In Conversation with Ben Mirin

October’s ReWild Yourself Champion is the brilliant bioacoustic researcher Ben Mirin, from New York, USA.

As a bioacoustic researcher, Ben has traveled the world, documenting the sounds of Nature (some never before recorded) and creating dazzling wild soundscapes and music, many of which featured on his National Geographic children’s television series, ‘Wild Beats’. Ben has recently completed his PhD at Cornell University, researching cultural connections with birdsong in Indonesia, and is currently planning his next adventure!

There is plenty to digest, so you can either check out the clips below, or watch the entire interview on Ben’s  ReWild Yourself Champion Profile where there is also other related content you might enjoy. 

Ben’s Connection to Nature

Ben understands Nature through sound. Here, he explores what the sound of birdsong in particular means to him and how, through ongoing curiosity and wonder for the natural world, he has merged his passions to become an Acoustic Biologist and Wildlife DJ. In Ben’s words, connecting with Nature makes him feel alive.

Sound and Music

From undergraduate degree to PHD, Ben talks us through his relationship with birdsong, which began long before his adult years. Interestingly, he shares his theory on equipment needed to begin recording sound, and it involves very little.

Studying Our Relationship with Birds

Have you ever heard of ethno-ornithology? Ben talks us through how the future of any natural conservation is inclusion, working together and for the benefit of all creatures – human and non-human. He talks through cultural traditions and the decline of some of the world’s most beautiful species, which he has adventured to meet.