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Traditionally, people venturing out into nature used field guide books to assist them in identifying bird species they encountered. In the modern day, there are also apps available to download for your smartphone to help with bird identification. Smartphones are portable and can store the information of several field guides with a helpful interface to lead the user through an ID. However, books have the advantage of not needing a data/WiFi connection or charged battery to function, and some apps are only available to specific operating systems. While there are advantages and disadvantages to both, what I hope to investigate here (with your help!) is how accurate these mobile apps are in suggesting a match. ALL DATA IS IMPORTANT! Whether you have never used one of these apps and can't name a single species or you have a favorite app you use regularly or can name almost any species on sight, your data is valuable to me. It is important for an app to be useful for everyone, from a novice to an expert! Here is how the study will work: -Download a bird identification app of your choice. This study is designed for the Midwest United States, so make sure you have that data set up in your app if you are not local. -You will be presented with a photo of a bird. Use this photo to fill out your app to the best of your ability. All photos were obtained through creative commons. -Enter the name of the bird species that the app suggests is the one you are looking at. If the app gives you a list, enter the first bird on the list. ***If you are experienced in bird ID and your app is making a suggestion you know to be wrong, please still enter only the bird that your app is suggesting*** -Answer all questions; answers will be shown at the end. When you have your app open and are ready to begin, proceed to the next section.

SCIENCE ALERT!!! I have had a great time discussing the uses of mobile apps in connecting people to nature, especially through apps that allow us to identify the wildlife around us.

I have created a quick and simple survey to help discover just how accurate mobile apps are with bird identification. If you would like to contribute to my scientific inquiry, just download a bird ID app of your choice and click this link to get started!

#nature #bird #birdwatching #birding #environment #science

Thoughts: Pros and Cons of Nature Apps

Potential Con: The dangers of a false identification

In my research of smartphone species ID apps, I came across one type that experiences some controversy. Apps centered on identifying mushrooms may aim to educate users on mushrooms and how to collect them, but experts are deeming them extremely dangerous (Rogers, 2017). Potential misidentifications could lead to consumption of toxic or hallucinogenic mushrooms (Mushrooms, n.d.).

While this controversy is centered around mushrooms, this danger can extend to plant ID’s when foraging for edible species.

#nature #natureapps #mushrooms #foraging #technologyandnature #mobileapps

Thoughts: Pros and Cons of Nature Apps

Con: The lack of intimacy

This con is a bit more of my personal feelings on the apps, but hear me out on this one. As someone who has learned to identify species on sight through repetition and use of good old fashioned paper field guides, there is just something too impersonal and removed from the process in using a smartphone app. I feel less accomplished when an app guides me through the identification than when I am personally able to meet the challenge of finding a species in a paper guide. When we are confident that an app will give us the correct answer every time and make it easy for us to do so, why would we need to learn to remember the species? I liken this con to the debate over writing versus typing. While I can certainly type faster than I can write with a pen, studies have shown that typing results in lower comprehension and association of information (Aberšek, Aberšek, & Flogie, 2018). Furthermore, when an app allows users to send in images for expert identification there is no incentive for the user to constructively analyze the species. Even then, an accurate ID can be difficult depending on the quality of the image sent, and it may need multiple experts in order to validate it (Austen, Bindemann, Griffiths, &

#nature #environment #natureapps #technology #technologyandnature #apps #smartphone #thoughts

Thoughts: Pros and Cons of Nature Apps

Pro: User-friendly

Smartphone apps have the flexibility of offering prompts to users to help them pick out the information needed to make an accurate species identification. These interfaces assist users unfamiliar with the nomenclature and specific characteristics that are used in the scientific field (Shrode, 2012).

An application can access location data and customize a subset of species for the user. While there are field guides available for different geographical areas, an app can contain large ranges and filter them down to suit the specific location of the user (Goldsmith et al., 2016). By only displaying relevant species, an app can increase the likelihood of an accurate species identification.

For apps like iNaturalist, users can even send in a picture of the species they are attempting to identify for identification by experts and citizen scientists (Van Horn et al., 2017).

#nature #technology #technologyandnature #natureapps #inaturalist

Thoughts: Pros and Cons of Nature Apps

Con: You’re using a cell phone

Yes, this was also listed as a pro, but here’s the other side of the coin.

Phones run on batteries. I can’t access my nature app if my phone is dead. My field guide would never fail me like that.

Apps need a connection. Whether I’m using Wi-Fi or a data plan, my mobile app can’t help me if I am disconnected. If I am out on a trail, I certainly won’t have Wi-Fi, and depending on my service provider, I might not have data available either. Also, data plans cost money and maybe I don’t have enough data to run my nature app and also use GoogleMaps to get home. You could get around this by downloading the database your app might run on, but it will probably cost you around $400 (Shrode, 2012).

Not all apps run on all operating systems. My phone is an Android, and a displeasing number of apps are only available for Apple operating systems, meaning I can’t even use them with my device.

While many apps are free and most others are reasonably priced, smartphones are becoming increasingly expensive, with the latest iPhone ringing in at $999.

#nature #technologyandnature #natureapps #environment #smartphone #mobileapps #Apple #Android #technology

Thoughts: Pros and Cons of Nature Apps

Pro: You’re using a cell phone.

Cell phones are much more easily portable than a field guide. I’m going to need a bag to carry my book in, but I can keep my phone in my pocket and whip it out at a moment’s notice.

While it’s not good for either electronics or books to get wet, I can get a waterproof case for my phone, but my book will always be vulnerable to water.

My app can download updates as they become available, while I would need to purchase a new copy as field guides are updated.

Field guides often contain a written description of an animal and an artist’s rendition of the species, but a smartphone app can offer multiple high-resolution images, video, and sound recordings of a species for comparison in addition to a description (Shrode, 2012).

#thoughts #nature #environment #smartphone #apps #mobileapps #natureapps #speciesidentification #technology #technologyandnature

What am I Looking At?

A closer look at a few tree smartphone apps

One way to get more connected with nature is to know what species you are looking at as you look out your window or walk along park trails. Plants are extremely valuable to humans, and identifying them can help conserve them and help us overcome plant blindness.

First up, we have Leafsnap Leafsnap was the first smartphone app designed to identify tree species (Zhao, et al., 2015). Leafsnap is still a work in progress, as more tree species are still being added, only currently covering the Northeastern area of the US. Even so, the app has already been used to create lesson plans for city students to recognize the trees along their streets and consider their evolutionary history (Leafsnap.com) Unfortunately, Leafsnap is also only available on iOS, so it can only be used by Apple products (Zhao, et al., 2015). Luckily, because Android systems are believed to be more popular, there are scientists working to create a version for this system called “ApLeaf” (Zhao, et al., 2015). While it has already been a few years since the publication of this paper outlining how the application would work, a Google search for the app only generates references back to this paper, some parts from a liquid waste business, and an education program in Wisconsin.

Up next, we have LeafNet. Before you get too invested, I do have to warn you that LeafNet is not available as an app yet, but I wanted to mention it so you can keep an eye out for it! A team of scientists wanted to create a tree identification app that didn’t just reference an algorithm of pre-determined common tree characteristics, but that learned from the data it was given (Barré, Stöver, Müller, & Steinhage, 2017). After testing their learning system against apps set to hand-crafted algorithms, they found that LeafNet more accurately recognized data (Barré, Stöver, Müller, & Steinhage, 2017). This design for an identification app is of particular interest because it can be expanded and updated by simply inputting new training data rather than having to design new software for an algorithm (Barré, Stöver, Müller, & Steinhage, 2017).

Lastly, I present Plant-O-Matic Right off the bat, one thing I love about this app that the others are a little lacking in is its comprehensiveness. Plant-O-Matic’s species catalog includes over 88,000 species spanning across the Americas (Goldsmith et al., 2016). Having so many species across such a large area, this app has an excellent way of providing users with the species they are looking for without having to sift through all that data. Plant-O-Matic utilizes the users location to display a subset of species commonly or likely to be found in the area (Goldsmith et al., 2016). This way, users can find not only common plants with known existences, but rarer plants that models project would also occur in the area (Goldsmith et al., 2016). Similarly to Leafsnap, however, Plant-O-Matic is currently only available on Apple operating systems.

With the obstacles of plant blindness and the perceived “boredom” of botany, apps like these can bring people back into touch with nature by putting a name to the thing. After all, when we first build a friendship with someone, we always start by exchanging names!

#nature #natureapps #environment #trees #plants #apps #mobile apps #technology #technologyandnature #green

Do you have a smart phone and want to use it to explore nature? The saying, “there’s an app for that,” rings true in this case. I’ve tested out a number of smart phone appli…

Here’s the Download

Grab your smartphone and go forth into nature! This handy list of apps can help you find a place to go, figure out what you’re looking at once you’re there, or give you something to do with citizen science projects!

#nature #natureapps #wildlife #biophilia #getoutside #mobileapps #apps #technologyandnature

Strengthening Our Connection Through Technology

While living in the age of the Internet of Things, we do not need to disavow technology in order to rediscover our connection to nature. Instead of polarizing the issue into sides for continuing to use electronics or for ditching the tech for wildlife, why not bring the technology with us into nature? By using our smartphones and the resources they provide, we can discover natural areas and use the multitude of apps at our disposal to educate ourselves and steer our own learning in the environment (Moreira, 2017). We can have the best of both worlds!

Some apps, such as “Pokemon GO” or the soon-to-come “Harry Potter” version might get us outside, but don’t innately help us connect to our natural surroundings (Moreira, 2017). However, many apps are designed to engage users outside!

For people searching for a green area to enjoy, AllTrails has a catalog of over 50,000 trails for users to discover, while SwimGuide tells users which swimming spots have safe water quality (Richardson, 2014).

For those already outside, iBird Yard Plus (Apple) (Android) can help users identify the birds around them, while buddhify can help you relax and be mindful of the wildlife around you (Richardson, 2014).

#smartphone #mobileapp #technology #technologyandnature #nature #environment #connectiontonature

This blog is on the Internet. How are you reading it? Are you at a computer? Laptop? Tablet or smartphone? Are you using Wi-Fi, or maybe a data connection? Are you using an Internet browser, or a mobile app? Are you home? At work or school? Perhaps on a bus, in the bathroom, or lounging in bed? Maybe, like the old “Can you hear me now?” Verizon commercials, you’re even getting a signal and Internet access in the remote wilderness.

In this day and age, we are almost constantly connected to the Internet. So many of our devices can connect to the Internet, even our homes and cars. The term for this era in which more and more of our belongings can connect to the Web is this: the Internet of Things (IOT) (Angelini, Mugellini, Khaled, & Couture, 2018). While the possibilities and potential for all of this technology and interconnectedness can be exciting, it seems most of our interaction with our computers and smartphones ends with endlessly staring at screens as we scroll through pages of content. Our mindless scrolling leaves some wondering, as I hear plenty of stories on the news, if we are becoming disconnected from the real world and social interaction.

In response, there are movements to create technologies that require less conscious thought to use (Angelini, Mugellini, Khaled, & Couture, 2018). While this may free up more of our mind to consider acknowledge our surroundings, perhaps we will find that we have more time to consider our environment.

#internet #internetofthings #iot #environment #technology #nature #naturedeficitdisorder #technologyandnature

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