Industrial Design, Branding, Service Design, Sustainability.
ENGAGING THE GENERAL POPULATION IN TREE HEALTH THROUGH CITIZEN SCIENCE
Background
British woodland biodiversity is increasingly under threat from a range of pests and diseases, which are resulting in landscape level changes that have huge economic and environmental implications. In response to this, I designed an agar based spore trap that can be used to culture mould spores to identify fungal diseases.
The Problem
Research & Insights
Research was really key to this project, Primary research with a range of stakeholders, from tree surgeons to scientists, generated a number of key insights whilst secondary research was used to identify technology and scientific methods for the early detection of pathogens.
Design Development
The Solution
Social and Environmental Benefits
The spore traps are hung up outdoors to detect fungal diseases.
Users can share the trap with friends after they've taken a sample to gather more data and raise awareness.
The whole spore trap can be industrially composted at end of life.
Data about the fungal diseases can be plotted to monitor their spread.
Management strategies can be implemented to protect woodland habitats.
Community engagement through sharing spore traps and discussing results.
The reward of actively contributing to science and research.
Improved wellbeing through immersion and engagement with nature.
Promoting education about social, economic and environmental benefits of protecting woodlands.
