Whether you are new to the VocalPy community or you’ve been around awhile, this thread is an opportunity to say hi and tell us a bit about yourself.
Please, if you feel comfortable doing so, say a little bit about what you are working on.
That way everyone has an idea of who they might be able to ask for help and who they might want to talk with more and possibly collaborate 
I’ll start 
I’m David and I’m a core maintainer of VocalPy (for right now, the maintainer).
I like birds 
And other animals that vocalize, even people sometimes 
I like helping researchers with code.
In my free time I am a cat dad, okay salsa dancer, bad guitarist, and worse runner.
Hi I’m Yirong, Master student majoring in neural information processing in tuebingen, and a newcomer in vocalization researchs 
Recently working on syllable detection and pitch-learning.
My craziest academic dream is being a cute carpenter in the field – provide tools when someone need them. 
And I really enjoy making visualization stuff – figures, videos, and cool effect.
I’m the worst dancer(love dancing tho!), okay marathon runner, but excellent chef 
welcome Yirong! aka @afurrybear – happy you could join us and thank you for chiming in on the introductions
I totally understand wanting to provide tools in a field, believe me! Not such a crazy dream 
Hope you will share some of your #dataviz with us at some point
and some of your cooking 
at some conference maybe
Hi I’m Avani and I’m doing a PhD with Dr. Lena Veit at the University of Tuebingen. I study the neural basis of vocal learning in Bengalese finches.
I absolutely love studying songbirds- have been working with them since 2018! I am trying to learn more computational stuff so that I can use cool tools to analyze my (endless) song data.
In my free time, I try to practice playing my musical instruments (keyboard, guitar, and my latest obsession- harmonica). I enjoy lifting weights at the gym but hate running with a passion 
Avani!!!
Very glad you could join us.
I absolutely love studying songbirds
Same, what a coincidence
I am trying to learn more computational stuff so that I can use cool tools to analyze my (endless) song data.
The data is endless, isn’t it? No wonder people need these tools
In my free time, I try to practice playing my musical instruments (keyboard, guitar, and my latest obsession- harmonica).
ok there needs to be at least one band with people in different fields studying animal communication.
I bet they would sound better than The Amygdaloids
https://www.amygdaloids.com/
Maybe one band per field and model system?
I can think of at least a couple band members for The Bengalese Finches.
We just need a good band logo 
Hi! I’m Mizuki, a student in Dr. Abe’s lab in Tohoku University in Japan. I’m trying to reveal the neural basis of language processing using Bengalese finches.
I’ve loved birds since I was a child and I’m really interested in what’s happening in our brain when we speak. How lucky I am that I now commit to the right research for me.
I am not so skilled yet, but I quite like computer programming.
I’m a little interested in “Blender”, as I love beautiful things, including paintings and animations.
Welcome @mizuki !!!
I’ve loved birds since I was a child and I’m really interested in what’s happening in our brain when we speak. How lucky I am that I now commit to the right research for me.
We are all lucky to be working in this area, for sure
I am not so skilled yet, but I quite like computer programming.
You seem to be picking it up pretty fast 
I’m a little interested in “Blender”, as I love beautiful things, including paintings and animations.
Cool! There’s a lot you can do with Python in Blender. Maybe you can share some animations with us at some point.
Thank you for all your feedback so far – please do feel free to post ideas here about things like processing lots of data, I’m sure others have had similar questions and we can work together on them
Hello Everyone! I’m Therese and I’m a 4th year PhD student in Dr. Todd Robert’s lab at UT Southwestern in Dallas, Texas. We study song learning in zebra finches, and are gearing up for a very exciting undertaking in the lab: A forward genetic screen for vocal learning-related genes in zebra finches! Building the song screening pipeline to automatically detect song abnormalities has become the main focus of my thesis work, so I spend most of my working time playing with song data in python.
When I’m not working I’m probably crocheting, embroidering, weaving or punch needling (the fiber arts obsession is strong).
Hi @therese.koch glad you could join us!
Your Python and pipeline skills are more than welcome.
Your fiber arts are also welcome because I know from Twitter that those are tight-knit (groan) communities. Research software communities need more of that kind of organizing IMHO
Hi I’m Yarden, an enthusiastic supporter of vocalpy and the community building vision it represents.
My lab at the Weizmann Institute started about 9 months ago (many things under construction) and will focus on behavior and neurophysiology of canaries. (more here: Home | The NeuralLanguage of Song)
I’m a father of two children and two canaries (who are parents themselves these days)
In the little spare time I have I like playing the piano, reading, and doing all kinds of sports.
(Simon and Chonky illustrate some in the pics below)
Welcome @yardenc! This community wouldn’t have started without you.
Personally I am a big fan of Simon and Chonky.
Unofficial mascots?
Hi! I’m Arnav. I’m a research tech with Vikram Gadagkar at Columbia University. I’m fairly new to birdsong, but I’ve always loved animals & languages, so studying animal vocalizations seems like a perfect combination of the two 
Welcome @ar4307!
I’ve always loved animals & languages, so studying animal vocalizations seems like a perfect combination of the two
Same–for a while I thought I was going to be a translator–and agreed, so here we are
Edit: @ar4307 just noticed this that you have as your pinned tweet, hope it’s ok if I post here
https://www.instagram.com/p/CdJAc8Bt0_U/
Very cool “origin story” and I love comics esp for sci-comm, so I wanted to share
Hello everyone! I’m Kaiya, I am a postdoc at OSU working with Bryan Carstens on comparative bioacoustics of North American birds. I’m interested in the fundamental question of why do birds sound different across their range.
In my free time I run two groups of players in Dungeons and Dragons, with sometimes hilarious results, and make a lot of dumplings.
Hi @kaiyaprovost welcome to the forum!
I am a postdoc at OSU working with Bryan Carstens on comparative bioacoustics of North American birds. I’m interested in the fundamental question of why do birds sound different across their range.
Really glad to be working with more people doing field work (since I come from a lab background).
I’m sure we will learn a lot from your POV
In my free time I run two groups of players in Dungeons and Dragons, with sometimes hilarious results, and make a lot of dumplings.
So you’re the kind of DM that makes players make dumplings?
Seriously I have been meaning to try making my own since I got addicted to dumplings in DC, may ask you for recipes at some point
Hi everyone, I’m Young Mi and am a researcher exploring vocal communication in Xenopus frogs at the Kelley lab at Columbia University. While I’m relatively new to the field of bioacoustics, it’s been quite a fun experience being able to see and appreciate sounds and music in a new way. I’m excited to see how this community grows .
Hi @YMK123 and welcome!
Your research with Xenopus sounds very cool, can’t wait to learn more about it.
Thank you for all your contributions so far! We’re excited for the community to grow too
Hi everyone - I’m Nick. I’m a postdoc with Hopi Hoekstra working on the genetic basis of interspecies variation in vocal behaviors of Peromyscus (deer) mice. I’m also currently a visiting researcher with Anna Lindholm at the University of Zürich, where I’m using audiomoths to record vocalizations of free living house mice. Trying to stay afloat amidst the wavs from these projects and learn more about software for vocal behavior analysis to help me do that 
Welcome @njourjine! Very happy you could join us. Can’t wait to hear more about what you’re getting with the audiomoths and learning from the deer mice 
Please feel free to post announcements about the Bridging Brains and Behavior seminar series here too, btw – if I don’t remember to do it first
