About

Digital Naturalism Laboratories (dinalab) is a new jungle prototyping studio. We have a 235m2 facility located in the Soberania Rain Forest in Panama. Our goals are to:

  • Help field biologists build their own experimental tools
  • Help designers explore new interactions with nature
  • Discover new ways of experiencing the natural world

We are also keen on documentation and open-source dissemination of all knowledge in a variety of media! So whether you are a scientist, artist, designer, hacker, or anyone excited to explore nature and technology you will find something interesting at DINALAB.

Kitty and Andy just started setting it up in February 2019, and it will only get more and more awesome! Stay tuned for more updates about current guest residency opportunities, The Digital Naturalism Conference, and how you can get involved!

Blog

Mothbox – Mothbox – Automated Field Moth Light Camera

In November 2022, I was enlisted to design an automated, low-cost moth camera with Hubert Szczygiel to help with his bio-diversity assay work with Earthshot labs reforestation projects in Panama. We then obtained a bit more funding in April 2023 from Michigan State University Professor Phoebe Zarnetske to help further design the project for use …

Floating Bat Camera Traps – Jenna Kohles

Jenna Kohles studies bats in the chagres river next to gamboa. She needs to study them and the insects that gather around certain parts of the river both acoustically and visually. We helper her design and manufacture floating camera traps that help keep the cameras oriented statically even in shifting waves of the river.