NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2012

使用Cramér-Rao下限和自适应波束形成来理解蝙蝠生物声纳的性能该提案将测试蝙蝠使用自适应波束形成进行回声定位的一系列假设，并且该自适应波束提供比固定发射波束更多的跟踪信息。该项目将结合生物学、行为学、声学、工程学、信号处理和统计学技术，以及新的声学技术和创造性的数学方法来研究大棕蝠（Eptesicus fuscus）的自适应波束形成。一个高分辨率，多元件麦克风阵列将测量来自静止和飞行蝙蝠的回声定位波束，Cramér-Rao下限将用于确定静态和自适应发射波束的跟踪精度。作为该项目的一部分，博士后研究员将创建一个生物声学课程，涉及生物，生理，和蝙蝠的生态特征，包括声学文件和频谱图和学生将鼓励通过调查为基础的方法来创建生物声学实验和数学解释他们的结果。该课程，单独与外展组件，将在整个罗得岛高中实施，以促进对科学的跨学科性质的理解，并鼓励学生对生物学，数学和物理科学的兴奋和参与。

Understanding bat biosonar performance using the Cramér-Rao Lower Bound and adaptive beamformingThis proposal will test the series of hypotheses that bats use adaptive beamforming for echolocation and that this adaptive beam provides more tracking information than a stationary transmit beam. The project will use a combination of biological, behavioral, acoustic, engineering, signal processing and statistical techniques as well as new acoustic technology and a creative mathematical approach to investigate adaptive beamforming in the big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus). A high-resolution, multi-element microphone array will measure the echolocation beam from both stationary and flying bats and the Cramér-Rao Lower Bound will be used to determine the tracking accuracy for static and adaptive transmit beams.As part of the project, the postdoctoral fellow will create a bioacoustic curriculum on the biological, physiological, and ecological characteristics of bats that includes acoustic files and spectrograms and students will be encouraged via inquiry-based approaches to create bioacoustic experiments and mathematically interpret their results. The curriculum, alone with outreach components, will be implemented at high schools across Rhode Island to foster an understanding of the interdisciplinary nature of science and encourage student excitement and engagement about biology, mathematics, and the physical sciences.