Christopher Hauer is a Ph.D. researcher in Computer Science at the Pattern Recognition Lab at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), working under the supervision of Prof. Dr.-Ing. Christian Bergler at OTH Amberg-Weiden. His research focuses on the development and application of state-of-the-art artificial intelligence methods for animal bioacoustics, with a particular emphasis on the automated detection, segmentation, and classification of animal vocalizations, as well as the development of software tools that support biological research and acoustic data analysis.
In the collaboration between OTH Amberg-Weiden, FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg and Ocean Sounds, he applies and advances these methods using recordings of Norwegian killer whales, building on previous AI-driven bioacoustic research from Prof. Bergler and revising existing approaches to the acoustic characteristics and research needs of a new population and environment. His work aims to develop robust and scalable solutions for analyzing large acoustic datasets, enabling more efficient investigation of killer whale vocal behavior and communication. By bridging machine learning research with practical software development and marine bioacoustics, his contributions support Ocean Sounds in extracting meaningful biological insights from field recordings and advancing the study of killer whale communication.