Maëva's research topic focuses on the impact of certain agricultural practices on wild animals. Supervising this project was our very own Dr. Stephanie Roilo.
For the study, three types of fields present at the local and organic Wiesengut farm were considered - permanent grassland, mowed grassland, and grassland with grazing cattle. Cameras were stationed in each field and were set to take a picture every 5 minutes, or whenever motion up to 35 meters away was detected. Using an artificial intelligence tool to help with classification in combination with human-validation, each picture is given an appropriate label. Using this information, Maëva established a hypothesis about what animals may be observed in the different fields and identified possible improvements for a follow-up study in 2026.
As her stay comes to an end, we wish her all the best with her studies and future ambitions going forward.