The push to preserve quiet

Sound recordist Matt Mikkelsen travels to some of the quietest places in the world, like the Zabalo River in Ecuador. But vibrant natural soundscapes are increasingly threatened by human noise. What will it take to save the quiet?

Matt Mikkelsen, field recordist and sound engineer with Quiet Parks International. Executive director of Wilderness Quiet Parks. He observes, records, researches and works to preserve natural soundscapes.

Erica Walker, assistant professor of epidemiology at the Brown University School of Public Health, where she also runs The Community Noise Lab.

Paul Anderson, director of the Coral Reef Aquarium Fisheries Campaign and fisheries biologist.

Steve Orfield, runs the multisensory design research lab at Orfield Laboratories in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The lab’s anechoic chamber is globally recognized as the quietest room in the world.