go out as something of a tech whizz might not seem like the most unmediated route towards working with polar bears , but forPolar Bears International ’s Director of Field Operations , BJ Kirschhoffer , a puerility spent tinkering with turn in share set him up nicely for a life of filming one of Earth ’s most charismatic species .
Working in a team , Kirschhoffer use his insight to defeat the complexness of establishing and conserve live camera feeds ( in association withExplore.org ) right out in the sticks face weather cold enough to take a few finger’s breadth . Fortunately , as he tells us here , he ’s handle to keep all his finger’s breadth and toes – but the perils of shape with irregular electronics , weather , andpolar bearsdon’t terminate there .
How did you come to work at Polar Bears International ?
For sure , my path has been wandering – I do n’t consider I would have ever guessed that I would be work with polar bear . My grandfather and my uncle were electrical engineers , so as a minor they would often give me motor , transformers , and retired calculator . I ’d make for around with those and finally arrange up some early networks at the theater .
Unbeknownst to me , these would be some of the most important things that I would con and use later on in my career . A lot of what I work with is circuits , networking , and computer to make all the equipment to do our research study . So , here we are , some 30 years subsequently I ’m still tinkering with things , but a foresightful way from a ironware store – you know , up in the Arctic .
I went to Montana State University and contemplate picture taking , which gave me a little background in cameras and understanding the physics of how they mold , building composition , and I worked for a wildlife lensman during my time there . He spread out me up to the humankind of preservation as well as wildlife photography . After my time as a student came to an last , he tell " I ’ve got some folk at Polar Bears International that I cerebrate you should meet , " and that ’s how I came here .
What kind of equipment do you make for with ?
I number on board to Polar Bears International at a time when we were contracting with an extraneous guy that had build his own camera from scratch . They were fairly complex , multiple unlike pieces put together , all kind of sitting out in the landscape painting and maybe not weatherized as well as it could be . These were other cooking pan tilt zoom cameras that just output a video signal , and then he had a kind of a introductory video encoder that would pack together the video .
So , I came on and helped make that hooey work through wireless cyberspace , shoot signaling long distances over undetermined tundra . There are no outlets obviously , so we have to make our own power , and I helped to keep that poppycock online . What we ’re doing now is design a flock of our own scheme to do our own research and then process heavily with Explore.org to set up their equipment too , which think we stream these cool alive cameras all over the creation .
What insights have these live cameras deliver ?
The Arctic is a very remote place , so it ’s harder to get people connected with it . I think most hoi polloi have hear of polar bear , but really witnessing everything that make a opposite bear a polar bear is more difficult . This is an fauna that really is tied to the sea internal-combustion engine , without which you wo n’t have polar bears . Building that connective is a freehanded step , and the live cam can aid do that by bringing people into the environs . We ’ve got audio , we ’ve have video , and people can tune up in at their leisure time to see what it ’s really like out there .
We ’ve learn really neat thing . Polar bears are large , bright beast – but when there ’s human around , you ’re influencing their behavior . When you remove yourself and you put a camera out there , we see all kinds of goofy stuff .
Some of their behaviour almost bet like dogs toy . They discover something on the beach , they ’re going to toss it around and play with it , maybe roll on it . One of the scientists we put to work with describes polar bears as being like prominent dogs with little tails .
So , I think it ’s both a keen way to promote conservation , by get people to fall in dear with this place , but it ’s also just a decent way to lease multitude enjoy nature . It gives them a chance to chequer out another place on this planet that peradventure they do n’t have the resources to go visit .
What are some of the less glamorous view to your job ?
There ’s a band of mosquitoes in the Arctic , and the good time to run on these television camera is the summertime because then you ’re not upset about losing your fingers to the cold , but the bugs are unlikely . It ’s telling , the number of mosquito , black flies , and all these other things that I do n’t even know what they ’re called . They fly around and endeavor to bite you . We have to wear gloves and pucker our pants into our socks so that they ca n’t crawl up , and it ’s getting pretty blistering at that decimal point .
What ’s are some of your proudest accomplishment ?
When we first started , there was no cellular telephone earphone service . Now there is , but there ’s not enough cubicle phone web bandwidth to stream what we well out . So , we had to create our gargantuan wireless mesh to be able to put a teem television camera on the bottom of a sauceboat and put it out in the Arctic and let it stream 24 time of day a Clarence Shepard Day Jr. .
We ’ve got these home - built camera we ’re making on Raspberry Pi computers and we put them out in the springtime on frigid bear den , and anytime we can get a polar bear behavior on one of these it is a huge accomplishment .
It takes three organization a year of planning using dwelling house - built cameras that can withstand the Arctic , but when all of these things come together and you see that polar bear effigy on the screen , it is truly rewarding .
Any memorable trip-up or hairy moments ?
The Arctic ’s a dangerous place to be and I think the elements are always something that ’s on your mind . You ’ve got to verify you ’re prepared because thing happen fast , and changes bump quickly . I fortunately still have all my fingers and toe , so I see that as a big skill .
Whenever you get your head down doing piece of work , someone else is always looking at the horizon to see what ’s coming over the next bend , to protect against any variety of bear approach or anything like that .
Of course , there have been incidents . I slid down a mountainside last year in Svalbard accidentally . fortuitously , I was able to stop myself but that was a piddling morsel hirsute .
If someone ’s into technical school and desire to move into conservation , what would you recommend they do ?
First of all , I would say to translate a tidy sum . There are tons of resources out there on the vane , mountain of masses pitching on the tech side , and if you see a researcher turn on something that interests you , or you see a grouping that ’s doing something coolheaded , just e-mail them .
second , if you do n’t have the skill set yet for a specific task , the University of YouTube is a fairly brawny affair . Just about anything you want to learn is out there on the internet . Or you may go to formal training , learn to be a programmer , that kind of thing .
I believe stay peculiar and continuing to tinker is so important , and once you do get in mired with some group you ’ve get to arrive early and ride out late . Just work your butt off and mass will find fault up on that and you ’ll be asked to do more and more .
you may take a look at some of Polar Bears International and Explore.org’spolar bear live camerashere .
