PROGRAMS USED
- Adobe Photoshop
- Google forms
- Google sheets
- R studio
BACKGROUND
This project is investigating whether different social environments lead to cognitive differences in Northern Swordtail fish. The social environments are comprised of the three different kinds of males found in this species.
Each male type has a distinct reproductive tactic and is associated with different levels of stress. Combinations of these males are then used to create distinct social environments in which females are reared in since birth.
PROBLEM
Lab employees/volunteers had to count tanks once a week, and became increasingly frustrated with the paper and pen system that was being used.
Paper logs often got wet or misplaced, and employees struggled to complete counts each week.
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5 distinct social environments
x 14 replicate tanks per treatment
70 tanks counted weekly
SOLUTION: COMMON GARDEN FISH COUNTER
The Common Garden Counter is a digital tool for counting and keeping track of inventory. It allows lab members to easily count and record the number of individual fish in over 70 tanks for a social rearing experiment. I created an inventory of the lab's 70 fish tanks, along with which type of fish and how many should be in each tank.
- easy and fast data entry
- automatically tracks date and time
- no damaged/misplaced paper logs
- access to protocols and training materials
Additionally, I designed a website where lab members can easily access the common garden digital log and the form to submit counts. Members also have access to private pages containing schedules, supervisor contact information, and lab protocols.
Interactive tutorials make it easy to practice discriminating the different types of fish in the common garden experiment.
Finally, supervisors can also log on to access the log, which allows them to check error rate and detect trends that can be used to optimize the environments.
