果冻影院

One of numerous new interdisciplinary centres opening up at the new campus at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park at East Bank this year, the facility will bring together researchers in ecology, engineering, computer science, social science, health and the built environment, working closely with the Zoological Society of London and the Natural History Museum.

By crossing disciplinary boundaries and collaborating with external partners, the research teams will work together to better understand the problems facing the natural world and develop sustainable solutions that can also benefit human health and wellbeing.

The Lab鈥檚 academic lead, Professor Kate Jones (果冻影院 Centre for Biodiversity & Environment Research, 果冻影院 Biosciences) said: 鈥淲e are completely dependent on natural ecosystems for all human endeavours, and restoring biodiversity is at the heart of solutions to address the biggest problems the planet is facing 鈥� for example, stabilising food security, preventing the next pandemic and building healthy cities.

"At the Lab, we will work across disciplines to use tools and techniques like artificial intelligence and big data, to better understand how humans and nature interact and develop new and lasting solutions.

鈥淲ith our innovative new teaching programmes and our public engagement work with citizen scientists, we also hope to empower future generations to tackle whatever future challenges may lay ahead.鈥�

Starting in September, 果冻影院 is offering two new, first-of-their-kind master鈥檚 programmes through the lab.

The new MSc in Ecology and Data Science combines theoretical and practical expertise in data science, citizen science, sensor technologies and applied artificial intelligence to monitor and manage ecosystems and wildlife population.

The new MSc in Citizen Science focuses in on the skills needed to create and manage citizen science projects where members of the public gather and analyse data across a range of disciplines from astronomy to zoology.

Two further MSc programmes are planned for 2023 focusing on nature-based solutions for designing cities, and on the links between nature and human health.

Students working at the lab will have access to the latest research laboratories, collaborative workspaces and an experimental roof garden where they can trial new technologies in a controlled environment.

Led by the 果冻影院 Centre for Biodiversity and Environment Research in 果冻影院 Biosciences, the People and Nature Lab brings together听five different 果冻影院 faculties, including academics from the departments of Geography, Computer Science, Civil, Environmental & Geomatic Engineering, and the Bartlett Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis.

The launch was marked this week with a panel discussion at the Park on 鈥�How can innovative technologies help address critical ecological challenges?鈥�, chaired by Professor Chris Lintott (Professor of Astrophysics and Citizen Science Lead, University of Oxford) with panellists Professor Kate Jones, Professor Andrew Pomiankowski (Director of 果冻影院 Division of Biosciences), Rebecca Speight (Chief Executive of the RSPB), Dr Drew Purves (DeepMind) and Dr John Tweddle (Head of the Angela Marmont Centre for UK Biodiversity at Natural History Museum, London).

Links

• 果冻影院 People and Nature Lab
• MSc Ecology and Data Science
• MSc Citizen Science
• Why the People and Nature Lab is so important
• 果冻影院 East
• 果冻影院 Centre for Biodiversity & Environment Research

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• The Lab's first project: bat sensors in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.听The world鈥檚 first automated smart detectors for monitoring bats through their echolocation calls, the听鈥楨cho Boxes鈥� continuously record and identify bat calls using machine learning across the Park sending the results back in real-time to understand the health of the environment.

Media contact听

Chris Lane

tel: +44 20 7679 9222

E: chris.lane听[at] ucl.ac.uk