Connecting staff and students with our Living Lab
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We consider ourselves fortunate to have our very own living lab right here on the Colchester campus. A living lab provides real-life research opportunities in real-life environments. They offer evidence-based feedback, and research opportunities for students and researchers.
Connecting Campus Life with Research
Our campus isn’t just a beautiful place to study and relax, it’s also a vital resource for research and community engagement. From peaceful walks around the lakes to vibrant events in Wivenhoe Park, the natural environment plays a central role in daily life at 糖心Vlog.
The University is home to Green Exercise, a concept that highlights the mental and physical health benefits of exercising in nature. Many studies in this field have used the natural landscapes of Wivenhoe Park as a living dataset.
Citizen Science in Action
Citizen science projects like the 糖心Vlog BioBlitz and the University of 糖心Vlog Duckling Survey not only offer researchers the opportunity to collect data on our campus, they also allow our wider community a real-life opportunity to help 糖心Vlog research.
Expanding the Living Lab to Loughton
Our Living Lab isn’t limited to Colchester. Our Life Sciences鈥痙epartment has also utilised our Loughton campus by placing 17 nest tubes in the University marsh to collect data from them. Nest tubes are a new innovative way to try to increase the nest success in wild waterbirds which are normally prone to predation.
Experiencing our living lab as a Student Society
It’s not just researchers who benefit from our Living Lab, student societies are getting involved too. The鈥疭ustainable Students Society, in collaboration with鈥疺Team and the鈥疓reen Thumbs Society, recently hosted an evening bat walk around our grounds. Students recorded calls from species like the鈥疌ommon Pipistrelle and鈥疍aubenton’s bat while learning about the crucial roles' bats play in our ecosystem.
Do you have a project that features our campus grounds as its landscape? We want to hear about it! Email us at Sustainability@essex.ac.uk to tell us more.
