{"id":2273690,"date":"2026-02-09T08:09:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T08:09:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2273690"},"modified":"2026-02-09T08:09:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T08:09:14","slug":"floridas-oyster-crisis-takes-center-stage-in-latest-musical-science-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/floridas-oyster-crisis-takes-center-stage-in-latest-musical-science-project\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida\u2019s oyster crisis takes center stage in latest musical-science project"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\n

By Sarah Sell<\/a>, University Communications and Marketing<\/em><\/p>\n

A team of professors, musicians and students at USF is transforming complicated environmental
\n data into powerful music compositions.<\/p>\n

After tackling critical issues such as harmful algae blooms and red tide, the group
\n has now composed music that highlights the environmental stressors affecting oysters
\n in Florida.<\/p>\n

The interdisciplinary research examines how the state\u2019s oyster populations have declined
\n over time and explores the significant role oyster harvesting has played in supporting
\n local economies, sustaining coastal ecosystems and shaping the state\u2019s seafood industry.<\/p>\n

You can listen to the new oyster-themed music here\u00a0<\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Led by Assistant Professor of Anthropology Heather O\u2019Leary, the project aims to make
\n scientific data more accessible, understandable and engaging to the public.<\/p>\n

Since launching the first set of musical compositions in 2024, O\u2019Leary has been interviewed
\n by international media outlets, spoken at environmental conferences and workshops,
\n and recently won a prestigious award for her creative approach to science communications.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be able to harness the power of interdisciplinary thinking and include everyday
\n members of the community in your scientific research is absolutely thrilling,\u201d O\u2019Leary
\n said.<\/p>\n

The CRESCENDO (Communicating Research Expansively through Sonification and Community-Engaged
\n Neuroaesthetic Data Literacy Opportunities) project involves experts and scholars
\n from various fields, with a primary focus on anthropology. It explores how people
\n make sense of data in different cultural settings, working alongside music, oceanography,
\n STEM education, art, journalism, hospitality and library sciences.<\/p>\n

The unique collaboration began with the publication of a paper. O\u2019Leary was the co-leader
\n of a research team that found impacts of harmful algae blooms <\/a>cost tourism-related businesses in Florida an estimated $2.7 billion from 2017 to
\n 2019. The findings were significant, but the data was difficult to understand by non-experts.<\/p>\n

Hoping to find a better way to involve the public in the scientific process, O\u2019Leary
\n began exploring creative approaches to data communication. She was inspired by her
\n experience attending band concerts at USF and reached out to her colleague, Matt McCutchen,
\n the director of bands in the College of Design, Art and Performance.<\/p>\n

You can listen to Sanctuary and Flow here\u00a0<\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Together, they collaborated with a team of student composers who transformed the data
\n into music titled “Sanctuary” and “Cardinal Flow.” The music was performed by the
\n university\u2019s Symphonic Band & Wind Ensemble on Feb. 6, 2024, at USF Concert Hall.<\/p>\n

Building on the momentum of her earlier work, O\u2019Leary continued to expand CRESCENDO
\n by focusing on Florida\u2019s declining oyster populations. Challenges to this vital species
\n stem from overharvesting, habitat loss, reduced freshwater flow and environmental
\n stressors such as red tide and PFAS, commonly known as \u201cforever chemicals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Utilizing oyster population data over the last four decades from the Florida Fish
\n and Wildlife Conservation Commission, along with O\u2019Leary\u2019s own survey results from
\n the USF-led Tampa Bay Surveillance Project, a student composer who created the first
\n two musical pieces developed a sonification titled \u201cOysters Ain\u2019t Safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

The jazz piece brings together a trio of themes: people, planet and profit, which
\n represents a balanced approach to sustainability. For the first time in CRESCENDO,
\n it draws on people\u2019s survey responses to shape the composition. The piece reflects
\n both the public\u2019s reluctance to eat oysters and the oysters\u2019 vulnerability in the
\n face of multiple threats.<\/p>\n

This second phase of the project not only expanded its scientific focus but also continued
\n to gain recognition for its innovative approach to public engagement.<\/p>\n

In June, O\u2019Leary won a national award from the Society for Economic Anthropology (SEA).
\n The Kate Browne Creativity in Research Award <\/a>celebrates creative and engaged economic anthropology.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe CRESCENDO group of students, scholars, musicians and artists [O\u2019Leary has] brought
\n together is pushing the boundaries of interdisciplinary work into a new aesthetic:
\n the sonification of research. The imaginative scope and deeply collaborative nature
\n of this work is wildly ambitious and succeeds on multiple levels,\u201d said Browne, a
\n social scientist, film producer and emeritus professor of anthropology and geography
\n at Colorado State University.<\/p>\n

The project goes beyond just sonification, with sheet music, student-created artwork,
\n a music video and an augmented reality experience that will soon be available to the
\n public. The next USF concert, featuring the oyster-themed music, takes place in January
\n 2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought CRESCENDO might be a little too far outside the box, but I had a strong
\n idea and an exceptional team of USF faculty and students,\u201d O\u2019Leary said. \u201cAs an interdisciplinary
\n researcher, you sometimes wonder if you\u2019ve gone too far from your designated field,
\n so seeing the project come together and be recognized internationally and also embraced
\n by my field was really gratifying.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.stpetersburg.usf.edu \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Sarah Sell, University Communications and Marketing A team of professors, musicians and students at USF is transforming complicated environmental data into powerful music compositions. After tackling critical issues such as harmful algae blooms and red tide, the group has now composed music that highlights the environmental stressors affecting oysters in Florida. The interdisciplinary research […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2273691,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25179],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2273690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Floridas-oyster-crisis-takes-center-stage-in-latest-musical-science-project.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2273690","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2273690"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2273690\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2273692,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2273690\/revisions\/2273692"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2273691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2273690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2273690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2273690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}