Improving field training of fish identification with tablet technology

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Title: Improving field training of fish identification with tablet technology and assessing effectiveness of this method compared to traditional training Report Date: March 4, 2020 Project Number: R/21-1-17 PIs: Dr. Juan J. Cruz-Motta, University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez, Dr. Chelsea Harms-Tuohy, Isla Mar Research Expeditions, LLC, Evan Tuohy, Isla Mar Research Expeditions LLC Proposed Start Date: January 2017 / Funds Received: August 2017 / End Date: January 2020 A. Objectives: 1) Incorporate new features and fish illustrations – by contracting two local illustrators, Daniel Irizarry and Cynthia Gotay, to illustrate a total of 116 Caribbean reef fish. 2) Involve student participation in testing prototypes – completed by recruiting volunteer graduate students from the Dept. of Marine Sciences at UPRM to participate by providing feedback on the use of the application during its conversion to the web-based format. 3) Convert the application to web-based – completed by contracting an app developer to convert the iOS software originally designed for Artedi into a web-based platform that can be accessed by any type of tablet user. 4) Create an interactive website for users to track learning progress – completed by contracting a web designer to design the backend processing of the website to allow users to view and manipulate their data. 5) Determine the effectiveness and efficiency of the app in teaching fish ID compared to traditional methods – completed by coordinating a dive plan led by the two graduate students supported from the project by which volunteer student divers participated in fish surveys with and without the experts to compare their survey results against themselves through time, each other and the experts. 6) Assess the quality of data collected and its potential for use by managers and other down-stream interest groups – completed by assessing the change in the quality of the fish survey per user over time to assess their relative contribution next to the expert. 7) Develop an electronic survey template for expert users – completed by contracting web developer to create a digital fish survey template similar to the NOAA belt transect survey sheet. 8) Allow users to build their own surveys, however, this objective was removed from the project because it was determined to be out of the scope of the goal of Artedi. B. Advancement of the Field: This technology was found to be an exceptional method of teaching fish identification to new surveyors and would have great contribution to citizen scientists. This project identified that Artedi is capable of competing with traditional methods of teaching fish ID and was observed to allow users to advance at a faster rate than compared to those surveyors only using traditional methods. Artedi was especially effective in training surveyors that had no experience identifying fish species. C. Problems encountered: The project was awarded in March 2017, but the funds were not received until August 2017 so there was a significant initial delay in getting started on the