Daughter of Dr Arthur and Phyllis Collingwood, Mavis moved to Aberdeen as a child after her parents were transferred to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary to assist with the development of a research partnership with Aberdeen University.
Mavis developed a keen interest in fishing, and frequently spent her spare time at the banks of the River Dee. However, she soon learnt that her fascination was less with what she caught, and more with the unexplored environment with which it came from. Even as a young adult, Mavis had recurring dreams of exploring a world underwater, and subsequently became isolated as her fascination with unseen places took over her ability to socialise with others in the environments within which she spent her time.
It was her mother who encouraged Mavis to take a more formal and educated interest in marine biology in order to overcome her isolation and to enable her to share her fascination with others.
Mavis graduated from Aberdeen University with a degree in Marine Ecology, and went on to write the ground breaking paper Familiar Patterns for Community Structures: a Study of Eastern Coastal Areas in Scotland. During the war she assisted with the tracking of allied U-boat packs, helping to break and read German Naval Enigma codes. Although she became an eminent name in her field, Mavis soon became eager to learn more about other unseen environments. Her discovery of sonic geology happened purely by chance, after finding a copy of the Journal of Sonic Experimental Geology in the South Coast Centre for Snorkelling and Diving, which she later discovered belonged to Beatrice Lathenby.
It was at a conference on sonic phenomena that Mavis first met Dr Stella Barrows, becoming captivated by her talk on methods of investigating historical sonic substrata, which reignited Mavis’ childhood, dreamlike, fascination for occurrences in unseen environments.
Her enthusiasm and expertise have led to her becoming a core member of the NISG and she is thrilled to have been appointed on an upcoming exploration of sounding spaces across the British Isles.
Siegfried Oberhaus
Born in Germany, mainly due to his mother’s pregnancy, Siegfried grew up in a family with an astrologer father and a herb whisperer mother. He has three younger siblings who he is very proud of having help grow up.
A lot of his childhood was spent outdoors. His mother’s achievements in encouraging the growth of plants through music gained her numerous awards and his father’s continuous predictions of the end of the world challenged Siegfried’s understanding of the world. His ears were soon trained to listen to the unusual and ignore certain warnings.
After several failed attempts of becoming a musician Siegfried changed direction and ventured into sonic science at the University of Wuerzburg. Combining talents he inherited from his mother and father.
Dr Professor Klemptner - a renegade professor at the university mentored young Siegfried in sonic sound detection through vegetable. His unconventional ideas were soon rejected and the professor had to flee the country to an island in the north sea called Scotland and later Great Britain. At the time GB was a prosperous country welcoming to scientific researchers of all countries, but as you know, this changed when red buses promised the islanders more money if they keep foreigners out…. Finthorn was the place where Dr Professor Klemptner, followed by Siegfried continued their work. Together they studied the growth of giant food grown on sub level sound fields.
Siegfried invented several recording and listening devices and has published recordings of underground symphonies on secret websites. Despite years of dedicated studies Siegfried left the university without a formal degree and is very happy to have learnt so much.
He has a special travel permit and is allowed to enter the island of GB as well as his home country Germany and very happily shares his scientific discoveries. He made lots of scientific friends in both countries and has joined the NISG specialising in food growing on sound fields. In his spare time Siegfried continues to travel and practice his singing as well as knitting. Siegfried is happy to continue his studies with an Associateship with Dr Stella Barrows and the NISG and is proud to have been made an affiliate of the organisation.
Daisy Darrington (BSc)NISG Research Student
Born and raised by her grandparents on the banks of the river Stour in rural Dorset, Daisy has aspirations to follow in the footsteps of the indomitable Dr Barrows. Miss Darrington first became interested in audio phenomenon whilst spending hours digging up vegetables in Tincleton with her great Uncle Bernard, a grower regularly mentioned in Parish dispatches for his prize winning parsnips. Whilst unearthing root vegetables, Daisy was increasingly aware that she could perceive noises from the soil below her boots. After first considering that the resonating sounds could be the spirits of deceased pets she soon discarded the idea for a more logical explanation. Thereupon she commenced a life-long pursuit for answers. Daisy committed herself to finding all that she could about subterranean sounds. In her youth she was a regular contributor to the Stour Valley Gazette and became the first in her family to attend university (UCL), and indeed, even to leave Dorset.
It was whilst watching her brother, (Dan Darrington, a player with the popular ‘Bert Dorsey Swing Band’), Daisy had a eureka moment when she realized that the position of the musician’s body in relation to the instrument has a dramatic effect on the tone that was created. It was at that moment she realized the crux of her PHD thesis. The position of the trumpet to the trumpeter was a vital cog in the sonic geology machine. Miss Darrington was convinced that by shifting a limb – by inches – the user would enhance their audiological experience tenfold.
After a chance meeting with Dr Barrows at the Dorchester Tea Rooms, Daisy felt confident enough to write to the NISG proposing her theory and has secured a 6 month placement with the field research team. After a two-week period of making tea and ensuring the biscuit tin was always filled, Daisy is now fully immersed in the life of a sonic geologist.