How to listen like a fish | Dr. Heather Spence | TEDxGeorgeMasonU
Marine biologist and composer Dr. Heather Spence drops a microphone into the ocean and invites you to tune in to your own life. Backed by neuroscience and twenty years of underwater listening, she explores how the hidden soundscape around you can shift your attention, your emotions, and even your decisions. Heather reveals her simple tools to train your ears and shape your surroundings. Heather’s unique blending of science and music has led her to be featured on National Geographic and funded by the National Academy of Sciences. She learns about coral reefs by listening to them and incorporates her research recordings into music that inspires deeper connections with our ocean planet.Dr. Heather Spence is a marine biologist, musician, and composer based in Arlington, VA. Her research, featured by National Geographic and funded by the National Academy of Sciences, focuses on listening. With an MS in Marine Biology and a PhD in Behavioral Neuroscience, she pioneered the use of underwater recordings to monitor coral reefs in the Mexican Caribbean. She composes music that interprets field recordings by jamming with them and teaches this process in the online course Nature Music on Studio.com. She co-founded the Ocean Memory Project and Ocean World of Sound, initiatives that integrate across disciplines for community-based coastal conservation.This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx
More from TED
- 18:51Unlocking AI for everyone | Marcus Liwicki | TEDxPatrasIn this TEDx talk, AI expert Marcus Liwicki explores how artificial intelligence can serve as a catalyst for human creativity, education, and societal progress. Speaking as a projected visitor from the year 2125, he challenges us to reimagine our relationship with technology — and our role in shaping its future. Marcus Liwicki is a chaired professor in Machine Learning and vice-rector for AI at Luleå University of Technology, Sweden.He has been pioneering deep learning research since 2005 – long before the field’s explosive growth – and at age 32, he became the youngest recipient of the International Association for Pattern Recognition’s Young Investigator Award.Today, he leads a Machine Learning group dedicated to creating sustainable AI solutions that benefit society, with a vision to make cutting-edge technology sustainable and accessible for everyone. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx
- 16:08Your Data and the Illusion of Anonymity | Pouria Hadjibagheri | TEDxPatrasIn this talk, Pouria Hadjibagheri, Software Engineer and Data Scientist, explores the illusion of data anonymity and the urgent need for agency over our digital identities. With powerful real-life examples, he reveals how personal data shapes our lives—and calls for transparency, accountability, and a redefinition of digital privacy. Pouria is a London-based software engineer, data scientist, and cloud architect with a multidisciplinary background encompassing computational biology, bioinformatics, and large-scale data infrastructure. A passionate advocate for open data, he has designed and delivered data science and machine learning courses for doctoral programmes in the UK, Germany, and China, while engaging the public through conferences and social media to promote accessibility and transparency.He is best known for leading the UK Health Security Agency’s COVID-19 Dashboard, helping establish new standards for transparency, real-time reporting, and accessibility in government data services. In 2023, Pouria was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for his contributions to data transparency, and also became a Fellow of the British Computer Society (FBCS). His team’s work at UKHSA was recognised with the Royal Statistical Society’s Award for Statistical Excellence. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx
- 20:02Time travel for beginners | Mark Earls | TEDxPatrasIn this mind-expanding talk, Mark Earls, Writer, Thinker, Producer & Speaker, challenges our obsession with clock time and invites us to rethink our relationship with time itself. Blending storytelling, psychology, and lived experience, he shows how we can bend, stretch, and reclaim time not just to improve productivity, but to live more meaningfully.From the ticking of the clock to the silence of deep reflection, Mark Earls explores how human time differs from machine time and why rediscovering “the space between the tick and the tock” might be the key to a better future. Mark Earls is an award-winning writer, thinker, producer, and speaker who is passionate about understanding human behavior, how it works at scale, and how to put those insights to work. His background is in marketing and advertising, and it is there he first pioneered the use of behavioral science and what we now know as the “Nudge” theory.In particular, Mark has argued strongly and repeatedly for the idea that we are a social species and that behavior is commonly shaped in the space between us (rather than between our ears).Mark works extensively as an advisor to businesses and NGOs around the world. This international perspective leads him to prioritize the role of culture over psychology universals, and this is where his interest in our ideas about Time comes from: both ideas we are conscious of and those embedded in our experience of the world around us. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx
- 16:58From Challenge to Change: Building Resilience with Endurance Mindset | Alex Panayotou | TEDxPatrasIn this TEDx talk, Alexandra Panayotou, Endurance Mindset Expert, Leadership Development Speaker and Consultant, shares how to face life’s challenges with courage, purpose, and unwavering commitment. Through her personal journey from solo ultramarathons to overcoming cancer, she reveals the mindset behind real transformation and the tools to build a future on your own terms. Alex Panayotou is an Endurance Mindset Expert, Leadership Development Speaker and Consultant who helps leaders and teams thrive under pressure. With a background in Psychology, Sociology, and Philosophy, and over 15 years of working with top global companies like Coca-Cola, Microsoft, and Uber, Alex blends high-performance strategies with real-world leadership development. As an extreme solo endurance runner, she has completed 13 ultra-distance challenges, including a 400km non-stop solo run, even outrunning a horse in a 123-kilometer race.As it turned out, her extreme endurance in racing was more than just an athletic edge. It was the weapon that gave her the strength to face a devastating diagnosis of breast cancer in 2017, eventually emerging victorious in what was, admittedly, one of the most difficult battles she had ever fought. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx
- 17:02How Carbon Markets Can Save the World | Renard Siew | TEDxUTMIn How Carbon Markets Can Save the World, Dr. Renard Siew unpacks one of the most powerful tools in the fight against climate change. Bridging economics and environmental science, he explains how carbon markets work and how they can accelerate global decarbonization when implemented effectively. Dr Renard Siew is the Head of Corporate Sustainability for Yinson where he is responsible for advancing the organisation’s work in the field of climate change and sustainability.Prior to this, he was involved in the implementation of the sustainability agenda for a number of public-listed corporations (Sime Darby, CIMB, MRCB) and was a researcher at the Centre for Energy and Environmental Markets (CEEM) contributing thought leadership in: sustainability/ integrated reporting, GHG reporting and verification, ESG integration, socially responsible investment (across different asset classes: equities, infrastructure and property/real estate), climate change and sustainable construction for the building/infrastructure sector. Renard is a graduate of Cambridge University and UNSW. In 2013, he was selected as one of 15 scholars to attend the PhD Academy at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH). He has published in many international refereed journals. In 2014, he won a Highly Commended Paper award by the Emerald Literati Network and was inducted into the prestigious Global Young Academy as recognition of his research impact.He was the Co-Chair of the Climate Change & Disaster Risk Management Working Committee and UNEP-FI’s Collective Commitment on Climate Action. In 2020, he was appointed an SDG Champion-Climate Action by the World Economic Forum (WEF). He is a member of the WEF Expert Network Group, serves on the WEF Global Future Council on SDG Investment. He was accepted into the Forbes Fellowship Programme and attended the inaugural UN Climate Action Summit in New York in 2019. He is currently the President of the Malaysia Carbon Market Association (MCMA) e looking into spurring the growth of the carbon markets nationally. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx
- 11:33Even the Sky is not the Limit | Capt. Monika Batra Vaidya | TEDxYouth@PPSIJCIn this inspiring talk, Capt. Monika Batra Vaidya takes the audience into the cockpit and into the heart of what it means to be a woman navigating the skies. With vivid stories, personal challenges, and unflinching honesty, she shares her journey from a microlight pilot to a Senior Commander of the Airbus A350. At the core of her message lies simple but powerful lessons from her life; inspiring the audience to give wings to their dreams. Her talk is a compelling tribute to resilience, leadership, and the unbreakable human spirit, both on the ground and at 40,000 feet. Capt. Monika Batra Vaidya, a pioneering force in Indian aviation is the first woman in India to earn a Microlight Pilot License and the first female trainer on the Airbus A350. She has consistently shattered glass ceilings in a field long dominated by men. Now serving as a Senior Commander, she pilots one of the most sophisticated aircrafts in global aviation. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx