SWAN LAKE CHRISTMAS HILL NATURE SANCTUARY
The Swan Lake Christmas Hill Nature Sanctuary is a local non-profit nature sanctuary located in Victoria B.C. It is home to a diverse ecosystem of wildlife, plants, and waters that face threats from increased urbanization and foot traffic. The sanctuary asked its Garage Apprentice team to develop a method to monitor visitor traffic to and from the park, and which park spaces were most frequented. The monitor developed by the team will provide this data with great precision, built to withstand the elements, and have a powerful charge. The information gathered will be invaluable in assisting the sanctuary in their effort to upkeep the park and use precious resources where they are needed most. With a boots-on-the-ground approach and the ability to pivot when necessary, the team plans to complete their prototype and eventually make it available to more park reserves and sanctuaries in Canada.
TEAM MEMBERS
Fiona Bechtold
Second-year at UVic in the biomedical engineering
Austin Mburia
Second-year Engineering student at the University of Victoria
Madeline Tennier
Third-year Computer Science student at the University of Victoria
John Burgess
Third-year Mechanical Engineering student at the University of Victoria
Calem Bardy
Project Ambassador
COMMUNITY PARTNERS
Swan Lake Christmas Hill Nature Sanctuary is 160 acres of the publicly accessible urban landscape in Greater Victoria with a distinct ecosystem and a wide array of native plants and animals. This extraordinary habit is being rapidly encroached upon by urbanization and this project will focus on determining a viable method to monitor the visitor traffic to the habitat will great precision. The goal of the monitoring system will be to use the data to conserve and protect these waters and land.