“I love talking about this!” Serra Hoagland declares, interrupting herself as she explains the purpose of the small box she’s holding. At first glance, the featureless, matte black device, about the size of a takeout container, doesn’t seem like it could inspire such delight. But Hoagland and her team will soon be carrying several of these acoustic monitors—think of them as trailcams, but for sound—into the wilderness, hoping they record the calls and responses of Mexican spotted owls. Deploying the monitors to keep tabs on the owls remotely will save…
