Question: how do you record your results while climbing?

Anna Gardner answered on 10 Jun 2019:

Hello Ellie, the answer is with quite a lot of difficulty!
However, any great scientist will be able to find an answer to a challenge they have, especially if it makes data collection better.

So, there are a few different ways I record data in the trees.
Firstly ( and easiest), is that the machine that I use has a ‘data log’ button, which means that I simply have to press it and it will record the data. This does mean I have to sit safely in the tree in order to have a hand free to press it.

Secondly, taking pictures is very important! I take pictures to record different data that I would normally write down. For example, I take photos of the sky to record the weather, I take photos of the leaves to record if they have been eaten by caterpillars and I can take pictures of anything I think might be influencing the results (e.g. injury to the tree by a storm).

A third way (the hardest way), is to take a notebook and pen with me. These are tied to my belt and harness so they don’t fall to the ground. I can then write anything I feel that needs to be recorded. This is useful when I need to draw things (e.g. insects, fungi or animals I see), drawing in biology is a very important tool for recording information. This is the hardest method because I need to hands so I have to be sitting safely in the tree!

With any method of data collection in the field, the most important part is once the fieldwork is finished. You have to make sure you put all the data together safely and understand what you have written (re-writing it if you don’t understand it). The data you have collected then needs to be put somewhere safe with your name, date, location and project name, that will allow yourself and other people to understand it at a later date.