The Soundscape & Audiology Research Lab studies the sounds that comprise our daily lives and how they shape us, from our basic hearing abilities to our social and emotional health. Our lab is particularly interested in the intersection between real-world soundscapes, hearing loss, and audiologic intervention, with the aim to improve intervention effectiveness and promote active auditory engagement in daily life throughout life. Our lab engages in highly rigorous, highly creative research that is chiefly committed to ecological validity. We try to study listening in real soundscapes, either by simulating them in the lab or collecting data from listeners as they go about their daily lives. Although we work on a number of demographic groups and interventions, our current focus is on older adults with hearing loss who use or could use hearing aids.
Our lab is located in Goodnight Hall, in the Lakeshore neighborhood at UW-Madison.