Overview
For this homework assignment, you are going to actively assist researchers in wildlife studies. Community science is a term for the incorporation of non-scientists into active research efforts. In wildlife biology, one of the main areas in which this is being done involves classification of animals from images or videos taken by motion-activated cameras that have been strapped to poles or trees out in the wild somewhere. This allows you to see what the animals are doing with no people around. As you do this assignment, keep in mind that you are contributing to actual research so make sure to read the directions carefully and take what you are doing seriously. Work through the introductory material and tutorials before you begin classifying images. At the same time, recognize that many others will look at the same photo you are classifying so an occasional mistake will not make it into the data. As you look at the wildlife camera images, think about interactions between the species you see, both with other animals, but also with plants and other organisms.
The Zooniverse site has lots of projects - I have given you 4 choices from among those. You will choose ONE of these four to work on. At the time I put this together, all still had images that needed to be classified. However, that can change and some projects could be completed before you begin. If that occurs, just choose another one of the 4 I suggested to work on. Make sure to open the assignment document before starting so you know which 4 projects you can use. Note: there are several others that sound interesting but I checked them and there were issues with those so you need to choose from among the four provided. If additional projects that would work open up during the week, I will let you know.
Here is the assignment itself: Zooniverse Assignment Document
Here is a direct link to the Zooniverse website: ZooniverseLinks to an external site.