PELLSTON, Mich. — Traveling from Brazil to the University of Michigan Biological Station, the 2025 Artist in Residence is bringing his acoustic guitar to record a nature-inspired album at the research and teaching campus along Douglas Lake.
Dr. Ricardo Lyra, a professional musician and a researcher with a Ph.D. in ecology and natural resources, looks forward to jamming with other musicians within the UMBS community when he arrives June 10.
He also is ready to immerse himself in the natural world, connect with the place and build relationships with students, scientists and staff, offering insight into the complexities of creation and cultivating long-lasting connections between ecological preservation and creative expression.
“Sound has always fascinated me, ever since I was a curious kid growing up by the beach, where I spent hours playing guitar and listening to the local soundscape,” Lyra said. “Since then, I’ve often tried to explore new melodic and rhythmic patterns inspired by natural sounds, which helps me develop ideas I might not otherwise think of.”
During his artist residency through Aug. 2, the guitarist and music producer will blend his scientific expertise in bioacoustics — specifically birds and bats — with music to create local natural soundscapes and teach workshops focused on recording natural sounds and music production.
“This residency is an important and innovative effort to address the overlap between art and science—an effort aligned with my beliefs and objectives to explore the Art-Science spectrum creatively,” Lyra said.
Lyra first became involved in bioacoustics and soundscape ecology during his undergraduate studies in biology in Brazil at Centro de Ciências Agrárias da Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo.
It was a pivotal time in his life.
Bioacoustics shaped his research focus on birds and bats while simultaneously he was performing music and starting to explore home recording.
“During my Ph.D., these paths grew even closer,” Lyra said. “Studying bat distress calls required me to dive deeper into how sound analysis software work, as the high-frequency sounds they produced posed new challenges. At the same time, my involvement with music production gave me practical experience with recording and processing sound. This convergence helped me better understand both fields and reinforced my interest in creatively merging art and science.”
He views art and science as a spectrum of knowledge rather than isolated ways of understanding the world — and the University of Michigan Biological Station as a special place where he can live his vision.
“Working as an independent musician in the countryside of southeast Brazil left me with little time and few resources to do so,” Lyra said. “This residency will allow me to fully dedicate myself to this goal for the next two months, while connecting with people interested in these topics. With that in mind, I have no words to describe how excited, happy, and grateful I am for this opportunity.”
Lyra’s nearly two-month stay at UMBS won’t be his first time at a field research station due to his research background. However, it’ll be his first artist residency.
Lyra discovered the UMBS opportunity through a WhatsApp group called “AwE networkING”, coordinated by the NGO Artists with Evidence (AwE). It works as a network for sharing opportunities, open calls, residencies, conferences, and other events related to the intersection of art and science.
Since 2018, the University of Michigan Biological Station has welcomed artists of all mediums to explore their work through live-in residencies at its more than 10,000 forested acres surrounded by lakes and rivers.
Previous art residents at UMBS have included painters, poets, photographers and a podcaster.
“Our artist-in-residence program is designed to bring a broad diversity of imaginative perspectives to both the resident artist and the UMBS community,” said Karie Slavik, associate director of UMBS. “We are excited for Ricardo to join us this summer. His energy and talents will draw us into his world of music and our living laboratory of nature in ways we have yet to explore.”
Building his body of work during his time at UMBS, Lyra plans to:
- Record a music album focused on original acoustic guitar arrangements combined with sounds from the UMBS soundscape;
- Create a sound library that could be used for both research and artistic purposes;
- Learn about the research conducted at the station while seeking potential Art-Science explorations; and
- Engage in discussions about art, science, and Art-Science, and collaborate with others interested in these topics.
Lyra also will teach beginner-friendly UMBS community workshops on Sundays at 12:30 p.m. from June 15 through July 27 based in Nichols Lab. Students, researchers, faculty, staff and their families are invited to participate.
The hands-on workshops will explore simplified concepts of music theory and production tailored for non-musicians, basic principles of bioacoustics designed for non-scientists, and techniques to obtain high-quality samples of natural sounds for music composition, including recording methods, sample selection and audio editing.
“I will also showcase a few ways to combine these sounds of different natures — pun intended — within Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs). I’ll be using Reaper, but the concepts apply to any DAW,” Lyra said.
A special focus will be on recording natural sounds to establish a collaborative community project centered on the local soundscape.
He said no essential equipment is required to attend the workshops. However, those interested in further exploring music production and recording natural sounds might want to bring devices capable of recording sounds such as smartphones or handheld recorders.
To get a taste of Lyra’s musical style, listen to several of his songs on his Spotify playlist.
Lyra earned his bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from Centro de Ciências Agrárias da Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, CCAUFES, Brazil. He holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D., both in ecology and natural resources from Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro (UENF) Brazil.
The U-M Biological Station — the largest of U-M's campuses — is one of the nation's largest and longest continuously operating field research stations.
Founded in 1909, the Biological Station supports long-term research and education. It is where students and scientists from across the globe live and work as a community to learn from the place.
The University of Michigan Biological Station serves as a gathering place to learn from the natural world, advance research and education, and inspire action. We leverage over a century of research and transformative experiences to drive discoveries and solutions to benefit Michigan and beyond.
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