Abstract:
This thesis “listens” to Red Sea marine ecosystems to uncover how reefs, mesophotic slopes, and seagrass meadows change through day, night, and seasons. Using passive acoustic monitoring to complement other survey techniques, it reveals seasonal fish choruses, dolphin activity linked to deep-water prey, and distinct acoustic signatures across habitats. The results provide the first comprehensive soundscape baselines for the central Red Sea and show how underwater sound can track biodiversity, ecological processes, and human impacts. This work offers a powerful, non-invasive approach for monitoring and managing rapidly changing coastal ecosystems.

Bio:
Michelle-Nicole Havlik is a PhD candidate in Prof. Carlos Duarte's research group, Tarek Ahmed Juffali Research Chair. Her work has focused on marine bioacoustics to understand ecological processes on coral reefs, mesophotic ecosystems, and seagrass meadows. She completed her MS/PhD at KAUST, where she integrates passive acoustic monitoring, ecoacoustic indices, and eDNA to investigate biodiversity patterns and environmental change in the Red Sea, and previously investigated the effect of boat noise on invertebrates. She is passionate about developing non-invasive monitoring tools for conservation and advancing soundscape-based approaches to ecosystem management.