Development of a Remote Sensing System to Track Acorn Woodpeckers

Center for Conservation Biology, University of California, Riverside Engineering/Environmental Studies, 2002-03

Liaison(s): Michael Allen, John Rotenberry, Mike Hamilton, Wendy Hodges
Advisor(s): Lori Bassman, Stephen Adolph
Students(s): Patricia Brock (PM), Warren Katzenstein, Heather Lane, Stephen MacVicar, Brent Rojo

The Center for Conservation Biology at UC Riverside creates remote sensor systems that monitor environmental conditions, organisms, and habitats. These remote systems allow scientists to collect significant amounts of data while minimizing disturbances to the environ-ment. The team designed and built a system of sensors that can record sounds in a given habitat. The data collected by the system is processed to identify Acorn woodpecker calls and the origin of those calls in three-dimensional space.