We will discuss developing AWE trails, which use audio-visual recordings and educational materials to enhance nature walks, then Dorset AGM.
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Synopsis
Amanda Korstjens and Anastasia Vayona of the Augmented Wildlife Experiences (AWE) team will introduce how they use technology in their new project.
The AWE project is a collaboration between Bournemouth University scientists and local organisations. The Holton Lee Trail is the first AWE trail, developed together with Livability Millie College and supported by Dorset Electrical Solutions.
AWE aims to augment the way people interact with and learn about nature by introducing digital content that shows glimpses and highlights of the living world all around them. This is done by creating walking trails along which we place information hubs.
We collect environmental data from the area near each hub during our data collection period. This is done using camera traps, acoustic recorders, and hopefully in future weather data recorders. We also survey the area for other interesting features, such as plants and insects near the hub or along the trail and take photos and videos of such features.
For each hub, we create a webpage that can be accessed via a QR code on a map or a QR code provided at the hub itself. Each hub webpage contains multimedia content: wildlife videos and sounds, fun facts, unseen creatures, and educational information.
The idea is that using online materials will especially help young people to see the beauty of their local environment and immerse them more in nature than they may during a standard walk outside.
In addition, the AWE trails could be set up specifically for people who are unable to walk such trails themselves.
We are very much in the start-up phase of this project and would love support and ideas to improve it further.
During the talk we will discuss the trials and errors of setting up our first trail. We will also be in the early phases of setting up two new trails with different difficulties.
For example, the Holton Lee trail is on private land that has restricted access, whereas the new trails will be on public land. This means we will have to find solutions to a greater risk of vandalism and theft of our technology. Another big difficulty we have to overcome is ensuring continuity and managing renewal of materials online to reflect changes in the seasons.
About the speakers
Amanda is a Professor in Behavioural Ecology at Bournemouth University.
She loves long hikes in nature, especially in forests. Her research focuses on tropical forests and wildlife responses to environmental change.
She specialises in primate behavioural ecology and conservation. She has been traipsing through tropical jungles for research (in Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Uganda, Cost Rica) for over 30 years.
Her recent research has included the use of drones for habitat surveys, micro-climate data loggers for temperature and light measurements in tropical forests, and acoustic recorders and camera traps for biodiversity monitoring.
AWEtrails.co.uk is a new adventure in trying to get tech to work for public engagement with nature and biomonitoring. Some recent primate research.
Anastasia Vayona
Anastasia is a Postdoc Fellow in Social Science and Policy at Bournemouth University.
Over the course of 15 years, she has collaborated with universities and research institutes across the UK, Greece, France, and Cyprus.
She has worked in a number of European and UK research projects related to Green Deal, Sustainability and the Circular Economy. The full AWE team.
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