With the help of a mobile application developed in part by a computer science professor at this university, science enthusiasts ranging from botanists working in the field to students studying biology now have the ability to identify some specific trees through photos of their leaves.

This free download, developed by university professor David Jacobs in collaboration with researchers from Columbia University and the Smithsonian Institute, serves as an electronic field guide for iPhone users and was officially released last week. Through visual recognition software, the app allows users to take a picture of a tree’s leaf and compare its shape to nearly 8,000 samples archived in an electronic database.

“Our idea is images are very powerful and are more helpful than things like research books,” Jacobs said. “Hopefully, we have provided a different, easier way to identify trees. I know there’s a lot of traditional field guides to take into woods with descriptions of trees. It’s difficult to use. It’s hard to identify species from a book.”

Jacobs said he and his colleagues began experimenting with facial recognition software to create a computer program about seven years ago but decided to develop a mobile app when iPhones became popular in recent years. With the help of about 50 researchers, volunteers and the non-profit organization Finding Species — which seeks to preserve endangered habitats and conserve biodiversity — Jacobs and his team ventured into the outdoors with cameras, taking anywhere from 20 to 30 pictures of each tree to ensure the database is as diverse as possible.

In 2003, Jacobs and his team received a grant from the National Science Foundation of more than $2 million for a variety of research projects at this university, Columbia and the Smithsonian. But as the grant’s funds ran out, Jacobs said he has relied heavily on volunteer work over the last two years to keep the project going.

Computer science graduate student Arjit Biswas is one of those volunteers and said he doesn’t plan on quitting any time soon — he wants to keep making the app more user-friendly.

“I have been working on this project for the past one-and-a-half years,” Biswas said. “It’s been a wonderful experience. Students from biology can use this application to look up species. You don’t need a book anymore.”

Jacobs and his researchers said they have high hopes their application will be widely used — so far, more than 25,000 users have downloaded the app.

“Hopefully, students will be able to use it to help them if they are interested in getting to know the environment around them,” Jacobs said. “It can also be used as a tool in classes in botany and horticulture departments, like in a class where students identify plant species.”

Students such as junior geography major Sam Sless said the ycan see how such an app could be applied in the classroom.

“We had a lab where we had to go into the woods and be able to tell what trees were from their leaves,” he said. “It’s exactly what the app does.”

And some other students said they even could see a use for the program in day-to-day life.

“The other day, we were playing football and [the ball] hit a plant,” junior letters and sciences major Aaron Simon said. “I thought it was poison ivy, but … we could’ve used the app to know for sure.”

romas at umdbk dot com