This summer, I worked with a classmate to deploy cameras and audio recording devices along the riparian zones of the Raquette, Grasse, and Oswegatchie rivers in St. Lawrence County. The overarching goal this summer was to collect photo and audio data of the species that occupy these zones, their activity, and the overall biodiversity of the area. Passive acoustic monitoring using photo and audio devices is a growing area of study, and a non-invasive way to glean data on our local ecosystems and animal communities.
Over the course of the summer we deployed 2 rounds of 24 game cameras and 15 AudioMoth recorders divided evenly between the 3 rivers. We also explored subprojects with both the cameras and AudioMoths. We were interested in comparing the sound quality between different enclosure methods for the AudioMoths - Ziploc bags and weatherproof cases. Both are common among users, but the cases have evidence of picking up sound directionally, which introduces bias. We designed an experiment with six replicates pairing two AudioMoths, one in a case and one in a Ziploc, at the same site to analyze whether one housing method detects more species than the other. We also made deployments at a site with the intention of collecting footage of beaver activity.
We used mapping tools within the ArcGIS program to randomly generate locations for each deployment. Long days were spent in the field, where we explored remote forests, waterfalls, and marshes. Our cameras returned photos of many species including Black Bears, Coyotes, White-Tailed Deer, Porcupines, Red Foxes, Great-Blue Herons, Ruffed Grouse, and much more.
This research, exploration, and data collection will lead into my Senior Year Experience (SYE) in the 2025-2026 school year, where I plan to explore this data further and deploy more cameras in order to compare biodiversity at sites where beavers are present and where they are absent.