Meet Dr. Erin Wall, a new Postdoctoral Fellow with Raincoast

Erin recently joined Raincoast’s Cetacean team as a Mitacs Elevate Postdoctoral Fellow in collaboration with the North Coast Cetacean Society and the University of Windsor. 

Erin’s project, “Singing to be heard,” will use years of recordings from a network of hydrophones along the BC coast to investigate song development and learning in Humpback whales on their North Pacific feeding grounds. With these insights, Erin will also explore the factors that may impact seasonal song development such as underwater noise from vessel traffic. 

Erin holds a PhD in Neuroscience from McGill University where she studied the impact of social bonding on auditory perception and acoustic communication in female songbirds. During her PhD, she completed an international fellowship at the University of Antwerp’s BioImaging Lab using functional brain imaging to uncover changes in neural activity that arise when a female songbird listens to her mate’s song. Outside of the lab, Erin is involved in several organizations dedicated to science advocacy through art and collaborative learning, and groups focused on conservation, community care, and social equity. 

We posed some questions to Erin to get to know her better. 

Can you please share more about your background and how you got into this field? 

I’m originally from Florida and have been living in Canada for the past seven years. The biodiversity of both Florida and Canada is so special, and my appreciation for their ecosystems continues to grow. Watching birds, manatees, and dolphins sparked my interest in social behavior and vocal communication early on, and I feel very lucky to have that as the focus of my research! Much of the drive to pursue this work stemmed from witnessing our actions threaten wildlife and their habitats, so I am thrilled to contribute to advancing conservation efforts with Raincoast and the North Coast Cetacean Society. 

On paper, the path to my current work takes some twists and turns, but I’m genuinely grateful for that in many ways. I started out mostly in the arts in music, dance, and english. Then psychology, where I learned that humans, songbirds, and whales are among the only eight taxa in the world that learn their vocal communication signals! The professor I worked with believed that art and science share more than they differ, that they are both in the pursuit of creating and sharing new ideas. He helped me see my place in science and supported my path to graduate school where I studied the social experiences that shape auditory perception in female songbirds. Throughout these experiences, I kept tabs on Valeria’s work with beluga whales and held onto a dream of working with her – one that has now come true! Connecting with Valeria reinforced that exploring the roots of my passion for cetacean communication was the right move, and led me right where I’d always hoped to be. I’m excited to connect these different perspectives through this research.

You study humpback whale song. What is the most interesting fact you can share with us about humpbacks?

Humpback song is both constantly and collectively changing. In a given population, all males will sing roughly the same song, but the song continues to evolve as they add, subtract, and vary elements. It’s a fascinating example of cultural transmission and social learning. Individuals have their own spin on a song and song can vary depending on the social context. Some songbirds also progressively change their song over the breeding season. I’m excited to learn more about what motivates and shapes the changes in their song, even before they migrate to the breeding grounds, during the development of song here on the BC coast. 

Why is this humpback study important? 

Humpbacks travel thousands of kilometers to feed here, yet they also spend energy developing their song here. They then travel thousands of kilometers back to the breeding grounds where they sing that song for hours on end, likely to attract mates and help mediate important male-male social interactions. The feeding grounds appear to be key to song learning and cultural transmission, yet we so far have limited research on seasonal song development in the North Pacific. We have a powerful opportunity to investigate song development through this project with the collaborative network of hydrophones spanning the BC coast. With underwater noise from vessels doubling each decade since the 1950’s, it is critical that we better understand the implications of noise on the ability of humpback whales to properly develop their songs and communicate with each other.  

Humpbacks – as all other species –  are intrinsically valuable, independent of their importance to our interests. And while it is difficult to fully understand their impact, we are beginning to learn how essential they are to shaping the dynamics of marine and coastal ecosystems. They transfer nutrients, enhance primary productivity, and contribute to the stability of the food web. Understanding the behaviors that are essential to their survival, and how we can mitigate negative impacts on their behavior, will help to protect them and the many species they affect.

What do you do for fun outside of work, and does that relate to your studies? 

In kindergarten I wrote that I wanted to be a marine biologist and a singer when I grew up — still true!  I still love singing and making music. I am delighted that I get to study singers now, marrying my two biggest passions!

Can you share with us a favorite field story? 

One afternoon on Fin Island while I was doing a land-based survey of marine mammals and vessels in view of the station, I spotted a humpback slapping his pectoral fin on the water maybe 500 meters away. He stayed close-by, continuing to pec-slap as I watched him and took photos of his fluke anytime he dove under. This was such a special sight to see, so it was hard to pull myself away for even a moment when I heard sounds inside the station. Grace and Abbey, the research manager and research assistant, were on a marine survey at the time, so I knew it must be either the radio or the live feed from one of the hydrophones.

Once inside I could hear that a humpback was singing, a rare occurrence during the day, and when I saw the visual representation of the acoustics on the computer I realized that it was the same pec-slapping whale, now singing near the hydrophone closest to the station! For the first time, I had the opportunity to observe song and behavior together, just off shore, from a male who I could then identify from the photos of his tail fluke. I was and still am astounded by each day of this past field season, but this experience was particularly profound – and motivating for my research!

You can help

Raincoast’s in-house scientists, collaborating graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and professors make us unique among conservation groups. We work with First Nations, academic institutions, government, and other NGOs to build support and inform decisions that protect aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, and the wildlife that depend on them. We conduct ethically applied, process-oriented, and hypothesis-driven research that has immediate and relevant utility for conservation deliberations and the collective body of scientific knowledge.

We investigate to understand coastal species and processes. We inform by bringing science to decision-makers and communities. We inspire action to protect wildlife and wildlife habitats.