Project 1: Teaching and Research in Bioacoustics
The goal was to purchase hardware and software for computer-based bioacoustics research in the laboratories of Bio101/102 and Bio342. This capitalizes on the iBooks that are already available in these labs and introduces a new research topic to these courses that is closely allied with my own interests in animal signaling. Students develop general concepts of experimental design, and methodological and technical expertise in bioacoustics through laboratory and field work that includes, recording, analysis, and playback of animal vocalizations in conjunction with behavioral observations.
Curricular development - A sound recording and analysis laboratory was successfully incorporated into the Intro Bio Course in Spring 2002 and will continue in future years. In Fall 2002 the equipment was used by upper-division students in Bio 342 and Bio 471. In Spring 2003 I am teaching an upper-division seminar course (with a field component) on Vocal Communication in Birds, for which all the materials are again being used.
Equipment purchased - high-quality microphones and recorders, playback speakers, cables, storage cases, bioacoustics software.
This project is complete. As we transition from OS 9 to OS X a software upgrade will be necessary. We currently use Canary software, which runs in OS 9. The OS X successor, Raven Bioacoustics Software, is due to be released by Cornell University in 2003.
Project 2: Filemaker & Palm Development for Breeding Bird Data Collection
The goal is to develop a Filemaker database and Palm interface for data collection and processing for field studies of avian breeding biology. A relational database, Palm-based field-data entry, along with extensive use of Filemaker scripts for data processing will (i) increase the ease and accuracy of data collection, (ii) automate data validation and forecasting, thereby saving many hours of tedious paperwork, and (iii) allow for timely execution of more sophisticated experiments that rely on population summaries and forecasting. More practically, the overall result is decreased paperwork and increased student participation in direct research.
This project is still in progress, and will be completed in April 2003.
Allen Poole and I worked together on the development for two months in Spring 2002, during which time the full database structure was developed and the scripts were programmed. The project is contingent upon the Palm interface for data upload and download to Filemaker. This second aspect of the project was halted in Spring 2002 to await software developments from Filemaker & HandDBase so that the system would run in OS X (as the database is only used during the summer field season this interruption was satisfactory). We are now using HanDBase, which requires some additional programming to achieve the necessary relational functionality on the Palm. HanDBAse has a platform for developers, and Allen has subcontracted some of this programming. Allen has resumed working on the project this month (Feb, 2003) and has promised to complete it by April, 2003.