Final Project Idea

28 Mar 2024

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Invasive Species Tracker

Author: Allison Ebsen

Problem: Invasive species pose a significant threat to local ecosystems, causing ecological imbalances or even extinction. However, monitoring and tracking these invasive species across the Hawaiian islands can be a daunting and resource-expensive task, making research difficult to complete.

Solution: The invasive species tracker aims to address these challenges by establishing a citizen science initiative to bring the community together and educate people on invasive species, raising awareness and empowering the community and professionals to be able to better track the harmful species and care for the ecosystem.

Users:

• Scientific Community
• Organizations That Manage Invasive Species
• General Public

Example Users:

• A visiting tourist goes on a hike and finds an unfamiliar plant while on a trail, using the app to identify and report a potential invasive species sighting.
• Educators and students can use the app to actively engage with and learn more about the local ecology and caring for our ecosystem, engaging students in real-world science and environmental stewardship in their own backyards.
• A local conservation organization can utilize app data to coordinate and organize community events to remove invasive species and track progress.
• Researchers studying invasive species trends can analyze data collected from the platform to identify potential problems and prioritize management efforts and investment.

Pages:

• Landing: Welcome users and provide an overview of the project and its goals
• Login
• Picture/Entries Upload (example: Photo, Date, Species, Location and Island): Users can upload and create data entries
• Edit Entries (example: modify information, indicate whether the organism has been removed)
• Database of Known Invasive Species: An organized database of invasive species, including information such as identification tips, distribution maps, ecological impacts
• Profile/Badges Page: Collect badges or virtual critters for quality contributions, see stats to check your positive impact
• Educational Resources: Carefully curated content such as articles, videos, or infographics to help educate users about invasive species

Beyond Basics (Possibly Ambitious):

• Make data entries exportable as an Excel Spreadsheet (csv) so that researchers can easily work with the data
• Further, gamify it
• Explore the use of machine learning algorithms to improve species identification accuracy and efficiency AND/OR assess the effectiveness of implemented strategies or suggest other plans of action
• Integrate with GIS or other map visualization