*NERC E4* Internet of Living Things: Smart monitoring of urban biodiversity for conservation and outreach

Interested individuals must follow the "how to apply" link on the Geosciences E4 Doctoral Training Partnership web page: http://www.ed.ac.uk/e4-dtp/how-to-apply

Most people live in cities and their first-hand experience of biodiversity is therefore of urban nature. This provides both an opportunity and a challenge. The opportunity is that in urban environments, large numbers of people can be reached and can participate in the
conservation of biodiversity. The challenge is that urban nature is little known and largely invisible to most people. This PhD project will explore the exciting possibilities to remedy this situation that are provided by internet technology. The idea is to test in the City of
Edinburgh, how electronic sensors designed to capture the sounds made by bats and other wildlife can be used to monitor changes in urban biodiversity in response to experimental management interventions. For example, can increasing the diversity of plants in a park increase the biomass of flying insects and consequently the number of bats that feed upon them? Sensor data can be gathered through Edinburgh’s Internet of Things network and shared with scientists and the public. This is a demanding project requiring wide collaboration across disciplines, but will be supported by supervisors and others in Edinburgh who are leaders in the fields of biodiversity research, conservation and informatics. This is a project of the Edinburgh Living Lab.

Key research questions In the urban environment:
1. How do environmental variables influence bat activity?
2. Does local bat activity show top-down and/or bottom-up effects through the food chain?
3. How can IoT technology be used to involve the public in making an internet of living things?

Methodology and timetable
The key research questions will be tested using experiments deployed in the private and public open spaces in the city of Edinburgh. Public engagement will be an integral part of the research programme, involving citizen scientists in the city.
Year 1. Training. Design of pilot experiments, deployment and testing of sensors,
connection to IoT, initial contact with interested members of the public. Writing a review
paper on the feasibility of an internet of living things.
Year 2. Refinement of hypotheses to be tested. Definitive experiments designed and
deployed in the city. Further development of public engagement. Participation in a
conference on conservation and / or public engagement.
Year 3. Extension of methods developed with bats to other taxa, e.g. birds. Conclusion of
experiments and public engagement activities. Drafting of scientific papers.
Year 4. Data analysis, writing up.

CASE partner: Scottish Natural Heritage
Training
A comprehensive training programme will be provided comprising both specialist scientific
training and generic transferable and professional skills. Specific training will be provided
in IoT technology, conservation biology, statistics and public engagement.
Requirements
Applicants should have either a firstclass degree in ecology/biological sciences and
demonstrable skills in quantitative methods including coding (for example Python). An MSc
in any relevant field would be an advantage.