Dante Francomano
[Scale] is, I will argue, the fundamental conceptual problem in ecology, if not in all of science.— Simon Levin
Dante is driven by an ultimate goal of achieving global social-ecological sustainability, which he views as the greatest challenge humanity has ever faced.
Dante is a listener, learner, planner and communicator who always strives to keep one eye on context and the other on detail. With an interdisciplinary background spanning the arts, social sciences and natural sciences, he enjoys adapting to work in different focal areas and sociocultural contexts. He takes pride in helping people convey their intended messages with clarity, conviction and nuance.
His areas of expertise include:
- The scientific process
- Qualitative and quantitative research
- Study design, data management and data analysis
- Social-ecological systems
- Sustainability and resilience
- Communication to diverse audiences
Experience
Dante studied Music at Middlebury College and wrote a senior thesis in musicology, while also working on composition projects and performing in several different groups. He then transitioned to considering sound in a different context at Purdue University’s Center for Global Soundscapes, where he earned a PhD in Forestry and Natural Resources/Ecological Sciences and Engineering. His research has focused on using automated acoustic recording to monitor animal populations and biodiversity, which also addressed human perception of soundscapes and their relationship with human connection to nature. The bulk of his dissertation work was conducted during a year he spent living in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina.
Dante has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications, and presented about sound, ecology, and the scientific process to diverse audiences. He has served as a mentor or advisor to undergraduate and graduate students, and taught Urban Ecology in the Portland State University Honors College.
In Community
Dante has served as a peer reviewer for several academic journals and developed publications and presentations to share his research outside of academia. He can often be found navigating Portland at a non-leisurely pace on his dad’s 1970s steel-frame road bike. He enjoys playing music, and will gladly seize opportunities to stem the decline of his French and Spanish language skills. He climbs both indoors and out, and loves playing baseball, the kind of football one actually plays with their feet, and most other sports—with consistently maximal effort, but context-dependent competitiveness.