center for global soundscapes

What center for global soundscapes does

The Center for Global Soundscapes (CGS) is a nonprofit research center established in 2013 and housed at Purdue University's Lilly Hall of Life Sciences in West Lafayette, Indiana. Its mission is to support discovery, learning, and engagement activities that preserve Earth's natural acoustic heritage through soundscape ecology — the study of landscapes through sound. CGS maintains a global acoustic archive of over 6 million recordings spanning 28 of 32 major ecosystems and 112+ countries, collected since 2008 using passive acoustic monitoring (audible acoustic sensors, ultrasonic sensors, hydrophones, and geophones) and citizen-contributed audio via the Record the Earth iOS/Android app.

Its core product suite centers on Pumilio, a web-based database for managing soundscape recordings, spectrograms, and metadata; PumilioR and the SoundEcology R Tutorial for analysis; the Global Soundscapes! IMAX educational film distributed via Fox Fire Interactive; the iListen.org MOOC for grades 5–9; the YELLS curricular kit for informal learning; the Digital Borneo traveling exhibit; and the Full Spectrum Initiative, which integrates multiple sensor types to record frequencies from 0.0001 Hz to 96 kHz for continuous periods. CGS relies primarily on research grants from the National Science Foundation (AISL, iCorps, CNH, RCN programs), NASA (A.7 Biodiversity Program), Indiana DNR, and US Fish & Wildlife Service, supplemented by tiered individual donations and corporate giving routed through Purdue Agriculture Development. Its go-to-market combines community-led citizen science, event-driven IMAX and museum distribution, and academic/research-institution partnerships across the US, Costa Rica, Panama, Finland, Mongolia, Bangladesh, and Tanzania.

Name

center for global soundscapes

Legal name

Center for Global Soundscapes

Website

https://centerforglobalsoundscapes.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Short description

The Center for Global Soundscapes is a Purdue University-affiliated nonprofit research center that conducts soundscape ecology research, maintains a global archive of 6M+ acoustic recordings, and delivers STEM education through citizen science apps, IMAX films, and museum exhibits.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Soundscape Ecology Research

NAICS

Other Sound Recording Industries (51229), Motion Picture and Sound Recording Industries (512)

SIC

Services-Motion Picture & Video Tape Production (7812)

akta.pro primary industry

Sample Libraries, Loops & Sound Content Platforms (MPAIAIAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Enterprise Audio Publishing & Private Podcast Platforms (MPAIADAI), Audio & Speech Analytics (call analytics, QA, insights) (HDAAAFAH)

Keywords

• Soundscape ecology research
• Passive acoustic monitoring
• Citizen science platform
• STEM education resources
• Biodiversity conservation data

Headquarters

HQ city

West Lafayette

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Donations: Individual donations at various levels ($50 for batteries, $150 for portable hard drives, $250 for local sensor servicing, $1000 for acoustic sensors) used to support the mission of recording Earth's soundscapes.
2. Research Grants: Primary funding from major research grants including National Science Foundation (Advancing Informal STEM Learning, iCorps, CNH2, CNH programs), NASA A.7 Biodiversity Program, Indiana Department of Natural Resources, and US Fish and Wildlife Services.
3. Corporate Partnerships: Naming options and large donations facilitated through partnership with Purdue Agriculture Development, with contact Marissa Mikel as Director of Development.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

The Center for Global Soundscapes is a university-affiliated nonprofit research center that conducts global soundscape ecology research using passive acoustic monitoring. It maintains the world's largest archive of ecosystem sound recordings (over 6 million), develops proprietary tools like Pumilio and PumilioR for data management and analysis, distributes educational products (IMAX film, MOOC, exhibits, curricular kits), and runs a citizen science platform (Record the Earth app) for global public participation.

Product overview

The Center for Global Soundscapes operates as a multi-product research and education organization focused on soundscape ecology. The core offerings include the Pumilio soundscape management database with over 1 million recordings, the Record the Earth citizen science app platform, the Global Soundscapes! IMAX educational film, and the iListen.org MOOC. Supporting products include PumilioR for R-based analysis, the Full Spectrum Initiative for comprehensive multi-sensor recording, YELLS curriculum kits, and various exhibits like Digital Borneo. These products work together to enable passive acoustic monitoring, biodiversity assessment, and informal STEM education globally.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Vanishing Soundscapes: A project to collect natural soundscape recordings at locations where sounds are under threat of being lost forever, focusing on locations with high ecological or social value.
• Full Spectrum
• Midwest Initiative
• Record the Earth
• iListen.org

Products and services

• Pumilio A web-based database tool for researchers to load soundscape recordings from the field, create MP3s and spectrograms, update metadata files, and associate data with mapping tools like GoogleMap. Features interactive player for listening to recordings and viewing waveforms.
• PumilioR R-based tool allowing users to extract subsets of files from soundscape libraries and process hundreds to millions of soundscape recordings for analytical workflows.
• Record the Earth Citizen science mobile application for iOS and Android that allows users worldwide to record and upload soundscape recordings to a global archive, particularly during Earth Day events to build 'what the Earth sounds like on one day.'
• Global Soundscapes! A Mission to Record the Earth Giant-screen IMAX and dome theater educational film exploring soundscape ecology in Costa Rica, Hawaii, and Mongolia. Includes interactive theater show for middle school students aligned to Next Generation Science Standards.
• iListen.org STEM Massively Open Online Course (MOOC) for grades 5-9 that takes students on virtual journeys through jungles, coral reefs, and grasslands while learning about soundscape ecology, physics, neurobiology, and mathematics.
• YELLS (Your Ecosystem Listening Labs) Curricular kit for informal learning settings such as summer camps, museums, and parks, configured as games, listening exercises, and multi-day research projects that place youth in grades 5-8 in scientist and engineer roles.
• Full Spectrum Initiative Multi-sensor recording system combining audible acoustic sensors, ultrasonic sensors, hydrophones, and barometric pressure sensors near an earthquake station. Records frequencies from 0.0001 Hz to 96 kHz for one full year to understand natural periodicities and is anticipated to produce 30 TB of data.
• Soundscape Radio Interactive radio platform displaying sounds from various global locations including La Selva Costa Rica and Borneo, providing public access to ecosystem recordings.
• Digital Borneo Exhibit Traveling 20ft x 20ft immersive exhibit featuring Borneo rainforest sounds and imagery with 24 speakers and mobile augmented reality devices using theroar.io technology, displayed at partner institutions.
• SoundEcology R Tutorial Three-hour tutorial guide with sound files and PDF documentation for analyzing soundscape recordings using R, developed as part of an NSF RCN grant and updated October 2023.
• Soundscape Archive Global archive of over 1 million passive acoustic recordings from 112+ countries, accessible through the Pumilio interface for researchers and citizen scientists conducting ecological studies.

Named customers3 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

AI capability3 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

21 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and supporting.

• Purdue UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHost institution providing Office of the Executive Vice President for Research, College of Agriculture, Discovery Park, and Department of Forestry and Natural Resources support.
• Indiana Department of Natural ResourcesmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFunding partner for Southern Lake Michigan Communities Project and soundscape planning initiatives.
• United States Fish and Wildlife ServicemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFunding and research partner for various wildlife monitoring and conservation projects.
• La Selva Biological Station, Costa RicamajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-term research partner for neotropical rainforest soundscape studies since 2008, with over 135,000 recordings.
• Conservation International TEAM ProjectmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational partnership for tropical ecosystem monitoring in Costa Rica and Washington DC.
• University of Nebraska-KearneymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborator on Platte Basin Timelapse Project integrating photography with soundscape recordings.
• DePaul University (Chicago Wild Sounds Project)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to integrate nature sounds, city sounds, and music to celebrate urban soundscapes in Chicago.
• Smithsonian Tropical Research InstitutemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partner for Panama caves study and tropical ecosystem research.
• Fox Fire InteractivecoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorBoston-based distributor of the Global Soundscapes! IMAX film to science centers and theaters.
• Wildlife AcousticssupportingTechnology or IntegrationEquipment partner providing acoustic recording technology for field research.
• Aldo Leopold FoundationmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partner at Aldo Leopold's shack in Wisconsin for soundscape ethics and land ethic studies.
• University of Helsinki / Helsinki Institute of Sustainability SciencemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborator on Finland Boreal Soundscapes and Sense of Place Study with sensors at Värriö Subarctic Research Station.
• American Center for Mongolian StudiesmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner for Mongolian Steppe Study and Soundscapes and Sonic Practices of Mongolian Herders NSF project.
• National Park ServicemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner for studies in Denali, Chiricahua, Channel Islands, Dry Tortugas and other national parks.
• NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research LaboratorysupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch collaborator for coastal and estuarine soundscape studies.
• Liverpool John Moores UniversitysupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partner for international soundscape ecology research.
• Indiana State MuseummajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner for permanent Soundscapes of Past and Current Indiana Landscapes exhibit.
• Michigan Science CentermajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHost venue for Mysterious Sounds of Water temporary exhibit in Detroit.
• Colorado State UniversitymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborator on Soundscapes and Sonic Practices of Mongolian Herders NSF project.
• University of ArizonamajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborator on Soundscapes and Sonic Practices of Mongolian Herders NSF project.
• University of Texas-AustinmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborator on Soundscapes and Sonic Practices of Mongolian Herders NSF project.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Wildlife Acoustics: Commercial provider of bioacoustic monitoring hardware and software (e.g., SongMeter recorders). Wildlife Acoustics is an equipment partner of the Center for Global Soundscapes and operates in the same acoustic wildlife monitoring space, though with a commercial hardware focus versus the center's research/education mission.
• Rainforest Connection: Nonprofit using acoustic monitoring and AI for real-time detection of illegal logging and biodiversity threats in rainforests. Closely comparable mission (acoustic ecology for conservation) and complementary technology stack.
• Soundscape Ecology Lab (Colorado State University): Academic research group studying soundscape ecology and ecoacoustics at Colorado State University. Directly comparable as an academic laboratory producing peer-reviewed research and analytical tools in the same field.

Broad incumbents

• Cornell Lab of Ornithology: Larger, established institution running bioacoustics research programs (e.g., BirdNET, Macaulay Library) and the Pattern Radio whale sound project. Highly comparable in combining acoustic research, citizen science, and global audio archives, but operates at significantly greater scale and with broader ornithological scope.
• Google Bioacoustics (AI for Nature): Google's bioacoustics research initiatives applying AI to large-scale environmental audio datasets. Comparable as a well-resourced actor pushing AI-driven acoustic monitoring, though as part of a much broader technology portfolio.
• National Park Service Natural Sounds and Night Skies Division: U.S. federal program that monitors, manages, and archives natural sounds in national parks (a partner of the Center for Global Soundscapes). Comparable in mission and methodology, but a government program rather than a research center.

Emerging players

• Xeno-canto: Citizen-science-driven global archive of bird sound recordings with hundreds of thousands of contributors. Comparable as an open-access citizen-science audio platform, though narrower in taxonomic scope (birds only).
• BirdNET: Cornell Lab of Ornithology's AI-powered bird sound identification platform used by researchers and citizen scientists worldwide. Comparable as a sound-recognition AI tool applied to ecological monitoring, though focused on avian species.
• Pattern Radio: Cornell Lab / Google AI collaboration using machine learning to identify individual whale sounds in massive acoustic archives. Directly comparable as a large-scale acoustic ecology + AI research project producing publicly available analytical tools.
• Chirp Foundation: Nonprofit working at the intersection of soundscape ecology and community engagement. Comparable in mission (preserving natural acoustic heritage and citizen science), though smaller and less well known.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@CenterforGlobalSoundscapes
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/purdue-center-for-global-soundscapes

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about center for global soundscapes