For my community science project contribution I decided to participate in The Indy Wildlife Watch: An Initiative of the CUES from the Zooniverse website. The project is in collaboration with Urban Ecology and Sustainability (CUES) at Butler University and the Indianapolis Zoo in helping identify animals in the city of Indianapolis. The goal is to learn more about the landscape and wilderness of an urbanized city like Indianapolis. It helps put into perspective how things like highways and roads can fragment animal habitats and make it hard for them to live there. The data is from 50 sites “along two transects that run all the way from downtown Indy to peri-urban surrounding areas”. There are cameras are attached to trees, and when an animal moves near a it, a photo is taken.
As a “citizen” scientist I was tasked with identifying animals in a set of photos that they took. It reminded me a lot of the platform we used for BioBlitz, iNaturalist. There was a selection of animals already there and my job was to narrow it down and zoom into the picture to see if I could spot any. Although I felt like I was not well versed in doing this, I did spot some animals like racoons, white-tailed deer, badgers, and more. I thought it was an interesting activity because a lot of these animals I do not come in contact with by living in a hyper-urbanized place like New York City. Also some of the photos were harder to identify than others, some were in the dark or in very busy environments, but the tools on the left provided classifying factors to help narrow the list of animals. But in some of the photos I really could not identify any animals at all, even if there may have been one present. I’m wondering if that may be because the animal was moving very fast or behind the tree that the cameras were attached to. Some of the photos are also just beautiful to admire because it really is just nature doing its thing, and how can that not be beautiful? Like this picture of a cardinal sitting on a tree:
In Science Forward we learned about climate change as an issue for scientists and non-scientists alike, and that can really be applied to this project on wildlife in cities. Just as we are experiencing the negative effects of climate change, so are the animals that live among us. This means that it could negatively affect vulnerable populations of animals. Some animals may even be forced to migrate elsewhere because of the effects of climate change and rapid urbanization. These are also things to think about when we discussing science ethics as well, because the relationship between non-human animals and the rest of nature and our moral responsibility to protect them.
That was such a great read Syeda. I’m glad that you made the connection between this community science event and our BioBlitz this year, as I was thinking the same thing as I was reading your report. Whereas in BioBlitz we went out to view the animals, this project uses motion trail cameras to make the observations and then you observe the photos. I guess there are plusses and minuses for both projects, but in terms of locating fauna, this would probably generate a large number of hits, especially of wary wildlife that hide when people are around.
Displacement and habitat disruption due to urban development and roadways is a very big issue and this is a great project to help identify issues and, as you said, help with future planning so that we can develop smarter for our changing world.
First, climate change is extremely important and I’m glad you mentioned this in your post. This research project is a great way to witness the animals in our communities and show how certain aspects of our evolution such as the ability to now create different means of transportation such as cars and highways, has been tampering with animal lifestyles. As humans, we tend to forget about the wilderness and all that inhabit it because we are so far gone from the hunter and gatherer period of human life. Just like you said, since climate change is affecting us, it affects them as well.
This is beautiful Syeda. The capture of the Cardinal sitting on the branch is exquisite and speaks volumes. I believe this kind of research and interpretations are crucial to our environment, as you said to both the scientific and non-scientific communities. It is no secret that climate change has been the center of attention and impacts both Urban and Suburban wildlife. I hope this research contributes to better decisions when urbanizing our cities and adjacent ecosystems. Ultimately we can all use a little more exposure to wildlife and our impact on their habitats. A better look at how deforestation and industrialization renders’ their environments inhabitable, and possibly come up with a compromise before it is too late.