Year-end FRS

The Sonoran Desert of southern Arizona offers one of the richest natural sound environments in the world. In fact, Sonoran Desert, translated from the Spanish, means desert of sounds. Beginning in January, KUAT kicks off the millennial year with "The Arizona Soundscape Project." Each week KUAT radio will be mapping the sounds of the natural world around us. We will ask these questions: What do you hear, where do you hear it, and when and why? We will tell the stories behind the sounds that you hear and we'll be contacting scientists, folklorists and others to help explain the acoustic ecology of our environment.

We'll ask, why does the Gila woodpecker sing from the top of a saguaro at sunset? Why does it bang on your swamp cooler and wake you up at sunrise? Do sand dunes sing? Where is the best place in Tucson to hear a coyote howl?

What don't you hear anymore? How has the soundscape changed? How has noise pollution changed our perception of the environment?

KUAT will explore new ways of listening, and more information about acoustic ecology and creative listening will be posted on the KUAT website @ kuat.org. The program will run through June of 2000 and will air on KUAZ-FM 89.1/KUAT-AM 1550
on Fridays, shortly after 7:30 a.m. The features will run approximately 3 to 6 minutes in length. Produced segments will mostly be in a short interview format. Executive Producer of the project will be KUAT radio's Managing Editor for News, Jeff Rice.

Public radio stations KUAT-FM 89.7 and 90.5 and KUAZ-FM 89.1/KUAT-AM 1550 are located on the University of Arizona campus. KUAT-FM has a 24-hour a day classical music format and KUAZ-FM/KUAT-AM airs mainstream jazz and NPR newsmagazines. For more information about the stations, call 621.7545.