A smart future for conservation? The increasing affordability
and accessibility of new mobile and web technologies such as
smartphones is opening up a host of new opportunities for
conservation. We’ve already discussed citizen e-science projects
such as Project NOAH on the blog, and the list of innovative
ways that new technologies are being used to further
conservation practice is increasing rapidly. Last week, the
Biodiversity Institute of the Oxford Martin School hosted a
symposium entitled ‘Mobile computing, citizen science and
conservation recording’ to explore these emerging trends.
Convened by Paul Jepson from the School of Geography in
conjunction with The British Trust for Ornithology and
BirdGuides, the symposium represented a response to the growing
adoption of smartphones in Europe and the resulting potential to
link new forms of biological recording with biodiversity
informatics, creating new data and enhancing public
participation in science. Four key questions were posed to
participants: 1. Wha