Christine Erbe

Biography

Christine holds an MSc in physics (University of Dortmund, Germany) and a PhD in geophysics (University of British Columbia, Canada). She has worked in industry (starting as a secretary and book keeper for an IT company, growing into a private consultant and enjoying several years as Director of JASCO Australia), in government (underwater noise research & regulation, Fisheries & Oceans Canada), and in high-school education (very briefly), and recently moved back into academia as Director of CMST at Curtin University. Christine’s interests are underwater sound (ambient, anthropogenic & biological), sound propagation, signal processing and noise effects on marine fauna. She’s a Fellow of the Acoustical Society of America, the Chair of the Animal Bioacoustics Technical Committee of the Acoustical Society of America, and the Australian Government representative on the International Standardization Organization (ISO) working group on standardising underwater noise measurements of vessels.

Research Interest

Man-made noise in the marine environment, characterisation + classification Ambient noise Sound propagation modelling in the ocean Propagation of impulsive sound (e.g. seismic airgun) versus continuous sound Audiology of marine mammals, fish + birds Marine mammal vocalisations, characterisation + classification Automatic detection and identification of signals in noise Impact of anthropogenic noise on marine mammals, fish, invertebrates, marine birds: behavioural disturbance, acoustic masking, physiological effects Software modelling of bioacoustic impact Mitigation procedures and techniques Environmental management + policies