FARMINGTON — Invasive aquatic plants are an escalating problem in Maine, one that University of Maine at Farmington senior and computer science major Christopher Bond of Gardiner wants to help prevent.

Bond has created a free app, or specialized software program to use with a mobile device, that will help people identify invasive aquatic plant species in Maine. They can also report them to a Maine organization whose mission is to keep a watchful eye on the health of Maine lakes.

As a junior at UMF, Bond joined a core group of faculty researchers and student interns working on a National Science Foundation Grant project to protect Maine’s natural resources and help advance economic development in the Rangeley Lakes region.

The five-year grant “has brought together a number of community leaders, educators and student interns, like Chris, who are all focused on helping the Rangeley region sustain its economy with sound environmental practices,” said Christopher Bennett, UMF assistant professor of computer science and Bond’s faculty adviser. “Chris’s project is a great example of how today’s technology can help us do that.”

Bond’s invasive aquatic plant app features 11 of the most frequently encountered invasive aquatic plants in Maine. With a series of questions and high quality graphics, the app helps the viewer identify the suspected intruders. Once identified, the viewer can attach a photo of the plant and the GPS coordinates of its location to an email that is then sent to the Maine Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program that helps protect Maine lakes.

“Working as an intern with the NSF Grant project has been a great professional experience,” Bond said. “UMF’s computer science program really prepared me for the kind of hands-on work a research project like this requires. It’s very rewarding to know the results of my internship could help in the fight to keep Maine waterways free from invasive plants.”

Bond has published the invasive aquatic plant app on the Android app store, where it is downloadable for free. He is also currently working on “Angler,” an app that helps Rangeley area fishermen comply with current laws and prevent overfishing, and a stewardship app that provides self-guided tours and folklore of the Rangeley area.

The grant is in the fourth year of UMF’s five-year study to understand how good sustainability practices in the region work to help protect and sustain its broad outdoor-based tourism economy. It’s a partnership with The Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust and the Rangeley Lakes Region Logging Museum, community advisers, area educators and high school students

Copy the Story Link