Ben Mirin

Ben Mirin is an ethno-ornithologist, sound artist, storyteller and the Founding Director of the Creative Conservation Lab at Cornell University. As a National Geographic Explorer, Dr. Mirin uses creativity to make conservation more inclusive. He is the creator and host of the Nat Geo Kids series Wild Beats, a National Geographic Certified Educator, an award-winning film producer and a Wildlife DJ who makes music from nature sounds he records around the world.

Dr. Mirin completed his Ph.D. at Cornell University in 2024 studying birdsong and human culture with a focus on the wildlife trade. As Director of CCL and a research affiliate at Oxford, his teams are developing numerous projects at the intersection of art, science and biodiversity. Dr. Mirin’s recordings, music, writing, films and talks have appeared at the United Nations, TED, SXSW, National Geographic, the BBC, bioGraphic, Smithsonian, Audubon, and his free online game BeastBox that lets anyone make music from a curated collection of animal sounds. He is a lifelong naturalist and musician currently living in Ithaca, New York, where he spends his time cooking and training as a scuba diver.