Calder Glass ’26 traveled to Olympic National Park’s Hoh Rainforest in Washington to record sounds in nature for his Kutler Center Junior Fellowship project this summer. He formed soundscapes and music as part of the project, titled “Whispers of the Rainforest: Sonic Ecology in the Temperate Rainforests of the Pacific Northwest.”

Glass said he chose to travel to the Hoh Rainforest because of its large spectrum of biodiversity and the abundant flora living in the environment.

“All the moss and the amount of rain that the rainforest gets makes it a super cool environment for sound,” Glass said. “The moss takes away a lot of the sounds so that every sound you hear is super pure, so it just seemed like a great place to do it. There’s also not many planes that go overhead, which is super good for noise.”

Glass said a previous trip and his role as a D.J. and guitar player sparked his interest in sonic ecology.

“I went on a three-day backpacking trip to Wyoming a while ago, and I’m super into music right now,” said Glass. “I didn’t have music with me because [I was] backpacking and camping, but if you listen to the sounds of nature you feel really calm.”

Glass said the 30-day fellowship journey was an especially memorable experience because of the interesting natural landscape he was surrounded by during the entire visit.

“There was a really nice view when I sat by the lake recording [sounds] and reading for about two hours one of the days while I was camping,” Glass said. “There’s a really cool view of Mount Olympus, and it was so peaceful.”

Glass said he often encourages other students interested in receiving the summer fellowship to start writing their applications on a topic that they’re genuinely passionate about.

“[Students] should try to choose a project they love, not a project they think will get chosen,” said Glass. “Everyone whose project got chosen truly cares about it, and that allowed them to craft good applications.”