Hello all,
My name is Ben and I am PhD researcher from the UK. To outline my work very briefly, I am conducting research into the use of drones in tropical forest conservation and ecology, with a focus on the potential socio-cultural impacts that such technologies may have on different forest stakeholders. As part of this I am interviewing various drone practitioners to gain insights into how they conduct missions/research and their perspectives on how drones are perceived by such communities. So far, one of the biggest obstacles in my research has been recruiting interview participants with relevant experience. DIY drones gets referred to in a lot of academic papers as an indispensable resource for building your own research-specific drones, and it got me to thinking that it might therefore be a great platform to put out a call for participants.
I am ideally looking to interview drone users who have experience piloting drones in tropical forest landscapes, ideally with experience in Malaysia and Indonesia but not limited to those areas. Societal norms and values vary greatly so I would like to keep a tight geographical focus if possible. From a discipline standpoint, I am trying to gather information on as many different experiences and processes as possible – biological research, archaeology, social media creation, oil palm monitoring, etc – as long as there somewhat of a connection to forest conservation or monitoring. Interviews would be conducted over a video/audio chat and last between 1 and 1.5 hours. I am afraid I would be unable to compensate you for your time, other than with my gratitude and a copy of the published thesis.
If this sounds like something you might be interested in taking part in, then please DM me and I can send you a more detailed participant information sheet which outlines the research questions, the background literature and the interview process. There are also consent forms and an anonymity procedure which we can discuss further. Additionally, if you feel that a colleague, friend or organisation would fit the bill in terms of valuable insights and experience, I would greatly appreciate you letting them know or letting me know in the discussion.
Thanks in advance and hopefully speak to some of you soon,
Ben
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