Ecological mobile phone software

Scientists from Bath University have helped to develop mobile phone software that will help epidemiologists and ecologists working in the field to analyse their data remotely and map findings across the world without having to return to the laboratory.

Dr Ed Feil and PhD student Fadaa al Own from the Department of Biology and Biochemistry, working with academics from Imperial College, said that the software will also enable members of the public to act as ‘citizen scientists’ and help collect data for community projects.

The researchers' smartphone application allows a scientist or a member of the public to collect and record data, photos and videos - for example, to document the presence of an animal or plant species - and then send this information to a central web-based database. The website records the user’s location utilising the phone’s GPS system and it can then display all of the data collected on this topic across the world using Google Maps.