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The Science

Intro to biophysical models

Experience the world like an insect basking in the sun.

Field work Field work 2 Grasshopper

INFRARED imagery

Seeing the world from a thermal perspective

IR image 1 IR image 2 IR image 4 IR image 5 IR image 6 IR image 3

Infrared imagery offers a unique opportunity to see biophysical properties in real time. We can watch organisms heat up, cool down, and generally transfer heat back and forth throughout their environment. In the TrEnCh Project, we use infrared imagery to help people see the world from a thermal perspective because we believe it’s an intuitive first step to understanding microclimate and the impacts of warming.

More about using IR cameras for education: here.
More about using IR cameras for thermal biology research: here and here.

Scroll down to learn how you can participate

Bringing infrared imagery to Instagram

As part of the project, we share infrared cameras that attach to smartphones, to encourage project members to explore the thermal conditions of their own environment. Let us know if you’d be interested in participating!

Follow us on Instagram @trenchproject for images exploring the thermal complexities of everyday life.

Guidelines for our Instagram account

We want to highlight the thermal complexities of nature. Examples include landscapes with variation in sun and shade or different types of surfaces. Animals and plants showing thermal variability or seen in thermally variable landscapes are perfect. Objects and people are okay too, if aligned with the goal of helping students and the public understand why temperatures vary and how that might influence thermal stress and sensitivity to climate change. Any style and length of caption is fine. For education purposes, it’s best to describe the thermal variation and why it occurs.

We create most of our images using an inexpensive FLIR ONE camera attached to a smart phone. The camera’s hybrid visual-IR images can facilitate interpretation over traditional IR cameras. FLIR ONEs are also easier to carry around than a traditional IR camera. However, images from any IR camera are welcome.

To have your IR image featured on our Instagram account, tag us in your photo @TrEnChProject. We welcome images that can be paired with IR images to aid interpretation.