Q&A Val Thomas
We chat to the founder and co-creator of TheTreeApp.
1
How did it all begin? My husband Peter and I started a publishing company called Jacana Education (now Jacana Media) about 30 years ago. Back then, I co-authored a five-book series called Sappi Tree Spotting, with my colleague Dr Rina Grant. That experience was extremely fulfilling, but left me feeling that there was still a mountain of fascinating information that was accessible to qualified botanists but not to ordinary people. The botanical language was hard to understand and South Africa has extremely diverse habitats and a large number of indigenous species. To add to the confusion, some of these species look quite different in the various habitats. For a decade I dreamt of an electronic program that could filter and deliver co-ordinated material to anyone who wanted to engage with our trees in South Africa.
2
Is the app based on existing tree guides? Yes and no. All tree data – leaf size, flower colour, height – is covered to varying degrees in other publications. The core data is the same no matter where you find your information. However, we have restyled the data into a new language that we call Plain English Plant Speak – PEP Speak for short. All the information correlates with existing data, but the material has been edited to suit our style.
3
The biggest challenge in developing the app? It took six years from start to finish and no part was without big challenges. When you include a search function in an app and you select a search criterion, you need data for that criterion in every entry. With more than 1 100 trees, it was obviously not possible to gather new data to fill in the blanks. And often the data in the books we used didn’t marry with the structure we had chosen. Filling the gaps in the existing published material was an enormous task. This was one of the reasons why it all took so long. It was also difficult to find unambiguous descriptions for identification purposes. The interpretation of colour and texture can be very subjective.
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What is your favourite feature? I still get a thrill when I use the Location Current Search. The app scans the database and shows you the relevant species within 12,5 km of your location. To achieve this using books would take months of work. I also enjoy discovering how many of the filtered trees are indigenous. Travelling in South Africa has taken on a new meaning for me!