In the very first episode of the Disruptive Environmentalist podcast we are starting with a huge environmental issue, biodiversity loss.
One of the keys to tackling this major problem is by having up to date reliable data on the trends of endangered species across the planet. This helps conservation efforts get targeted in the right areas through an increasing push for evidence-based conservation.
In the past, we have been limited quite significantly by our ability as humans to obtain this data, but technological advances such as camera traps our ability to capture more data over longer time periods has greatly improved.
In this episode, we focus on one of the pieces of technology that is becoming an essential tool in many areas of conservation, the drone.
I speak to Tom and Tom two university friends who combined one’s knowledge of building drones with the others knowledge of conservation to attempt to survey for a group of species that have suffered severe declines globally, bats.
The conversation is wide-ranging and we discuss why bats (and all animals) are so important and deserve our attention, how advances in technology mean virtually anyone can make a difference with low startup costs and how easier access to a more open-source global scientific community is changing the way we all work.
If you are interested in getting in touch with Tom and Tom about the project you can find them in the following places:
Email: batuavs@gmail.com
Website: www.projecterebus.weebly.com/blog
Twitter: @project_erebus