.

Annie Bartlett

Research Intern

Annie is a field technician interested in humpback whale communication and social dynamics. She received a BS from Cornell University where she majored in Environmental Biology and Applied Ecology. While there, she worked with Sound Science to study individual variation in humpback whale non-song vocalizations.

Melanie Smith

Graduate Student Researcher

I am a first year Marine Biology M.S. student exploring changes in humpback whale calling behavior before, during, and after COVID-19, when vessel traffic was disrupted. Originally from South Florida, I love to spend my free time running, snorkeling, and kayaking.