{"662561":{"#nid":"662561","#data":{"type":"news","title":"AI-ALOE Brings AI-based Ecological Research Power To Local Technical College","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EDuring the summer, Duncan Hughes, an Environmental Technology instructor at North Georgia Technical College (NGTC) introduced his students to the web application Virtual Ecological Research Assistant, better known as\u0026nbsp;VERA. It allowed students to construct conceptual models and ecological systems, as well as run interactive model simulations on the brook trout, a species of freshwater fish.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHughes and his students sought to answer questions about reproduction and food supply, as they worked to add new complexities to the\u0026nbsp;VERA\u0026nbsp;application from different species of trout, circumstances, to changes. According to the Encyclopedia of Life (EOL), an international effort, led by the Smithsonian Institution\u0027s National Museum of Natural History, brook trout are found in three types of aquatic environments: rivers, lakes, and marine areas and their living requirements in these environments.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOriginally when we populated the brook trout, we noticed the brown trout shared the same life history and ecological information, but we were able to find enough information from the Encyclopedia of Life to differentiate those species,\u201d said Hughes. \u201cI had my students run through the process of building these components through an instructional-based format by having them manipulate some of the parameters and probabilities.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EVERA\u0026nbsp;was developed by the Design \u0026amp; Intelligence Lab at Georgia Tech in collaboration with EOL. The technology is being used by students as an assisting tool and is publicly accessible. The data being collected from their usage is part of the research conducted at the NSF AI Institute for Adult Learning and Online Education (AI-ALOE).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cUsers can jump into our program and conduct \u2018what if\u2019 experiments by adjusting simulation parameters. This is our way of providing an accessible and informal learning tool,\u201d said Ashok Goel, director and co-principal Investigator of AI-ALOE and computer science professor at Georgia Tech. \u201cUsing\u0026nbsp;VERA\u0026nbsp;as an assessment tool is excellent. These students are using\u0026nbsp;VERA\u0026nbsp;in a way we are not.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGoel was recently joined by Georgia Tech graduate researcher Andrew Hornback, research scientist Sandeep Kakar, and staff member Daniela Estrada at NGTC to learn more about the work in\u0026nbsp;VERA\u0026nbsp;and challenges Hughes and his students faced while using the application.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe main struggle is limitation with the EOL and database,\u201d said Hughes. \u201cThere are some species that we just can\u2019t find, and sometimes it is glitchy and doesn\u2019t work right away, but it is not insurmountable.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAnother challenge Hughes\u2019 students found was not being able to find what they wanted to complete certain tasks, such as stream and environmental patterns of comparative fish ecosystems.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWith that being known, AI-ALOE is working to address these issues and more to build and cater to specific student and teacher needs. At this time, the Design \u0026amp; Intelligence Laboratory is in the process of expanding\u0026nbsp;VERA\u0026nbsp;in the capability of its on-demand agent-based simulation generator, which would enable users to divide components into separate habitats.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt was very interesting to see the results because antidotally through much research we were able to set up all these relationships and let them run the model, and the results were exactly what we would have hypothesized what they would be given those perimeters,\u201d said Hughes.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe technical college has plans to introduce\u0026nbsp;VERA\u0026nbsp;to another classroom this semester held by Natural Resource Management instructor, Kevin Peyton.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbout\u0026nbsp;VERA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EInterested in trying out\u0026nbsp;VERA? Create an account at\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/vera.cc.gatech.edu\/\u0022 id=\u0022LPlnk505719\u0022 title=\u0022https:\/\/vera.cc.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/vera.cc.gatech.edu\/\u003C\/a\u003E. You can also find\u0026nbsp;VERA\u2019s user guide as well as a step-by-step tutorial at\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/epi.vera.cc.gatech.edu\/docs\/exercise\u0022 title=\u0022http:\/\/epi.vera.cc.gatech.edu\/docs\/exercise\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/epi.vera.cc.gatech.edu\/docs\/exercise\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbout AI-ALOE\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe NSF AI Institute for Adult Learning and Online Education (AI-ALOE) is developing an AI-based transformative model for online adult learning through research and data collection.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbout NGTC\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENorth Georgia Technical College is a residential, public, multi-campus institution of higher education serving the workforce development needs of Northeast Georgia and part of the Technical College System of Georgia.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EDuring the summer, Duncan Hughes, an Environmental Technology instructor at North Georgia Technical College (NGTC) introduced his students to the web application Virtual Ecological Research Assistant, better known as\u0026nbsp;VERA. It allowed students to construct conceptual models and ecological systems, as well as run interactive model simulations on the brook trout, a species of freshwater fish.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The AI-ALOE Institute offers the Georgia Tech led web application VERA to local technical college."}],"uid":"36348","created_gmt":"2022-10-25 16:33:18","changed_gmt":"2024-01-03 17:25:05","author":"Breon Martin","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2022-10-25T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2022-10-25T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"662560":{"id":"662560","type":"image","title":"Brook Trout","body":null,"created":"1666715569","gmt_created":"2022-10-25 16:32:49","changed":"1666715569","gmt_changed":"2022-10-25 16:32:49","alt":"","file":{"fid":"250899","name":"Brook trout by ryan hagerty usfws.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Brook%20trout%20by%20ryan%20hagerty%20usfws.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Brook%20trout%20by%20ryan%20hagerty%20usfws.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":117797,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Brook%20trout%20by%20ryan%20hagerty%20usfws.jpeg?itok=tbYkgVox"}},"662559":{"id":"662559","type":"image","title":"AI-ALOE visits NGTC for VERA update","body":null,"created":"1666715477","gmt_created":"2022-10-25 16:31:17","changed":"1666715477","gmt_changed":"2022-10-25 16:31:17","alt":"","file":{"fid":"250898","name":"IMG_20220920_105359869_HDR.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/IMG_20220920_105359869_HDR.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/IMG_20220920_105359869_HDR.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":128996,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/IMG_20220920_105359869_HDR.jpg?itok=YR9TpN3s"}}},"media_ids":["662560","662559"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"364801","name":"School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences (EAS)"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"1275","name":"School of Biological Sciences"},{"id":"443951","name":"School of Psychology"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"166882","name":"School of Biological Sciences"},{"id":"192258","name":"cos-data"},{"id":"192254","name":"cos-climate"},{"id":"192863","name":"go-ai"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"},{"id":"71911","name":"Earth and Environment"},{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBreon Martin\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAI Communications\u0026nbsp;Officer\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003Ebreon.martin@gatech.edu\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["breon.martin@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}