Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Bird Studies Canada Receives Research Software Funding

Bird Studies Canada is delighted to announce that we are being funded to participate in CANARIE's Research Software Program.

Our two-year grant of $560,000 will support development of the research software platform for the Motus Wildlife Tracking System, one of the world's most ambitious wildlife tracking initiatives.

"It's an honour to earn CANARIE's investment, which recognizes our outstanding scientific credentials and potential," said BSC President Steven Price. "This critical injection of funding will enable the Motus network to span the Western Hemisphere – and beyond!"

Within five years, Bird Studies Canada aims to track 50 migratory bird species of conservation concern throughout their ranges. Motus is an essential tool to help us achieve this goal. Along the way, we're gaining amazing new insights into bird movements, and priority areas and habitats.

Bird Studies Canada and Acadia University programmers are working toward a completely integrative and real-time database for managing and analyzing animal movement data using automated radio telemetry. In addition to supporting research and conservation needs, the platform will also allow the general public to explore the vast Motus database, and view tagged animals' movements throughout the network.

In addition to funding, the Motus platform also benefits from previously-developed software tools in CANARIE's Research Software Registry. In turn, Bird Studies Canada will contribute Motus software elements back to the Registry for re-use by the scientific community. This powerful cycle of software development and reuse results in significant process and cost efficiencies for the research community.

The Motus Wildlife Tracking System is a program of Bird Studies Canada, in partnership with Acadia University and collaborating researchers and organizations. This project was undertaken with the financial support of the Government of Canada.