In self-control mode: excursions and project work at D-USYS

For the approximately 140 students of the Environmental Sciences programme at ETH Zurich, the mostly half-day biodiversity excursions are among the highlights of their first year. Finally there is an opportunity to leave the lecture hall, head out with the experts, receive input from them and - last but not least - have the occasional one-on-one conversation as well . "As the name suggests, the excursions are all about biodiversity," explains Andrea Funk, who is responsible for the degree programme's excursions. The aim is not to get to know as many species as possible, but rather to understand the underlying system based on a selection of species and to apply the methods for recording biodiversity.

Solo excursions  

Each year, D-USYS offers a selection of around 15 excursions, six of which are compulsory for students. They focus, among other things, on forest and water birds, insects in the meadow and forest, small animals in streams and ponds, arachnids, sweet grasses, trees, shrubs or mushrooms. But this year everything is different: "The excursions take place in self-control mode," says Urs Brändle, teaching specialist at D-USYS. Only four of the 50 half days which were organised had to be cancelled. All others were adjusted to fit in with the ETH's emergency operations.

The tracking app of the D-USYS

The main difference: this year the students go out on their own, not in a group. In an area of their choice, they identify mushrooms, trees or animals, depending on the theme of their excursion. As in previous years, the preparatory material is available online. And in order to go on the excursion, students will have had to pass the online test. Students record the plant or animal species they find using the "Collector app" on their smartphone. The data will later be analysed in data workshops, which also take place online. "The data on the app tell us where the students conducted their excursion," explains Brändle. The students' excursions covered an area ranging from southern Germany to Ticino.

Learning for the future

The identification of an insect or plant species in nature is not always a trivial task. Especially when there is no expert to hand. "That's why we now also work with the nature app 'iNaturalist'," Brändle continues. The app is a citizen science project involving over 400,000 researchers, interested laypeople and biologists. They all collect data on biodiversity around the world and create maps, which they make available to the research community. "For the students, being part of such a citizen science scheme is of clear benefit," Brändle believes. Universities, too, are increasingly working with the expertise afforded by the public. This is why the teaching specialist believes that it is conceivable for iNaturalist to continue to be used and for the data workshops to be held online only in the future.