Patricia Gray

Professional Title
Senior Research Scientist
About Me (Bio)
Clinical Professor and Senior Research Scientist of BioMusic, Music Research Institute, UNCG

I study the musical sounds in all species (BioMusic) with particular emphasis on large-brained animals living in complex social systems. I am both musician and scientist and have spent 21 years as the Artistic Director of the resident chamber music ensemble at the National Academy of Science, Washington DC before joining the faculty at UNCG. During the time at the Academy, I worked to create and establish a robust intersection between music as art, music as technology, and music as science. In 1986, the BioMusic Program was established with leading research scientists working collaboratively to expand our understanding of musicality in humans and throughout the wild. Currently, I study apes and their abilities to manipulate time and sound as a significant part of their communication system. New research projects in process include elephants and dolphins.

I also actively participate in the creation of new STEM projects for formal and informal science education that incorporate BioMusic research and support robust science education based on aural processes. These BioMusic projects include: NSF funded science exhibition, "Wild Music: Sounds & Songs of Life", and NSF funded DRK12 STEM curriculum for elementary grades, "UBEATS", and NSF supported after-school STEM curriculum, "Music Instinct". Many of these projects help reveal human music's grounding in procedures, techniques, and forms shared with other species and therefore create opportunities for complex, interdisciplinary, inquiry-based learning that enables learners to explore and compare their own musicality with other animals.

Keywords
University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNC Greensboro)
01/01/2008

UNCG and NCSU are developing instructional resources for grades-2–5 students that infuse cutting-edge content from the emerging field of biomusic into standards-based elementary science and music curricula. The approach uses the musical sounds of nature to help students learn concepts in biology, physical science, and anthropology. Curriculum is undergoing beta-testing across North Carolina in diverse school settings.