[PCA] QR app for tree ID education!

De Angelis, Patricia patricia_deangelis at fws.gov
Wed Jul 8 14:46:58 CDT 2015


Excerpt from the National Association of Conservation Districts June 30
"Forestry Notes:"

Subject: A little technology is going a long way

Sometimes the best ideas are borrowed. When Macon County (Illinois)
Conservation District Executive Director Paul Marien was touring the
Southern Illinois University campus a while back, he couldn't help but
notice a series of quick response codes (better known as QR codes) attached
to various trees on campus. Later, he'd learn the codes were used as a
teaching tool to help engage tree identification students. Still, as much
as Marien marveled at the technology, he couldn't believe he hadn't seen it
before. It made too much sense.

Upon returning back to Macon County he immediately began exploring how his
district might use the tool to help local residents learn more about native
trees. Marien decided a good start would be to add QR codes to a select
number of trees within the conservation district's 24,000-square-foot
nature center and along the bike trail it manages nearby.

"So many people are using smartphones for different things," he says. "This
was a no-brainer, a great public outreach tool."

But Marien's biggest fear was technology. How were the QR codes
manufactured? How did they sync with Southern Illinois University's
resources? Marien enlisted the help of Millikin University student Alyssa
Eckberg, who build QR codes as part of a school project. Marien selected 19
trees – Kentucky coffee tree, walnut, white oaks, red oaks, shagbark
hickory – that represented a good variety of trees visitors would commonly
find in the county. And the cost was reasonable – a total of $195 for two
sets of each aluminum label, which Macon County Conservation District staff
installed in March (with no harm done to the tree).

The result has been overwhelming.

Read more at:
http://www.nacdnet.org/resources/forestry/featured-stories/a-little-technology-is-going-a-long-way-in-the-woods
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