Research project

HEIF 2023/24 Interactive community engagement using technology and citizen science for school and community capacity building on pelagic sargassum in Mexico (SarTECH)

Project overview

This is a multidisciplinary project which brings together expertise in low cost imaging and image analysis, data science, understanding physical drivers of sargassum and community and stakeholders engagement. The information is then translated to learning resources to strengthen capacity of the local school and community. We will work with the Southampton Education School (University of Southampton) to produce engaging and interactive materials through the common interest on reaching audiences in the best way possible. They will
collaborate with their knowledge about communicating efficiently academic evidence, with experience on engaging school children in citizen science initiatives such as the Wild Citizens project. They have also developed toolkit to reach larger audiences beyond schools, for example with the project Wonderseekers. The PI (Dominguez Almela) is currently working with Ali Walker (Digital Developer at the Southampton Education School) editing videos about seaweed awareness recorded by school children in the UK aiming at different social platforms, including TikTok, YouTube and X (formerly Twitter).

Staff

Lead researchers

Dr Vicky Dominguez Almela

Lecturer

Research interests

  • Her work has included the use of individual-based models (IBMs), geographical information systems (GIS) and stable isotopes to increase understandings of invasion patterns and evaluate invasive species eradication programmes. She also uses citizen science tools to co-produce knowledge with the general public and increase adaptation pathways to climatic risks.
  • Champion of the Nature-Based Solutions Special Interest Group at the Southampton Marine and Maritime Institute.
  • Postgrad Rep and Social Media Lead of the British Ecological Society Invasion Science Group.
Connect with Vicky

Other researchers

Professor Jadu Dash

Professor of Remote Sensing

Research interests

  • Satellite derived land surface phenology and its validation with ground data
  • Developing a chlorophyll content based production efficiency model to quantify terrestrial carbon uptake
  • Impact of extreme climatic events on vegetation phenology
Connect with Jadu

Collaborating research institutes, centres and groups

Research outputs