Science & Conservation
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JvA-20160914-24775
JvA-20160107-5984
A Cape fur seal checks out a baited remote underwater video system
JvA-20140731-2647
JvA-20140709-8880
JvA-20140130-7820
JvA-20140121-7348
Almut Schlaich climbs a water tower to setup a base station that can communicate with relay antennas strategically placed in the field. The base station takes care of two-way communication with GPS-loggers in the system's range, and transmits data to a cloud database over the cellular network. This allows for the collection of information on birds' movements at very short intervals, which the GPS-backpacks' internal memory cannot store for more than a few days.
JvA-20130527-stereographic
Alle verzamelde planten moeten zorgvuldig geperst en gedroogd worden voordat ze naar Nederland verzonden kunnen worden.
JvA-20160112-7656
JvA-20160107-5674
Hottentot seabream, pyjama shark, and pufadder shyshark gather around a baited underwater video system in operation. Stereo cameras allow scientists to estimate the size and age of the fish drawn to the bait.
JvA-20140730-2530
Two children help measure the claw of a Montagu's harrier chick at a nest in Groningen. Involving the local community is a key part of the conservation strategy of the Dutch Montagu's Harrier Foundation.
A female Montagu's harrier is fitted with a GPS-backpack in Khelcom, Senegal.
JvA-20140121-7347
Excited expressions appear on researchers' faces when the first GPS tracks of a Montagu's harrier's daily movements appear on screen. Khelcom, Senegal.
Artificial intelligence researcher Tijn van der Zant
Artificial intelligence researcher Tijn van der Zant poses between dancing NAO robots in the Cognitive Robotics Laboratory of the University of Groningen. The Netherlands.
Peter Koomen op Borneo, Maleisië, tijdens de Kinabalu / Crocker Range expeditie van Naturalis en Sabah Parks in 2012.
JvA-20160112-7629
JvA-20160104-3664
Roman, Hottentot seabream, pyjama shark, and pufadder shyshark gather around a baited underwater video system. Stereo cameras allow scientists to estimate the size and age of the fish drawn to the bait.
In most of Europe, natural breeding habitats of Montagu's harriers have disappeared, forcing them into farmland. 60% of farmland nests would be destroyed in the absence of nest protection. Here, a combine passes by a protected Montagu's harrier nest in Groningen, the Netherlands. NB: This is a composite photo. Chicks of this age may flutter out of the cage from fear of the noise and end up in the combine harvester. For this reason, they were temporarily removed from the nest by Dutch Montagu's Harrier Foundation staff. Unfortunately, the pictured situation does occur as the Foundation is often not alerted when the harvest takes place.
A staffer and a volunteer of the Dutch Montagu's Harrier Foundation install a wire fence around a nest in Groningen to protect it from predators and harvest. The status of the breeding populations in the Netherlands and the UK is so precarious that each nest must be individually monitored and protected, and locations are kept secret.
Almut Schlaich and Ben Koks fit a male harrier with a GPS-backpack on the savannah of Khelcom, Senegal.
JvA-20140121-7333
Scientists Steve Augiron (France) and Almut Schlaich (Germany) set a mist net to capture Montagu's harriers in order to fit them with GPS-loggers. The harriers are enticed to dive at it by placing a large model owl behind the net (photos of harriers diving at owl available). Khelcom, Senegal.
Collection of Naturalis Biodiversity Center
JvA-20120925-2270
JvA-20160111-7366
Conservation biologist Lauren de Vos uses baited underwater video systems to gather critical information for effective fisheries management in False Bay, including the diversity, abundance, and distribution of fishes.
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A resting pole placed next to an antenna (right) allows easy downloads of GPS data. Signals from birds as far as 3 kilometers away may be picked up. Groningen, the Netherlands.
A live grasshopper next to Montagu's harrier pellets in the hands of Ben Koks. Fatick, Senegal.
A male Montagu's harrier is carefully fitted with a GPS-backpack in Khelcom, Senegal.
Steve Augiron untangles a male Montagu's harrier from a mist net as Ben Koks (Netherlands) watches. Khelcom, Senegal.
Using a system of relay antennas strategically positioned around several roosts near Khelcom, Senegal, researchers can read out the birds' data loggers. This yields detailed information on birds' movements (e.g. location, elevation, flight speed, and temperature in three-second intervals), but also migratory data for birds that have been equipped with GPS-loggers at European breeding sites in previous years.
Crab-eating macaques on a rope bridge constructed to allow orangutans to cross between forest areas fragmented by oil palm plantations in the Kinabatangan River Valley, Borneo.
JvA-20120924-2031
JvA-20160110-6939
Roman and Hottentot seabream gather around a baited underwater video system. Stereo cameras allow scientists to estimate the size and age of the fish drawn to the bait.
JvA-20140731-2660
University of Groningen researcher Almut Schlaich faces a thunderstorm in the field. Groningen, the Netherlands.
JvA-20140201-4597
JvA-20140121-7370
Steve Augiron hoists a solar panel up a water tower to power a base station that can communicate with relay antennas strategically placed in the the field. The base station takes care of two-way communication with GPS-loggers in the system's range, and transmits data to a cloud database over the cellular network. This allows for the collection of information on birds' movements at very short intervals, which the GPS-backpacks' internal memory cannot store for more than a few days.
Using a system of relay antennas strategically positioned around several roosts near Khelcom, Senegal, researchers can read out the birds' data loggers. This yields detailed information on birds' movements (e.g. location, elevation, flight speed, and temperature in three-second intervals), but also migratory data for birds that have been equipped with GPS-loggers at European breeding sites in previous years.
Crab-eating macaques on a rope bridge constructed to allow orangutans to cross between forest areas fragmented by oil palm plantations in the Kinabatangan River Valley, Borneo.
Na een dag verzamelen moeten de onderzoekers hun materiaal zorgvuldig uitzoeken: van labels voorzien met informatie over de locatie, maar ook kleine stukjes materiaal (bijvoorbeeld een poot van een insect, of een stukje blad) monsteren en in een speciale oplossing bewaren zodat het DNA goed blijft voor latere analyse.
