News - University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus
Monday Update – GLOBE Mosquito Habitat Photo Challenge Runs through This Wednesday!
The GLOBE Mosquito Habitat Photo Challenge kicked off on Sunday, 25 July, by Monday, August 23 we now have over 1,500, photos of mosquito larvae, water habitats, and 4,000 land cover photos. Thanks for all the great observations and photos so far!
Keep it UP! We are in the home stretch; there are only two days left in the challenge, but that doesn’t mean you have to stop. Every larva photo you take will help researchers come one step closer to training their software to recognize and identify disease-carrying larvae and the habitats or land cover types they prefer.
To read the weekly updates during the challenge, click here.
This challenge combines the use of GLOBE’s app, GLOBE Observer (GO), Mosquito Habitat Mapper (MHM) and Land Cover tools to document mosquito breeding habitats with photos. GLOBE would like you to take photos of mosquito habitats, in either natural or artificial containers (using the MHM tool) and photos of the land around the habitat location (using the Land Cover tool). Photos submitted during this challenge will be used to create automated classification programs that can identify mosquito larvae and the environments they prefer. Such computer programs can help prevent outbreaks of mosquito-borne disease.
If you would like to learn more about the research being conducted with your submitted photos for the challenge, please read the blog: Machine Learning and Your Citizen Science Data.
Mosquito Fun Facts
There are around 3,500 species of mosquitoes and the GLOBE Observer Mosquito Habitat Mapper tool documents three medically important species Anopheles, Aedes, and Culex. It’s only the female mosquito who bites, males are perfectly content with plant nectar. Females need iron found in the blood for optimal egg development.
Prevention Tips!
What can you do to reduce the chance of mosquitoes after you’ve taken your Mosquito Habitat Mapper and Land Cover observation? Dump and clean any containers that may hold standing water at least twice a week – and take another observation. This includes vases, pet water bowls, old tires, plastic kiddie pools, rain gutters – look around for more spots for potential mosquito habitats.
Scientists Need Your Photos!
For more information on the challenge, click here.
News origin: GLOBE Implementation Office