Immersive data storytelling for water quality and ecosystems

Primary supervisor

Sarah Goodwin

Co-supervisors

  • Yidan Zhang (FIT)
  • Adelaide Genay (Uni Melbourne)
  • Anna Lintern (Engineering)
  • Vanessa Echeverria (FIT)

NOTE THIS IS A SUMMER INTERNSHIP PROJECT FOR SUMMER 2024 (Nov 2024-Feb 2025). THIS IS NOT A HONOURS OR MINOR THESIS PROJECT. 

 

There may be an opportunity to work on this project as an honours/minor thesis project in S1 2025. 

This project is an exciting opportunity to work on a multidisciplinary project exploring new and immersive visual communication of complex ecosystems. You will work on this internship as part of a wider research project collaboration between human-centred computing experts and water engineer experts in engineering and chemistry. 

Background

Agriculture is a significant contributor to nitrogen and phosphorus in waterways, impacting public health and ecosystems. Understanding and communicating the complex processes governing nutrient exports from agricultural catchments—regions where water collects and drains into a common outlet—are crucial for effective management and policy development. 

In this internship project we will  be working with data already collected by water and chemical engineers from a local agricultural catchment area, here in Victoria. We will be working directly with them to help them see more from their data and present the data to stakeholders in new and more engaging manner. 

Student cohort

Single Semester

Aim/outline

In this project, you will have the opportunity to explore immersive visualisation techniques (AR/VR) and data-driven storytelling methods to improve the communication and understanding of complex water quality data and ecosystem dynamics among diverse stakeholders. As an intern on this project, you will get the opportunity to work on methodologies such as immersive data visualisation design and development, narrative-driven storytelling, participatory design, and user testing. The tasks will depend on your skills and interests for your own career development. The results of your internship will help in presenting critical environmental information in a more engaging and actionable manner, allowing stakeholders to better interpret and respond to ecosystem data.

Potential areas of focus for the internship include:

- Designing narrative data-driven storytelling for stakeholder understanding catchment nutrient and water quality;

- Developing immersive VR/AR prototypes for visualising and interacting with the data story;

- Engaging stakeholders through workshops to understand their communication needs and refine visualisations accordingly;

- Conducting user testing and feedback sessions to evaluate and enhance the effectiveness of immersive data storytelling tools;

And many more...

Required knowledge

Proficient programming skills;

Interest in design and data storytelling. 

Unity knowledge or willingness to learn quickly;

Clear verbal and written communication skills;

Ability to work in a team as well as independently;

Interest in immersive technologies, sustainability,

Environment and ecosystem.