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Appeal for assistance from birders (non-financial)

To:
Subject: Appeal for assistance from birders (non-financial)
From: Tom Tarrant <>
Date: Sun, 20 Apr 2014 05:05:10 +1000
Recently I was asked if I could assist Mark with his project at the
Queensland University of Technology (QUT) here in Brisbane, but also
wondered if any Birding-Aus readers might welcome the opportunity to
participate.
His request and details are below,

Tom
_________________________________


I am looking for birders who regularly bird watch at the same local
location. I'd like to work with people to explore their knowledge of their
local patch, and ways to extend that knowledge through analysing recorded
sound.



*Background*

My research is part of a larger biodiversity monitoring research project.
I'm particularly interested in the contribution birders can make to
increasing the number of observations available to ecologists and
environmental decision makers.

As part of my research, I'm investigating the relationship birders' have
with a location they regularly visit for birding. I am interested in how
birders will choose to make use of recorded audio to augment their regular
birding activities.

My thesis is titled: Extending the Birding Pastime to Engage Birders in
Analysis of Environmental Bioacoustic Data.



*Participating*

The plan is to have one or more audio recorders running continuously for at
least a day (from early morning to the next morning, including overnight),
up to two weeks,

at a birder's local patch, including the times when the birder makes their
regular visits.



The audio recordings will then be uploaded to a website that provides tools
for analysing the recordings.

Analysing the recordings involves listening to parts of the recording and
identifying the birds from the recorded sounds by annotating the audio.

This involves listening to the audio and annotating a visualisation of the
audio (a spectrogram, which displays frequency and amplitude information
over time).



The equipment required for this will be provided by my research group
(weather-resistant recording devices, batteries, and materials to secure
the devices off the ground).

I will be available to help with setting up and retrieving the recorders,
and to help with anything else.



*People*

I'm looking for people who meet the below criteria to participate:

·         Bird watching regularly (at least once every 2-3 weeks) for at
least a year

·         Bird watch at the same location at least once a month

·         Knowledge of the birds likely to be present at the location that
is regularly visited

·         Internet access for annotating the audio recordings



Participating in this project will provide an acoustic history of the area
the recording devices are placed.

Access to the recordings will be restricted to the research group and the
people who recorded the audio.

Participation is completely voluntary, and you can withdraw at any time.

If you have any questions, please ask me. Throughout the project, I am keen
on getting feedback on things that are going well and things to improve.



If you are interested in participating, please let me know. I can arrange
to get a recording device to you.



If you know of other people who might be interested, please pass this
information along.



Regards,

Mark Cottman-Fields

PhD Student | Science and Engineering Faculty | Queensland University of
Technology

email:  | phone: 0434081522

-- 
********************************
Tom Tarrant
Kobble Creek, Qld

http://www.aviceda.org
********************************
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