Dr. Traci Neilsen

About:

Dr. Tracianne Neilsen earned her doctorate from the University of Texas at Austin then completed a postdoctoral research (2000-2003) at the Applied Research Laboratories, University of Texas at Austin, investigating optimizations methods for source localization and seabed characterization in shallow ocean environments. She continued working part-time remotely as a research scientist through 2007. She was a part-time adjunct and researcher in jet noise at BYU for a decade before accepting a full-time faculty position in May 2018. In “My nonlinear career path as a mother acoustician,” Dr. Nielsen wrote about her path of being a full-time mom and part-time scientist while her children were young and then transitioning to her full-time faculty job.

Since May 2018, she has established an underwater (UW) acoustics research group at BYU that provides mentored research opportunities for students to apply modeling, optimization, and machine learning techniques to ocean acoustics applications. In May 2020, she gave a webinar about “Fundamentals of Underwater Sound” for Discovery of Sound in the Sea. She likened the physics that guide how sound travels in the ocean to our lives in her June 2021 devotional. “The Messy Middle of Revelation”.

Research:

Currently, Dr. Neilsen and her research students are exploring effective ways to (1) apply machine learning in ocean acoustics and (2) employ information geometry to ocean sound propagation models. The machine learning techniques are applied to both data measured by students in the lab and recordings of sounds in the ocean by collaborators. The goal is to find robust ways for the machine learning applications to handle the large amount of variability in the ocean environment. These applications include signal classification, source localization, and seabed characterization. The information geometry approach to analyzing models of sound propagation is done in collaboration with Mark Transtrum (BYU) and aims at identifying parameter correlations and reduced-order models for obtaining estimates of seabed properties. These efforts are supported by grants from the Office of Naval Research.

Teaching

Dr. Neilsen has taught a variety of courses, including general education class “Descriptive Acoustics,” intermediate physics classes, computational labs, an advanced technical communications class, and a graduate level introduction to acoustics course. During the pandemic, she developed a new general education course “and “Energy, Climate, and the Environment,” which appeals to a wide range of students. Currently, she is helping develop a new course called “Physical Reasoning with Data” to complement BYU’s emphasis on providing innovative courses in data science.

Professional Citizenship

Dr. Neilsen has been involved in the Acoustical Society of America for many years. She has participated in their outreach efforts, served as the chair of the Women in Acoustics Committee (2018-2021), and as a member of the Public Relations Committee and the Technical Committee on Underwater Acoustics. Currently, she is an Associate Editor for one of the Society’s journals and a member of the Executive Council.