“Lions are Approaching! Early Lessons From Our Early-Warning System for Protecting Livestock and Lions” – Andrew Stein, Adjunct Faculty

“Lions are Approaching! Early Lessons From Our Early-Warning System for Protecting Livestock and Lions” – Andrew Stein, Adjunct Faculty

by . ECO . Comment Closed
Posted by Luke Dollar of NG Big Cats Initiative in Cat Watch on January 7, 2016  - Courtesy of National Geographic Post submitted by Andrew Stein.  It starts with an incoming text… “PrideInOurPrides- Lion 1 Inside Geofence 1. Follow the link for coordinates and mapped location.” It’s 10pm after a long day in the field and one of our collared lions has entered the marshy wetland between the safety of their tourist concession home and the hostile villages to the north. Our study animals have been fitted with satellite tracking collars that inform our field staff via text when lions cross the prescribed line of mapping coordinates or ‘geofence’. This feature is handy for determining how often lions approach the village, but also allows us to establish trust with villagers by issuing an early warning when the collared lions are approaching high conflict zones.After viewing the exact location of the lions, we begin the phone tree by sending texts to the village leaders...
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ECo and CPPA Students Present their Open Source Science and Policy Projects on Amherst Cable Access Channel 12

ECo and CPPA Students Present their Open Source Science and Policy Projects on Amherst Cable Access Channel 12

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"The Fall "Open Source Science/Maker" class co-taught by Charlie Schweik (ECo/CPPA), Steve Brewer (Bio), Rick Peltier (Public Health) and Alex Schreyer (ECo) filmed an end-of-semester show at local cable access station, Amherst Media. The show, entitled "Makers@Amherst Media: Maker Class Presentations 12-14-2015" is part of the "Makers @ Amherst Media" video series. In the show, undergraduate and graduate students from Environmental Conservation, Public Policy and other programs presented their open source science or policy projects. Projects described include: 1) An open source tethered submarine called OpenROV for video capture of underwater objects  2) The use of unmanned aerial systems (e.g., quadcopters) for plant invasive species and storm damage inventories 3) Current public policy status on the use of unmanned aerial systems in the United States 4) The development of a low cost wearable open source environmental sensors for datalogging people's exposure to blue light 5) The development of a low cost, wearable open source sensor to log air quality (ozone) 6) The development of an "Outernet" installation...
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