Using UAVs in seabird research & monitoring: workshop at the 14th International Seabird Group Conference 2018

Using UAVs in seabird research & monitoring: workshop at the 14th International Seabird Group Conference 2018 Organisers: Matt Wood (University of Gloucestershire) & Matty Murphy (Natural Resources Wales) Workshop outline: Rapidly advancing drone technology offers opportunities and challenges to both seabird researchers and the relevant regulatory bodies. This workshop will bring together experts in the practise and policy of using UAVs for seabirds, to share best practise on the design of UAV surveys to capture useful imagery whilst minimising disturbance. We aim to combine our experience with UAVs, to guide their future use and inform the development of policy. Participants will gain: - Insights on how to carry out an effective UAV survey whilst minimising disturbance to seabirds - Understanding of the regulatory framework that UAV users must follow - Opportunity to feed into a review of best practice in the use of UAVs for seabird surveys Time: 1400-1530 (1730, Monday 3 September 2018 Location: Central Teaching Hub, University of Liverpool Programme: Case studies of the use of UAVs with seabirds: Start: Matt Wood (University of Gloucestershire) Intro & Welcome 3min 45s: Norm Ratcliffe (BAS) A seabirder’s guide to UAVs 31min: Matty Murphy (NRW) UAVs and environmental law 46min: Robin Ward (NIRAS) Drone-captured still imagery to survey cliff-nesting seabirds at Flamborough & Filey pSPA 1h 03min: Graham Rush, Megan Stone, Lucy Clarke & Matt Wood (University of Gloucestershire). Semi-automated counts of breeding gulls 1h 18min 30s: Alex Banks & Alex Kilcoyne (Natural England). The use of UAVs to count inland breeding Lesser Black-backed Gulls in the Forest of Bowland 1h 33min 45s: Andy Webb (HiDef Aerial Surveying) Census of nesting common gulls in Aberdeenshire 1h 43min 50s: Kyle Elliot (McGill University). The use of UAV’s to count cliff-nesting seabirds in North America Recordings of presentations: Part 1: https://youtu.be/RmkBt4MLYdY Part 2: https://youtu.be/pbVB0_PiMvE (last 7 minutes of Kyle Elliot's presentation) A Seabirder's Guide to UAVs (Norm Ratcliffe, 25 mins) https://youtu.be/FEx0fcCKszM