Research Catalogue

Edda Bild is a postdoctoral fellow at the School of Information Studies (McGill University) and a soundscape researcher and educator in the Sounds in the City team, working on urban soundscapes and their relationship to the use of public and private spaces. Her interest lies in developing and testing methodologies for documenting the urban auditory experience and finding ways of improving it in practice through intentional urban design and planning, with a strong focus on participatory approaches. Edda completed her PhD at the Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Amsterdam in 2019, in the Department of Geography, Urban Planning and International Development. Her work has a strong outreach component, and she engages in various multi- and cross-disciplinary collaborations aiming to encourage sound awareness among practitioners and the public. After over 5 years of experience working on soundscape research in an European context, Edda joined McGill in early 2019 as a soundscape researcher in the Sounds in the City team and has also become a member of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Music Media and Technology (CIRMMT).

Daniel Steele is a postdoctoral fellow at the School of Information Studies (McGill University) and a project manager and soundscape researcher in the Sounds in the City team. He completed his PhD at McGill University’s School of Information Studies in 2018 with Dr. Catherine Guastavino. His thesis elaborated on the different conceptualizations of urban sound by urban planners and designers in North America and Europe. Daniel Steele is interested in design, planning, and decision-making processes centered on the consideration of urban sound. Beyond just looking at noise levels and noise pollution, he is exploring opportunities to integrate positive experiences with sound into the complex urban realm. He has been a recipient of the Wolfe Chair in Scientific and Technological Literacy and IPLAI’s Archie Malloch Fellowship for his work in mobilizing soundscape research. Prior to his PhD, Daniel trained in psychoacoustics and audio technology at Stanford’s Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he earned degrees in both mathematics and music. He also holds a Master of Architecture in Urban Design from McGill and is a member of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Music Media and Technology (CIRMMT). Through various travel and exchange programs, he has worked on urban soundscape research in both North American and European contexts. Before returning to academia, he worked with hearing aids and music; beyond the technological aspects of hearing aids, an interest in environmental auditory perception led him to soundscapes.

Catherine Guastavino is an Associate Professor at McGill University where she holds a William Dawson Research Chair. She received a Ph.D. in Psychoacoustics from the University of Paris (Pierre et Marie Curie) and post-doctoral training in cognitive psychology at McGill before joining the McGill School of Information Studies in 2005. She is a member of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Music Media and Technology (CIRMMT) where she served as Associate Director for Scientific and Technological Research from 2007 to 2009, and an associate member of the McGill Schulich School of Music. Her research interests include soundscape, spatial audio, auditory localization, multisensory perception, and music perception and cognition. She is a member of the ISO working group on Soundscape (CAC/ISO/TC43/SC1). Her research is currently funded by the National Science Foundation, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, the Fonds de Recherche du Québec, and research and development grants with industry partners.