CAMERA TRAPPING
FIELDWORK EXPERIENCE
I first deployed camera traps for my Msc. thesis to investigate the response of wildlife to no-take zone establishment in the community-managed YUS Conservation Area in Papua New Guinea. Under the supervision of Dr. Francesco Rovero and Dr. Lisa Dabek, I led an exploratory study assessing the feasibility of camera trapping as a community-led monitoring tool for terrestrial vertebrates. To do so, I deployed 15 Reconyx Hyperfire camera traps in several no-take zones located in the high-elevation cloud forests of the Saruwaget Mountain range.
Building on this first experience, I continued in fine-tuning my camera trapping skills during my time as an Erasmus+ trainee on the 'Biome Health Project'. In this respect, I aided in the deployment of 150 Browning Dark Ops Pro cameras along a deforestation gradient in the Terai Arc Landscape (Nepal), installing cameras in Bardia National Park and the surrounding buffer zone. Here, we made use of a Random Encounter Model (REM) approach to estimating local wildlife abundance. In addition to camera deployment, I also taught a camera trapping field course to students of Tribhuvan University (Kathmandu) to build local capacity.
Finally, I also made use of camera traps for my doctoral work. To monitor the biodiversity of large terrestrial vertebrates in the Brazilian Amazon, I designed and deployed a camera trapping grid consisting of 135 Browning Dark Ops pro camera traps spread across three rain forest landscapes (BR-319, Cristalino Private Natural Heritage Reserve and Serra do Divisor National Park).
Building on this first experience, I continued in fine-tuning my camera trapping skills during my time as an Erasmus+ trainee on the 'Biome Health Project'. In this respect, I aided in the deployment of 150 Browning Dark Ops Pro cameras along a deforestation gradient in the Terai Arc Landscape (Nepal), installing cameras in Bardia National Park and the surrounding buffer zone. Here, we made use of a Random Encounter Model (REM) approach to estimating local wildlife abundance. In addition to camera deployment, I also taught a camera trapping field course to students of Tribhuvan University (Kathmandu) to build local capacity.
Finally, I also made use of camera traps for my doctoral work. To monitor the biodiversity of large terrestrial vertebrates in the Brazilian Amazon, I designed and deployed a camera trapping grid consisting of 135 Browning Dark Ops pro camera traps spread across three rain forest landscapes (BR-319, Cristalino Private Natural Heritage Reserve and Serra do Divisor National Park).
