Conservation in the Cloud: Leveraging mobile technology connecting tourism & resource managers
1,8Levenson, J., 2Thompson, M., 3Grétarsdóttir, R., 4Rasmussen, M., 5Harris, E., 6Cooper, R., 6Hardy, S., 6Nelson, P. 7Heber, K.
1U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Ocean Energy, USA2 NOAA Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, USA3Elding Whale Watch Excursions, Iceland4University of Iceland, Iceland5Caribbean Association of Whale Watchers, Dominica6Western Atlantic Conservation Institute, USA7Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA8Conserve.IO, USA
Idea, Vision and Caveats
Bridge the gap between citizen science and professional scientists
Produce platform(s) “once” Provide technology to students, whale watch companies,
conservation groups for freeEnable coordinated data collection and crowd-sourcing
without the head-ache of developing the platformLong term: provide an “Environmental Navigation Layer”Enable effort-based standardized data collection that’s
flexible and adaptive
• Each organization maintains control of data
• Cloud based
• Works offline
• Export for analysis
• Optional contribution to Ocean Alert Network
Spotter Overview
Fostering Collaboration
Creates a collaborative biodiversity survey among diverse stakeholders
Enables collaboration across a wide geographic area
Standardized Effort Based Collection
Insert slide on spotter screen
Complex Analysis
Legend
Behaviors
<all other values>
Elding Behaviors
Bubble Trail
Feed (Surface)
Lunge
Leap
Tail Lob
Head-Up
Head Rise
Breach
Surfing
Feeding
Travel
Deep Dive (high arch)
Shallow Dive
Spout
Mill
Reykjav k
Behavior (color) with symbol scaled by frequency of reported occurrence Reykjavik
From survey to resource managment
Observations
Cloud Sync Quality
Check
Export