Flebocollect
from 01/07/2022 until 30/09/2023
Flebocollect is a citizen science project for educational and scietific purposes.
The Flebocollect science dissemination project is structured through a didactic sequence aimed at disseminating the consequences of the alteration of ecosystems in the emergence of diseases, using leishmaniasis as an example. Through this didactic sequence, designed by experts in didactics of experimental science and researchers in leishmaniasis, Flebocollect will bring science, technology and research activity closer to secondary and high school students and the general public through an experience in which they will have to put into play the skills and knowledge of scientists. These educational objectives are complemented by the scientific objectives of the project, which focus on mapping the abundance and distribution of sand flies in the Community of Madrid. During the 2022-2023 academic year, 800 students from 5th grade of primary school to 2nd year of high school have collaboratively built more than 200 traps in 12 schools in the Community of Madrid. On the other hand, almost 400 students from 8 schools outside the Community of Madrid have also built their own traps, more than 100. Moreover, in the III Festival of the Environment and Solidarity that was held on 11 June 2023 at the National Museum of Natural Sciences in Madrid, 26 traps were donated to citizens interested in participating. Therefore we have more than 300 active traps, and the data of the captures are already being registered in the flebocollect web application (www.flebocollect.com/user), and the experts are currently validating them. By the end of 2023, it is expected that these data will contribute to the development of maps of phlebotomine sandfly distribution, and therefore of leishmaniasis risk.
Aim
Educational approach based on the study of emerging diseases such as leishmaniasis, which combines STEM and citizen science. The scientific objective of Flebocollect is to contribute to the development of phlebotomine sand fly distribution maps based on data collected by citizen scientists and validated by experts.
Needed equipment
To participate, you have to order a DIY phlebocollect light trap or build one with instructions. The DIY trap is to be placed outside, during the night and has to be plugged in. The ideal environment is outdoors, in a low house with a garden.
Created June 23, 2023, 11:43 a.m.
Updated Oct. 5, 2023, 3:35 p.m.