Amaro Tuninetti, Ph.D.
Biosonar researcher
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Ecological Acoustics and Behavior Lab
University of New Hampshire
Embedded Files
Research
Research
I'm fascinated by the biosonar systems and sensory ecology of echolocating bats - how are bats able to perceive the physical world, and navigate it in real-time, using echolocation?
I completed my doctoral research in the Simmons Bat Lab at Brown University, where I studied the perceptual system and spatial attention of echolocating big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus). I currently research how bats living and flying in groups adapt their sensorimotor behavior in the presence of other echolocating conspecifics.
My goal is to apply my skills and my love of bats to helping conserve wild bat populations in the face of increasing anthropogenic pressures.
Publications
Publications
Simmons, A. M., Tuninetti, A., Yeoh, B.M., Simmons, J. A. (2022). Non-invasive auditory evoked potentials in response to FM sweeps in awake big brown bats. Journal of Comparative Physiology A, 208(4), 505–516. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-022-01559-w
Tuninetti, A., Simmons, A. M., Simmons, J. A. (2021). Amplitude discrimination is predictably affected by echo frequency filtering in wideband echolocating bats. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 151(2). https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0009486
Tuninetti, A., Ming, C., Hom, K. N., Simmons, J. A., & Simmons, A. M. (2021). Spatiotemporal patterning of acoustic gaze in echolocating bats navigating gaps in clutter. IScience, 24(4), 102353. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.ISCI.2021.102353
Tuninetti, A., Simmons, A. M. (2019). Microchiroptera Sensory Systems. In: Vonk J., Shackelford T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_1180-1
Tuninetti, A., Polanco, P., Jesus-Lopes, N., Simmons, J. A., Simmons, A. M. (In prep.). Spatial attention in a wideband echolocator during an unpredictable localization task.
Fry, R. N., Tuninetti, A., Simmons, J. A., Simmons, A. M. (In prep.). Effects of environmental sounds on flight and echolocation by big brown bats.
Skills
Skills
Experimental design
Data collection (behavioral, acoustic, video, neural)
Data analysis (behavioral, acoustic, video, neural)
Data visualization
Animal training & care
Bioacoustic monitoring
Ultrasonics: microphone and speaker arrays
Fieldwork: mist-netting, harp-trapping, passive acoustic monitoring, animal tagging
R, Matlab, Python, SPSS, DeepLabCut
Adobe Creative Suite (Audition, Illustrator, Photoshop, Lightroom, Premiere Pro)
Project planning and management
Mentorship & teaching
Science writing
Photography
Spanish (fluent), German (conversational)
Conference talks & posters
Conference talks & posters
Tuninetti, A., Polanco, P., Jesus-Lopes, N., Simmons, J. A., Simmons, A. M. (2023, January). Spatiotemporal dynamics of big brown bat biosonar during an unpredictable virtual localization task. Talk presented at Batsheva de Rothschild Conference on Active Sensing, Weizmann Institute, Israel
Tuninetti, A., Sequeira, Y., Granger, J., Webster, C., Beiter, B. C., & Müller, R. (2022). Spatiotemporal dynamics of biosonar in navigating Bornean Rhinolophid and Hipposiderid bats. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 152(4), A69-A69.
Müller, R., Beiter, B. C., Blackman, T., Hu, Y., Goldsworthy, M., Granger, J., Tuninetti, A., ... & Webster, C. (2022). Investigating the integration of biosonar sensing and flight control in bats on Borneo. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 152(4), A68-A68.
Webster, C., Tuninetti, A., Granger, J., Su'eif, S. I., Ariffin, I., Grafe, U., & Müller, R. (2022). Field study of bats in Brunei Darussalam. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 152(4), A69-A69.
Sequeira, Y., Tuninetti, A., Goldsworthy, M., & Müller, R. (2022). Machine learning methods for reconstructing the acoustic fields of bat biosonar. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 152(4), A69-A69.
Simmons, A. M., Thorson, C. R., McLaughlin, M., Polanco, P., Tuninetti, A., & Simmons, J. A. (2021). Echolocating bats modify biosonar emissions when avoiding obstacles during difficult navigation tasks. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 150(4), A140-A140.
Tuninetti, A., Ming, C., Hom, K. N., Simmons, A. M., Simmons, J. A. (2020, July). Prospective aiming of acoustic gaze in navigating echolocating bats. Talk presented virtually at Animal Behavior Society.
Tuninetti, A., Simmons, A., & Simmons, J. A. (2019). Frequency hopping by big brown bats is coupled with sonar sound grouping in response to pulse-echo ambiguity. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 146(4), 3015-3015.
Simmons, J. A., Ming, C., Tuninetti, A., & Simmons, A. (2019). The SCAT model of wideband biosonar achieves shape imaging, clutter rejection, and mitigation of pulse-echo ambiguity by frequency hopping. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 146(4), 3014-3014.
Tuninetti, A., Hom, K. N., Simmons, A. M., Simmons, J. A. (2018, July). Spatiotemporal patterning of perceptual gaze by echolocating bats in densely cluttered scenes. Poster presented at International Congress for Neuroethology, Brisbane, Australia.
Tuninetti, A., Ming, C., Simmons, J. A. (2018, July). Techniques for soundfield reconstruction and visualization of echolocation. Talk presented at Biosonar Satellite Symposium, International Congress for Neuroethology, Brisbane, Australia.
Bathgate, M., Tuninetti, A., & Schunn, C. D. (2014, April). Stepping-stones or dead-ends: Understanding and developing learning pathways across science programs in an urban setting. Paper presented at NARST Annual International Conference, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Education
Education
Ph.D. Brown University | 2023
Cognitive Science
Dissertation: Investigating Spatial Attention in Echolocating Bats
Simmons Bat Lab
Advisor: Andrea M. Simmons, Ph.D.
M.Sc., Brown University | 2021
Cognitive Science
Simmons Bat Lab
Advisor: Andrea M. Simmons, Ph.D.
B.A., University of Virginia | 2015
Cognitive Science
Proffitt Perception Lab
Awards & Funding
Awards & Funding
NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology | 2025
2024 | Frederick V. Hunt Postdoctoral Research Fellowship; Acoustical Society of America
2023
Peter Eimas Graduate Award; Cognitive, Psychological, and Linguistic Sciences, Brown University
Research funding for fieldwork in Belize
2022-2023
Graduate Award in Brain Science, Carney Institute for Brain Science, Brown University
12 months full internal funding of doctoral studies
2019-2022
NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (GRFP)
36 months full external funding of doctoral studies
2017-2020
Presidential Graduate Fellowship, Brown University
36 months full internal funding of doctoral studies
2019
Heiligenberg Student Travel Award, International Society for Neuroethology
Travel funding to Brisbane, Australia
2015
Phi Beta Kappa Society
2013
Intermediate Career Honors, University of Virginia
2012-2015
Echols Honor Scholar, University of Virginia
Myself
Myself
I was raised in Pennsylvania and West Virginia (USA) by my parents, Adriana and Ángel, immigrants from Córdoba, Argentina.
I received my B.A. from the University of Virginia in 2015, having majored in Cognitive Science and having discovered my interest in animal behavior and cognition. I started my Ph.D. in the Simmons Bat Lab at Brown University in 2017, where I began studying the perceptual system of echolocating bats (specifically big brown bats).
I currently reside in Providence, Rhode Island with my cat Mireya and my hermit crab Bilbo. In my free time, I enjoy photography, soccer, music, cooking, and bicycling.
Teaching
Teaching
Animal Behavior: Graduate Teaching Assistant, Fall 2021, 2019, 2018
Led weekly section of 20-30 students
Designed and gave several of my own lectures to 60-150 students
Experience teaching small and large groups in-person, virtually (both synchronously and asynchronously), and hybrid in-person/virtual environments
Assisted 4-6 undergraduate Teaching Assistants in their roles
Introductory Statistics: 1 semester Graduate Teaching Assistant
Experience with flipped classroom format
Guest lectures: Biology of Hearing, Fall 2021, Spring 2023.
Lectured 500+ students on animal hearing
Sheridan Center Seminar Teaching Certificate
Brown University Sheridan Teaching Center
External
External
Contact: amarotuninetti@gmail.com
Photography amarotuninetti.myportfolio.com
Twitter twitter.com/bigbrownbatmaro
Instagram instagram.com/amarotuninetti/
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