Greetings,
The Department of Physics cordially invites you to the following seminar:
Talk 2: Artscience of Noise: Elucidating complexity in soundscape ecology
3:15 - 4:00 PM, Wednesday March 4th 2026
DKF Block B, Physics Department
Sithi V Muniandy
Center for Theoretical and Computational Physics, Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Universiti Malaya
Abstract
Soundscape is defined as the combined contributions of biological, geophysical and anthropogenic sounds that emanate from a landscape with complex spatial-temporal characteristics and feedback. Soundscape ecology integrates acoustic signals (sounds) with higher levels of ecological complexity, such as species community, habitat, landscape and ecosystems. From human perspective, soundscape consists of the totality of sensory signals that we perceive and the noises that we try not to ‘hear’. Soundscape exposes the ‘dark matter’ of the acoustic field that surrounds us. This research transects boundaries of ecology, geography, complex systems, physics of information and environmental humanities and showcases mindful listening to Malaysia’s natural heritage through high resolution sound field recordings and signal analytics. Selected soundscape from surrounding areas of the UKM Fraser’s Hill Research Center and MNS Kuala Selangor Nature Park are characterized using the time-frequency distributions and spectral information entropy calculated for the sounds to obtain soundscape metrics, such as Acoustic Diversity Index (ADI), Acoustic Complexity Index (ACI), Acoustic Evenness Index (AEI) and Bioacoustic Index (BioAI) that quantify relative contributions of biophony, geophony and anthropophony components in the sonic environment. These form part of the Natural Soundscape Quality (NSQ) indices, that are recognized as key measures of ecosystem service with significant cultural and heritage values, especially for planning and management of green spaces with landscape aesthetic quality. This study carried out in collaboration with ecologists (UKM), sonic artists (F. Creative Art, UM) and Malaysia Nature Society (MNS) advocates the adoption of natural soundscape one of the high-valued ecosystem goods and services, for natural soundscape has shaped the evolution of living and non-living systems on Earth for billions of years, which are under threats of excessive anthropogenic conditioning.
Biography:
Dr Sithi V Muniandy is currently a professor of theoretical physics at the Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Universiti Malaya. His research interests cover stochastic and quantum dynamics in noisy environment, focusing on anomalous transport phenomena and physics of information. This talk is an outcome of his sabbatical research leave (May 2025-Feb 2026) in Malaysia’s forest reserves, where he explores the complexity of ecosystems, particularly in the context of soundscape ecology and environmental entropy using methods from statistical physics and complexity theory. He is actively involved in indigenous STEM (iSTEM) education using nature-inspired curriculum and artscience approaches.
Thank you.
