Name of the project : Tracking rats in the city of Paris
Type of project : Internships
Summary:
The city of Paris and the National Museum of Natural History will look at how Norway rats (R. norvegicus) use space and move in urban areas, particularly on the surface in parks and gardens, and in underground areas, in order to meet the following objectives:
- To study environmental health issues in the city: issues related to sanitation, hygiene (regulation of rat populations, risk of the spread of epidemics, new emerging diseases, etc.);
- Studying the genetics and biology of rat populations and their pathogens, and resistance to rodenticides, on the model of the wild rat/urban ecology.
As such, and based on the existing technical feasibility study, the intern will be asked to develop the recommended solution, which consists of installing specific devices in the area in question (in a park for example) with specific devices:
- Night vision cameras, infrared barriers in high traffic areas (allowing for counting of passing rats and determining in what direction they are moving);
- RFID coil grid system, to identify and locate previously tagged rats (subcutaneous RFID chip at the rat’s neck or thigh) to provide spatialized captures that show their movements.
The work will consist of implementing the various elements for subsequent field tests (scheduled starting spring 2021), namely finalizing the infrared barrier system and developing the RFID multi-loop tracking system.
A second part of the project will be linked to field tests with partners (MNHN and the City of Paris) and the use of the data obtained (all partners).
Name of supervisor(s) : Gaëlle LISSORGUES (ESYCOM/ESIEE Paris) ; Benoït PISANU (MNHN) ; Sylvie PETIT (Ville de Paris)
Name of student(s): Ouardia TELMAT (Sorbonne Université)
Start and end of the project : 1 February 2021 - 20 July 2021
Duration : 5 and a half months