Below is the list of scientists and their potential applications.
Ash Bullard – Associate Professor of Fisheries
Contact Information
Email: sab0019 at auburn dot edu
Skype ID: ash.bullard99
Phone: 334-744-1316
http://www.ag.auburn.edu/fish/faa-directory/stephen-a-bullard-ash/
http://aquaticparasitologylab.org
College of Agriculture
Auburn University
App Idea: FishEye
Since the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the timely gathering of fish health information in the Gulf of Mexico is critical. At present, no app is available to quickly gather and share information on the occurrence of fish abnormalities in the Gulf of Mexico. The app also could accommodate other observations of fishes, including exotic/unusual/rare fish species captured by fishermen, questions about fish biology from fishermen, and photos of trophy fish, for example. The goals of the citizen science project are to engage and educate citizens and anglers on the health of fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico. Citizens actively participate in the science by photographing and recording the location of abnormal/lesioned fish, unusual fish species, trophy-sized fish, or exceptionally small fish, for example. The app enables citizens, anglers and scientists to create an involved community. Contributors to the app/website can view their observations and the observations made by scientists and other citizens. On the website, citizens can assist scientists in identifying fish species and diseases. They learn from the scientists by discussing the observations and findings. Citizen science projects can also be a mechanism to train and certify citizens. Training material on the website and experience documented by the donated observations can be part of the criteria for certification. Some of the specific features of the smartphone applications include photographing diseased fish, recording the GPS location (latitude and longitude), identification of fish species and diseases. The website will enable contributors to view and edit their observations. Content in the website will educate visitors about the project and the most recent findings. Visitors will also be able to view all observations, search for observations by observer and/or fish species etc. In addition, visitors can view the distribution of observations on a map. The website will enable downloading all observations for detail analysis. Registered contributors to the website will be able make recommendations for fish species and diseases and comment on observations. Registered scientists will be able to confirm fish species and diseases.
Initial Meetings
Thursday, 1/22/2015 at 5:00 PM EDT (4:00 PM CDT)
Tuesday, 1/27/2014 at 5:00 PM EDT (4:00 PM CDT)
By skype
William Buller – Sensor/Network Engineer
Contact Information
Email: wtbuller at mtu.edu
Desk: 734-913-6867
Mobile: 734-476-5725
Sykpe: wtbuller
https://www.linkedin.com/in/williambuller
Michigan Tech Research
Detroit, MI
App Idea: Deer-Vehicle Collision Reporter
According to the National Safety Council, there were 530,000 animal-related accidents in 2003 and these collisions resulted in 100 deaths and 10,000 injuries. The average cost per insurance claim, when you factor in auto claims involving bodily injury, is $10,000. The proposed app will report the location of recent deer-vehicle collisions. The location of collisions and number of reports indicate the propensity of deer crossing into traffic. Statistics of these encounters represent the risk of deer-vehicle collisions. This information can be used by transportation officials to consider mitigation strategies, such as deer crossing signs or roadside sensors that caution vehicles when deer are active. Though outside the current development, the information could be used to alert drivers of conditions with elevated risk by reminding them to use high-beam head-lights and reduce speed.
Initial Meetings
Friday, 1/23/2015 at 4:00 PM EDT
Wednesday, 1/28/2015 at 4:00 PM EDT
By skype or Google hangout.
Anthony Kendal – Research Associate Hydrogeologist
Contact Information
Email: kendal30 at msu dot edu
Office Phone: 517-648-1511
Sykpe: anthony.d.kendall
Department of Geological Sciences
Michigan State University
http://hydrogeology.glg.msu.edu/lab-members/anthony-kendall
App Idea: Crowdsourced Ice Thickness Mapping
Ice thickness plays a critical role in determining the hydrological, ecological, and economical function of inland lakes. Yet despite its importance, very little data exists on the thickness of ice on inland lakes across time and space. This app idea will use the geo-location abilities of smart phones along with their near-ubiquity to harness the crowd to collect inland lake ice thickness data. It will be aimed at recreational ice fishers, who regularly sample the thickness of inland lake ice when creating holes for fishing, and who are likely to carry phones to help pass time while waiting for the next bite on their lines. The data collected through the app will also be shared with other ice fishers, creating an incentive for data sharing: the more that people contribute, the better data will be available for fishers looking to select locations. The first level product should collect the GPS coordinates from the smartphone, along with an estimate of lake ice thickness. These measurements will then be displayed on a map, with some means of indicating the time the measurement was taken. To enhance functionality, the server could provide a name-lookup for their current lake. Additionally, some instructional materials showing how to collect data properly will be useful. These materials would be best created with the cooperation of local fishers around campus. These data will be made freely available to scientists to help calibrate models of lake ice thickness, to validate remotely-sensed satellite ice extent data, and to provide a background for future studies looking at changes in lake ice thickness through time.
Initial Meetings
Thursday, 1/22/2015 at 5:00 PM EDT
Tuesday, 1/26/2015 at 7:00 PM EDT
By Skype video
Julian Turner – Hydrolysis Software Scientist
Contact Information
Email: julian.turner at colostate.edu
Office Phone: 303-478-9113
Sykpe: julian.turner4
http://www.cocorahs.org/
Colorado Climate Change
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, Colorado
App Idea: CoCoRaHS Station Metadata Collection App
The Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow (CoCoRaHS) Network is a volunteer precipitation monitoring network with 18,000 active volunteers across the United States and Canada. Every day observers check their manual rain gauge and enter their precipitation observations through the website or smartphone app, with the total archive of observations exceeding 26 million observations. The data is used by the National Weather Service, the National Climatic Data Center, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, state climatologists, university researchers, municipalities, and private companies. For this reason data quality is critically important and proper siting of the rain gauge can have a significant impact on the amount of precipitation that is caught by the gauge. CoCoRaHS is seeking a mobile app that observers can use to verify their station location and gauge siting. The app would need to allow observers to log in and list their station or stations. For each station they would be able to go their gauge and submit their latitude, longitude, and elevation using the GPS on their phone. They would optionally be able to also submit one or more photos of their gauge. Ideally they would submit a photo from the north, south, east, and west, as well as a sky view photo from the gauge while facing north to verify that there are no obstructions over the gauge. The verification of station location and gauge siting characteristics will help the network to identify and fix poorly sited gauges as well as provide organizations like FEMA the assurances it needs as to the voracity of the data for use in its decision making processes.
Initial Meetings
Friday, 1/23/2015 at 4:00 PM EDT (2:00 PM MDT)
Wednesday, 1/27/2014 at 4:00 PM EDT(2:00 PM MDT)
By skype
Jessica McCarty – Geo-spatial Forestry Scientist
Contact Information
Email: jmccarty at mtu.edu
Phone: 502-415-1628
Skype Id: jessica_mccarty
Michigan Tech Research Institute (MTRI)
3600 Green Court, Suite 100
Ann Arbor, MI 48105
App Idea: Field Form
The aim of this app is to create an easy-to use adaptation of the paper-based USDA agriculture field condition criteria and evaluation methods to an Android app. Figure 1 is an example weekly crop and weather observation sheet for Iowa. I will provide a detailed explanation of these soil and crop condition variables. A volunteer collects information from a sample of 30 fields in a single county every week March – November. This app would standardize this form as well integrate satellite data to allow the app user to see the satellite foot print of common earth observation satellites (specifically Landsat, MODIS, and VIIRS) during collection. A GPS location of the data collect would also be included in this app. The data output when then give enough information to assess current crop conditions, qualitative soil moisture, a picture of the field in question, comments, and the relation of the app collected data to pixel foot prints. This app could be utilized by citizen-scientists currently volunteering under the USDA NASS program as well as adapted for international use to monitor crops in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and Eastern Europe/Eurasia.
Initial Meetings
Friday, 1/23/2015 at 4:00 PM EDT
Wednesday, 1/27/2015 at 4:00 PM EDT
By phone.
Mary Ellen Miller – Geo-spatial Information Scientist
Contact Information
Email: memiller at mtu.edu
google hangout: memiller at mtu.edu
Office phone: (734) 994-7221
http://geodjango.mtri.org/geowepp/
Michigan Tech Research Institute
Michigan Technological University
App Idea: Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) Field Data collection sheet
The primary mission of BAER Teams is to protect lives, property and sensitive habitats from post-fire effects. Once the danger posed by an active wildfire has passed, land managers must rapidly assess the threat from post-fire runoff and erosion due to the loss of surface cover and fire-induced changes in soil properties. Increased runoff and sediment delivery are of great concern to both resource managers and the public. Post-fire assessments and proposals to mitigate these threats are typically undertaken by interdisciplinary BAER teams. These teams are under very tight deadlines, so they often begin their analysis while the fire is still burning and typically must complete their plans within a couple of weeks. One of the primary information sources for making decisions is a burn severity map (derived from earth observations) that reflects fire induced changes in vegetative cover and soil properties. Burn severity maps can be improved upon with field observations of ground cover and measurements of soil hydrophobicity. This app will allow BAER Teams to gather, compile and share observations in an electronic format while they are in the field. Time is limited therefore an app that saves time would be very useful.
Initial Meetings
Thursday, 1/22/2014 at 5:00 PM EDT
Monday, 1/26/2014 at 5:00 PM EDT
By Michigan Tech google hangout