Science

Does the act of looking change what we see?

• Relevant
• Fascinating
• Ingenious

I am committed to protecting mammalian communities using non-invasive technologies, those that do not harm the animals that we wish to study. 

Camera trapping, an especially promising non-invasive technology, uses remotely activated cameras that have motion detectors to take photos when an animal walks by.  These cameras also have ruggedized cases to survive weather extremes.  Camera traps became commercially available in the 1980’s and, since then, have been used intensively and are becoming ever more popular. 

The resulting images are a huge boon to scientists who want to understand wildlife; they help illuminate which species are in an area, how many of them there might be, what they are eating/hunting and other behaviors.  It seems like such a simple idea, but these cameras have revolutionized how ecologists and biologists approach understanding wildlife.

Despite their amazing usefulness, there has been next to no research regarding the response of wildlife to the technology itself (which often assumed to be negligible or non-existent)!  In a previous study, using an older generation of camera trapping systems, I found that deer significantly change their behavior when the camera traps were present. 

I am conducting this project to identify if mammals can see the newest generation of covert camera traps (with “invisible” infrared flash and digital recording technology).  I have preliminary evidence suggesting that even these covert cameras ultimately affect the behavior of some wildlife species, but this question deserves further study.  If there are unidentified effects, they are likely affecting the data that is being collected and, as an end result, could affect conservation practices and wildlife management.

Your support will help to purchase several state-of-the-art camera trapping systems. These camera traps will be used to photographically "capture" captive animals, like coyote and puma, to painlessly test their ability to perceive the invisible, to humans, flash of infrared light.  Armed with this information, scientists can begin to understand the unintentional consequences of the tools that we use to observe the natural world; if the act of looking is changing what we see.

Thanks for your interest!