Details of Award
NERC Reference : NE/X009114/1
Fundamentals of Build-It-Yourself Environmental Sensors
Training Grant Award
- Lead Supervisor:
- Dr D Schillereff, King's College London, Geography
- Grant held at:
- King's College London, Geography
- Science Area:
- Atmospheric
- Freshwater
- Terrestrial
- Overall Classification:
- Atmospheric
- ENRIs:
- Environmental Risks and Hazards
- Global Change
- Pollution and Waste
- Science Topics:
- Climate & Climate Change
- Survey & Monitoring
- Earth Surface Processes
- Abstract:
- Monitoring and measuring are vital for environmental science, so advancing monitoring capabilities is a NERC priority under its Digital Environment theme. Incorporating Internet-of-Things (IoT) sensors, which involve build-it-yourself designs, is a key objective. IoT use by environmental scientists is growing but mostly as individual projects. This prevents best practice being shared, creates inefficiency and wastage, risks poor-quality data and may cause students and supervisors to question whether build-it-yourself sensors are appropriate for PhD research. Establishing a pipeline of appropriately trained doctoral researchers will help harness the potential of IoT sensors and address the equally pressing need to re-establish environmental monitoring infrastructure lost or degraded during the Covid-19 pandemic. Our laboratory and field-based short course "Fundamentals of Build-It-Yourself Sensors for Environmental Scientists" is therefore timely, in demand by the NERC community and fills a clear gap in training provision. Similar courses focus on commercial instrumentation, which is complementary but materially different in terms of skills and applications. Our applicant team is uniquely positioned to deliver the training: we have eight years' experience developing and using build-it yourself environmental sensors in the UK and overseas and securing grant funding for this research, extensive public engagement experience and our open-source designs are increasingly used by NGOs and commercial start-ups. We have also embedded build-it-yourself environmental sensors into our undergraduate and postgraduate teaching over the last five years and delivered unfunded training for non-academic researchers, NGOs and school teachers. We are therefore confident we have a training programme fine-tuned by years of student feedback that can be effectively upscaled to the NERC doctoral network with deeper technical and theoretical content. We will host 30 trainees across two three-day courses in Autumn 2022 and early 2023. Applications will be welcomed from any NERC-funded PhD student conducting ground-based environmental monitoring, prioritising applicants whose laboratory and field experience has been constrained two years of Covid-19 restrictions, lab closures and shifts to online learning. Remaining spaces will be allocated to non-academic researchers working on natural flood management or local air quality. Trainees will benefit on Days 1 and 2 from working in the purpose-built King's Geography electronics laboratory and opportunities to test and calibrate sensors and collect data in central London. On Day 3 students will travel to the Thames Estuary to operate a research-grade build-it-yourself sensor network. Theoretical sessions will allow the staff team to share our cumulative experience of common pitfalls and best practice. The course will deliver strong value. Venue costs are minimal, sensor components are inherently low in cost and efficient resource allocation will enable training staff and administrative support to be costed in-kind. As a team-taught course, it is resilient to unexpected staff absence and trainees will benefit from wide expertise. We will proactively embed DEI at all stages. The staff team are active in DEI networks and have completed relevant training. We have thought carefully about strategies to address known barriers to participation from under-represented groups, including dedicated mentorship, childcare provision and access to field gear. Training spaces and materials are accessible for disabled researchers (including deaf and visually impaired) and we will provide an accessible, local Day 3 alternative. Upon completion, trainees will have acquired the technical and theoretical skills and confidence to design and use build-ityourself environmental sensors. Monitoring and reflection will be paramount and we have a clear plan for evaluating learning outcomes during the course and longer-term impact.
- NERC Reference:
- NE/X009114/1
- Grant Stage:
- Awaiting Resumption
- Scheme:
- Doctoral Training
- Grant Status:
- Active
- Programme:
- Advanced Training
This training grant award has a total value of £24,365
FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)
| Total - Other Costs |
|---|
| £24,365 |
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