Mappler Tutorial - New Jersey Audubon Society

NJA Harbor Heron Surveys: 

using a MapplerK App to 

submit observations 

Introduction by Eden Buenaventura, 

Other contributors: Carolyn Paul, Brandon Rogers, and Emilia Topp 

Developed with support from: Rick Lathrop, Nellie Tsipoura 

Commons.wikimedia.org

Project Goals 

• To determine the abundance and distribution of 

“Harbor Herons” by recording amateur bird watcher 

observations 

• To determine the overall health of the species and 

environment 


Project Goals 

• While citizen scientists have been 

submitting rigorous data using standard 

survey methodologies since 2008, we would 

like to include observations from birders 

who happen to see Harbor Herons 

anywhere, anytime 


The Project 

• Observations of the following species can be entered 

– Great Egret (Ardea alba) 

– Snowy Egret (Egretta thula) 

– Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) 

– Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) 

– Yellow-crowned Night Heron (Nyctanassa violacea) 

– Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus) 

– Green Heron (Butorides virescens) 

– Tricolored Heron (Egretta tricolor) 

Flickr user Mike’s Birds 

Public Domain

Data and Variables 

• Species 

• Name of User 

• Affiliation 

– NJ Audubon 

Society 

– Citizen Science 

(General Public) 

• Site 

• Count (of each 

species) 

• Weather 

• Temperature (F) 

• Picture 

• Optional: Low tide 

• Optional: Minutes to 

Low Tide 

• 



• There are also 

categories that will 

be recorded 

automatically: 

• ID # 

• Date 

• Time 

• Longitude/Latitude 



• Site information: 

– Can be entered 

automatically 

– Latitude and 

longitude 

– Can be entered as 

specific site 

– Pull down menu 

Please make sure that if you use specific site 

it matches the lat/long of the site, not where 

you are entering the data 


Mappler Application 

• To be used by Citizen Science and NJ/NY 

Audubon 

– Drop down selections facilitate accurate collection of data 

– Optional fields allow contributions from various levels of 

knowledge. 

– Automatic collection of date, time, ID number, and location 

– Mobile ready application 

– Photos can be included 

– Capacity for 5000+ observations

Mappler Tutorial 

Citizen Science Program 

New Jersey Audubon 

Tutorial by Eden 

Buenaventura

To begin using Mappler you must first 

download the Mappler application. 

To do this, click on the App Store on your 

Apple iPhone.

Now click on the search button and type in 

“mappler”.

The search should yield an app named 

MapplerK as the first result. Click on the 

Install button to download the app. Once it 

installs, open the app.

To log-in, select the “Each” option and use 

the ID “birds” and password “mappler”. Hit 

OK when asked to use your location.

You will see a brief tutorial screen that 

explains how to navigate through the app. 

Click the X at the bottom right to close this.

If you would like to get back to the tutorial 

for help with the application, you can click 

the button in the top left hand corner and 

click on the Tutorial option. This menu also 

features the button to log out of your 

project. Click on your project under View 

Map to go back to it.

Now you should see a main screen that 

shows the data points for the project that 

have already been entered. At the beginning 

of the season, there might be few points 

listed, but they will accumulate throughout 

the season.

If you click on a specific point you can see a 

pop-up window that shows all of the 

information about that particular data 

entry.

Using the Category button you can choose 

which types of points you would like to see 

on the map. Put a checkmark in the box for 

those that you want to be visible.

The map layout can be changed to show 

other types of imagery by clicking the Map 

drop down button. By unchecking the Labels 

box, you can remove the text from on screen.

By clicking the arrow in the bottom left 

corner, the app will take you to your current 

location.

If you click and drag the little man icon in 

the top left corner, the roads become 

highlighted in blue. Dragging him to a blue 

road lets you then see the street view of that 

area and navigate through the streets to 

find a particular location by using the 

directional arrows.

The address where you are in street view is 

visible at the top of the app. If you click and 

hold it, it becomes highlighted and you can 

copy it, should you need to use that address 

somewhere.

To get back to the main map view, click on 

the circular arrow button.

To add a point, simply click on the plus sign 

on the top right corner of the screen. This 

will take you to a screen that shows the 

coordinates of your current location. If you 

would like to move the point to a different 

location, click and hold where you want the 

point to go, and the pin will be moved to that 

area.

You can toggle between the map view and 

the aerial photography view by using the two 

buttons in the bottom right corner.

By clicking the GPS coordinate button in the 

top left, you can get a view of your location 

that rotates as you do, so you can orient 

yourself spatially. To go back to a fixed 

orientation, click the new raindrop button 

that appears under the GPS button.

Once your point is established, click the 

right arrow at the top right of the screen to 

move on to the next step in making a new 

point. You will see a screen that looks like 

this 

Just as shown, you can either take a picture 

where you are or upload a photo that was 

previously saved to your phone. 

However, adding photos is optional, and can 

be skipped simply by clicking the arrow 

button on the top right again.

If you choose to take a picture, you will get a 

screen like this 

By clicking the button in the top left, you can 

toggle between the flash being on, off, or on 

automatic. 

If you have an iPhone 4 or later, the button 

on the top right allows you to change 

between the front and back cameras on your 

iPhone. 

Then you can click the camera button on the 

bottom of the screen to take the picture. 

Alternatively, you can also take pictures 

using the top volume button on the side of 

your phone.

Once the picture is secured, you can either 

choose to use the picture or retake it.

After you click Use, the app will take you to 

a screen where all of the pictures you have 

taken in the app are located. Choose the one 

you want to use and you can then enter all of 

the data that will be saved at that point 

location.

For drop down menus, click on the down 

arrow and then your selection.

When you have entered all of the 

information for your data point, click 

Submit.

Now you will see a screen like the following: 

Congratulations! You have now successfully 

navigated Mappler. 

If you should have any problems with the 

app closing out suddenly, either reopen the 

app, close the app out and reboot it, or delete 

and reinstall the app if it will not work 

properly.

Acknowledgements 

This project was brought to you in 

conjunction with the New Jersey Audubon, 

New York City Audubon, and New Jersey 

Division of Fish and Wildlife and the 

Rutgers Advanced Geomatics class. 

Mappler application and rights licensed to 

Dr. Wansoo Im. Learn more about the 

program at www.mappler.net 

For more information or 

question about the Harbor 

Heron Project, please contact 

Laura Stern at 

citizen.science@njaudubon.org 

Michael Allen at 

michael.allen@njaudubon.org 

Nellie Tsipoura at 

nellie.tsipoura@njaudubon.org 

Tutorial created by Eden Buenaventura 

For additional assistance or troubleshooting 

with the app, in relation to this project, 

please contact Eden Buenaventura at 

edenxb@gmail.com

Questions?

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