In an effort to enhance the learning experience at the Elbow Lake Environmental Education Centre, the Queen’s University Biological Station (QUBS) recently launched a new app. The technology is designed to provide an interactive guide to the Elbow Lake property and trails.

“We are embracing social media in a variety of ways,” says Elbow Lake director Stephen Lougheed. “We wanted to find the best means to engage visitors and technology like this helps us to achieve this. It’s a new and, we hope, an enriching way to experience Elbow Lake.”

Designed by Elbow Lake manager Carolyn Bonta and Dr. Lougheed’s 17-year-old son David, the app has many unique features. Visitors can download the app and use it to navigate to points of interest on the trails that wind through the more than 400 hectare property, or venture into wetland communities and hear the frogs that live there. Visitors can also take a variety of quizzes or link to additional resources to learn more about Elbow Lake.

The app also features videos and images of the local area, recordings of migrating birds, local history, and information about invasive and at-risk species living in the area. Photos, sound recordings, and text were contributed by QUBS staff, the Nature Conservancy of Canada, and many friends of the Education Centre.

And, according to Dr. Lougheed, that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

“We really embrace the notion of citizen science so we want to develop the app further to reflect that,” he explains. “We could use the app for something like a nature photo contest or allow people to post what they see and hear at Elbow Lake. There are myriad possibilities.”

Funding for development of the app was from the TD Friends of the Environment Foundation.

The app is now available for free download at the Google Play store, at the Amazon app store, or at the iOS app store.