Paul Garber is a native North Carolinian, a longtime journalist, and a certified naturalist. As a youth, he loved exploring the forests and waterways of the North Carolina Piedmont and listening to music. Those twin passions eventually formed the basis of his love of soundscapes.

My soundscape journey began in Tanglewood Park, in Forsyth County, N.C. My dad would take my brother and me to the park regularly, often to fish. I remember him casting his line from this very bank more than 50 years ago. During one trip, we were walking through a field. He paused and said, “Listen. Do you hear that?” What we heard were two notes, one low, the other high and quick. “That’s a bobwhite. They’re called that because it sounds like he’s saying ‘Bob White.’” I must’ve been 7 or 8 at the time, but I remember being amazed that a bird could make a call that sounded like it was saying something in our language. I have returned to the park many times since then, but I haven’t heard a Northern bobwhite quail in many years. During my lifetime, we’ve seen a staggering decline in the number of animals in the world. When they go, the soundscapes change. My hope is that we pay more attention to the sounds around us and tune into what that means for the environment.