The Variety Hour: 2026 Lineup

Tedious lecture? No thanks. Dull workshop? Absolutely not. The WILDLABS Variety Hour is an opportunity to share projects, ask questions, get answers, meet collaborators, make friends, have enlightening conversations, and engage with the conservation tech community in a new way.

The best part? With every Variety Hour having a different panel of guest speakers, you can never predict what you'll learn or who you'll meet! You might catch a speed talk from a community member working halfway around the world, learn from a leading conservation tech expert, discover a new tool, test your wildlife trivia skills, or find a new opportunity. Maybe you'll even do all of the above!

Joining Variety Hour means coming together with other folks passionate about conservation tech. The energy and excitement of sharing this space create the perfect conditions for great ideas and discussions to ignite.

By the time you leave, you'll not only have learned something new but also feel empowered knowing you're part of a global community making an impact worldwide.

The 2026 Variety Hour schedule

Keep the last Wednesday of the month free for The Variety Hour! We'll keep this list updated as registration goes live. You'll also find all upcoming events in our Events Calendar.

January 28: Featuring talks from Julianna Faria on Indigenous knowledge, pollinators, and nature rights, Mark Leone on connecting engineering students with conservation researchers, Laurent Bacque ons mart herding collars, and Dan Morris on the importance of conservationists practicing coding and building things regularly. Recording available!
March 25: Featuring talks from Izabela Stachowicz on a scalable open-source camera trap system, Lucia De La Huerta on tracking the migratory routes of bats using miniaturised GPS, Matthew Duggan on developing accessible marine acoustic recording devices, as well as Francesca Cagnacci and Peter Desmet on new GBIF hosted portals for movement and camera trap data. Recording available!
April 26: Featuring talks from Julien Rachiele-Tremblay on a drone-deployed systems for high-resolution rainforest canopy monitoring, Kinley Ragan on real-time acoustic detection of species and threats using solar-powered mesh networks, Ruthmery Pillco Huarcaya on using GPS and camera collars for Andean bear conservation, and Emily Dorne on best practices for training custom AI models for species classification. Recording coming soon!
May 27: Featuring talks from Moshe Michelashvili on translating ocean soundscapes into conservation action, Barney Stannah on aerial wildlife monitoring using AI and drones, William Rees on scaling bat roost surveys with AI-assisted video review, and Martin Sommerschuh on AI-powered Insights through Global Nature Watch. Recording coming soon!
June 24: Featuring talks from Aden Ip on portable eDNA sequencing for rapid species identification in the field, Matt Pickett on AI-enabled UAS for sea turtle rescue, Alasdair Davies on affordable wildlife telemetry solutions, and Kalindi Fonda on collaborative machine learning systems for marine protected area reporting. Register to join!

Do you want to speak at an upcoming Variety Hour Show? Email [email protected] with a short outline of what you'd like to present and we'll see if it's a fit for one of our upcoming events.

Catch up on past episodes:

All episodes are available on our YouTube channel!

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Wildlabs.net : The conservation technology network

Wildlabs.net : The conservation technology network

article / 1 May 2026