Webinar Archive: Sound and Signal: How Fishes Hear and Communicate Through Sound

Sound and Signal: How Fishes Hear and Communicate Through Sound – September, 10 2025

Dr. Joseph A. Sisneros, University of Washington

Dr. Joseph Sisneros is a Professor and the current Chair of the Department of Psychology at the University of Washington, where he has been a faculty member since 2004. He leads a research program in auditory neuroethology, with a focus on how fishes detect, process, and localize sound in their underwater environments. This Sisneros lab is particularly known for its research on seasonal plasticity in auditory sensitivity, investigating how reproductive state and circulating hormone levels modulate hearing capabilities in fishes. This work sheds light on the adaptive significance of sensory plasticity in vertebrate systems.

Another key area of investigation in the Sisneros Lab is sound source localization, including how fishes localize sound in relatively simple and complex acoustic environments. This work has broad implications for understanding spatial hearing and sensory ecology in aquatic animals.

Over the course of his career, Dr. Sisneros has authored more than 95 peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and scholarly reviews. His research has been consistently supported by the National Science Foundation for the past 18 years. He currently serves as an Associate editor for the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America (Animal Bioacoustics section) and as Series Editor for the Springer Handbook of Auditory Research. He is also a co-organizer for the international conference series The Effects of Noise on Aquatic Life, which fosters global collaboration and dialogue on the ecological consequences of anthropogenic sound in marine and freshwater ecosystems.