iPhone field experience
Runs, observation points, capture guidance, quality checks, notes, quick review, and offline-first records support repeat visits.
Currently seeking funding & partners
Help build the next chapter
of environmental evidence.
Environmental Change Intelligence (ECI) has a working research foundation. We are seeking funding to bring it into partner-led field pilots, independently evaluate its usefulness, and develop the workflows organizations need.
The next milestone is real field evidence: repeat observations, qualified human review, and transparent evaluation across sites and seasons.
A foundation to build oniPhone field capture and iPad reviewMac investigation and local research toolsPlace histories and auditable human reviewA working experimental platform. Environmental effectiveness still requires independent field validation.
Why this work matters
A photograph is a moment. A consistent record can reveal a history.
Disconnected photographs and inconsistent viewpoints make environmental change difficult to investigate. ECI connects repeat capture, site history, analytical results, and human verification so organizations can build an evidence base they can revisit and inspect.
Our funding preparation includes a consolidated grant handoff, a technical research summary, an evaluation plan, and documented results and limitations. The priorities below draw on that work.
What has already been developed
From field capture to research investigation
iPad field review
Review coverage, missing observations, quality warnings, image relationships, findings, labels, and notes.
Mac research workspace
Inspect sites, visits, captures, datasets, experiments, models, and reports, with read-only inspection of imported intelligence.
Local analysis tools
The research pipeline supports image registration, pixel and structural comparison, learned representations, temporal trajectories, and point-local baselines.
Traceable evidence
Historical retrieval, clustering, versioned exports, explicit unknown states, and append-only human review preserve the relationship between observations and interpretations.
Browser demonstrations
Explore local before/after comparison, simulated return-to-viewpoint guidance, and a synthetic change timeline.
Try the three demonstrationsWhat the current evidence establishes
The documented software validation passed 149 Python tests and 30 Swift unit tests, plus builds for Mac, iPhone, and iPad. These results establish tested software behavior.
A controlled study used 90 synthetic images across 15 observation points. The local baseline did not outperform the global comparison on the five held-out test cases. Independent field evaluation is still needed to determine usefulness, generalization, and failure modes.
What funding would enable
Turn the research foundation into a carefully evaluated field program.
Partner-led field pilots
Select a focused use case, secure site access, establish permanent observation points, and collect repeat visits across seasons and conditions.
Independent review
Support qualified reviewers, ground-truth collection, adjudication, and data-quality controls that preserve uncertainty.
Prospective evaluation
Compare classical and learned methods using predefined evaluation plans, frozen thresholds, and held-out sites and time periods.
Operational development
Advance deployment, permissions, synchronization, reporting, accessibility, and workflows shaped by field partners.
Responsible data stewardship
Develop privacy, retention, access, provenance, site-permission, and governance practices with participating organizations.
Useful, shared outcomes
Produce partner reports, reusable observation protocols, documented failure analysis, and transparent research findings.
What success would look like
Concrete outputs for the next stage
- A repeat-observation pilotDocumented sites and a quality-controlled, human-reviewed longitudinal dataset.
- Independent evidenceEstimates of usefulness and limitations across real field conditions.
- A practical path to deploymentTested field protocols, partner reporting, and a product plan grounded in pilot findings.
Longer-term possibilities
Grow from what the field teaches us.
If the pilots demonstrate value, future support could expand the observation network, strengthen models with reviewed data, and bring longitudinal reporting to more partner organizations.
Candidate applications include water and shorelines, vegetation and habitat, erosion, drainage and infrastructure, restoration, and community observation. These are potential uses to evaluate with partners.
The funding amount, duration, staffing, and milestones would be defined around the selected pilot and funding program.
Funding & Get Involved
Help shape the next stage of ECI.
We welcome conversations with funders, grant collaborators, field partners, and researchers who can help turn repeat observation into useful environmental evidence.
Fund or sponsor the work
Support a field pilot, independent validation, or operational development. Help match the project to a grant or research funding program.
Bring a field use case
Help define a decision, identify suitable observation sites, and shape repeat visits around conservation, restoration, water, or other monitoring needs.
Contribute expertise
Collaborate on scientific review, evaluation design, data stewardship, accessible workflows, or grant development.
Email herb.trevathan@icloud.com to discuss support, a field pilot, or research collaboration.
Start with a focused pilot
A useful starting point is one use case, the decision it should support, a potential site or partner, and the kind of funding or expertise available. Together, these define a realistic work plan and budget.
A funding overview, technical summary, evaluation plan, and documented development history have already been prepared to support these discussions.