9

LENS

conductivity. These kits will also support long-term
deployments by utilising solar power. However, “as
we do with the scientific method, engineering
projects can only be considered useful once they are
validated and tested in the field,” says Selbe.
For the first real-world deployment of the FieldKit
platform, Conservify has partnered with the Tropical
Rivers Lab at Florida International University and
Citizen Science for the Amazon, which is run by the
Wildlife Conservation Society, through support by
the Moore Foundation.
These first prototypes will be used in the
Ecuadorian Amazon to capture data on marine life

and engage citizen scientists in the sustainable

management of fisheries and wetlands conservation.

Fishing of gilt-head, jaguar cichlids, surubins,

piramutabas, tambaquis, curimatãs, jaraquis, and

matrinxãs will be monitored in 29 locations

throughout the Amazon basin. These fish represent

staple food and income sources, and are critical to

the future of Amazonian communities and cultures.

Fish can also be useful indicators of river

connectivity, ecosystem health, and human

well-being, but the current lack of information about

both river dynamics and the fish within the rivers

makes effective river basin management almost

impossible. By facilitating monitoring, data gathering

and modelling, citizen science can bridge this

information gap and, at the same time, empower the

people of the region.

Currently, Conservify is preparing five FieldKit Water

Quality buoys, capable of measuring and five FieldKit

Weather stations – measuring air temperature,

humidity, altitude, ambient light level, rainfall, wind

speed, and wind direction – for deployment in the

Ecuadorian Amazon later this year.

FieldKit is a fantastic initiative for monitoring

some of the more remote locations in the

world, but if you’re looking to get started with

environmental monitoring, there’s no need to

go so far afield. There’s still a lot of benefit in

keeping an eye on the environment in towns

and cities across and around the world, and

you can get started without having to leave

your back garden. A few projects that can help

get you started are:

• A wildlife camera to capture the species
  that visit your garden. You can build your
  own using a Raspberry Pi, and kits such as
  NatureBytes or NatureWatch help you get
  started quickly.


• Weather monitoring will help you
  understand the microclimate of your
  neighbourhood. You can even connect
  one to Weather Underground to link into a
  network of other weather stations. Check
  out hsmag.cc/GwYqjU.


• Air Quality monitor. The pollution in our
  cities is a health hazard for many people,
  and keeping an eye on the pollutants
  near you can help you understand your
  local risks. Sensors aren’t as accurate
  as temperature or humidity monitors, but
  some are now accurate enough to provide
  useful data.

The first step to solving a problem, such as

lack of wildlife or air pollution, is to understand

it. With official monitoring limited in scope,

it’s up to hackers and makers to get the data

we want. Let’s get out and start tracking our

environment, so we can help make it better.

DOING IT YOURSELF

Image Credits

Conservify CC BY-SA

“The field of conservation technology has undergone

a massive surge in capability and opportunity as a

result of open hardware...”

Shah Selbe

Above

More views of the

systems in their

final integration,

after years of hard

development work