With new technologies revolutionizing data collection, wildlife researchers are becoming increasingly able to collect data at much higher volumes than ever before. Now we are facing the challenges of putting this information to use, bringing the science of big data into the conservation arena. With the help of machine learning tools, this area holds immense potential for conservation practices. The applications range from online trafficking alerts to species-specific early warning systems to efficient movement and biodiversity monitoring and beyond.
However, the process of building effective machine learning tools depends upon large amounts of standardized training data, and conservationists currently lack an established system for standardization. How to best develop such a system and incentivize data sharing are questions at the forefront of this work. There are currently multiple AI-based conservation initiatives, including Wildlife Insights and WildBook, that are pioneering applications on this front.
This group is the perfect place to ask all your AI-related questions, no matter your skill level or previous familiarity! You'll find resources, meet other members with similar questions and experts who can answer them, and engage in exciting collaborative opportunities together.
Just getting started with AI in conservation? Check out our introduction tutorial, How Do I Train My First Machine Learning Model? with Daniel Situnayake, and our Virtual Meetup on Big Data. If you're coming from the more technical side of AI/ML, Sara Beery runs an AI for Conservation slack channel that might be of interest. Message her for an invite.
Header Image: Dr Claire Burke / @CBurkeSci
Explore the Basics: AI
Understanding the possibilities for incorporating new technology into your work can feel overwhelming. With so many tools available, so many resources to keep up with, and so many innovative projects happening around the world and in our community, it's easy to lose sight of how and why these new technologies matter, and how they can be practically applied to your projects.
Machine learning has huge potential in conservation tech, and its applications are growing every day! But the tradeoff of that potential is a big learning curve - or so it seems to those starting out with this powerful tool!
To help you explore the potential of AI (and prepare for some of our upcoming AI-themed events!), we've compiled simple, key resources, conversations, and videos to highlight the possibilities:
Three Resources for Beginners:
- Everything I know about Machine Learning and Camera Traps, Dan Morris | Resource library, camera traps, machine learning
- Using Computer Vision to Protect Endangered Species, Kasim Rafiq | Machine learning, data analysis, big cats
- Resource: WildID | WildID
Three Forum Threads for Beginners:
- I made an open-source tool to help you sort camera trap images | Petar Gyurov, Camera Traps
- Batch / Automated Cloud Processing | Chris Nicolas, Acoustic Monitoring
- Looking for help with camera trapping for Jaguars: Software for species ID and database building | Carmina Gutierrez, AI for Conservation
Three Tutorials for Beginners:
- How do I get started using machine learning for my camera traps? | Sara Beery, Tech Tutors
- How do I train my first machine learning model? | Daniel Situnayake, Tech Tutors
- Big Data in Conservation | Dave Thau, Dan Morris, Sarah Davidson, Virtual Meetups
Want to know more about AI, or have your specific machine learning questions answered by experts in the WILDLABS community? Make sure you join the conversation in our AI for Conservation group!
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- @ptynecki
- | Piotr
Software Engineer with 10+ years of experience in application design, development, testing and deployment. Highly experienced in Health Care, Life Science and BigData projects. Artificial Intelligence researcher (NLP, Computer Vision) with experience in Wildlife Conservation.
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- @tkswanson
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San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance
Research Coordinator II for the Conservation Technology Lab at SDZWA
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San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance
Wildlife ecologist with a passtion for conseration technology.
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Artificial Intelligence and Environmental Science Researcher
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PhD Candidate at University College London. Research and develop wireless sensor networks for biodiversity monitoring. Currently working on a software package for AI bioacoustics classifiers on edge device.
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Saint Louis Zoo
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- @AliceFrontiers
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- @MattyD797
- | He/Him
PhD Student | Cornell University | Smithsonian Institution; My focus is in computational ecology within fishery acoustics
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Sea Mammal Research Unit Univ' St Andrews
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- @Namukuru
- | Her/ she
I am an Environmentalist with a background in Data Science. I envision a world where development is founded upon sustainability. I believe in executing projects that leverage innovation to enhance the well-being of the environment, the people, and the economy; simultaneously.
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Article
An update on Ceres Tags products that are being used in conservation
22 August 2022
Careers
Job opening at ARISE, an innovative program in the Netherlands to build a digital infrastructure for biodiversity data and services
19 August 2022
Are you creative, love new challenges and have experience developing software? The Wildlife Insights team is hiring! Join a diverse team of ecologists, data scientists, engineers and machine learning experts to protect...
10 August 2022
The Marine Robotics and Remote Sensing (MaRRS) Lab at Duke University seeks a highly motivated UAS pilot and geospatial analyst to support the ongoing development of new and existing research and conservation programs,...
10 August 2022
The Marine Robotics and Remote Sensing (MaRRS) Lab at Duke University seeks a highly motivated postdoctoral researcher to support the ongoing development of new and existing research and conservation programs, both...
10 August 2022
Press Release for International Tiger Day – July 29th, 2022: For the first time ever, wild tigers and their prey have been detected by AI-powered, cryptic cameras that transmit the images to the cell phones and...
5 August 2022
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A gentle introduction to the exciting field of embedded machine learning.
5 August 2022
Article
Ceres Tag sends just in time alerts and GPS location to have the power to track and trace.
22 July 2022
The Earth Species Project (ESP) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to decoding animal communication and translating non-human language.
15 July 2022
This WhaleSeeker article discusses how reliable distribution data depends on accurate labelling from survey images, and how AI can improve this process.
13 July 2022
The Pl@ntNet team is looking for a data scientist with strong skills in python and pytorch development. Pl@ntNet is a citizen observatory of plant biodiversity & research platform at the crossroads of data science,...
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Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
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@dmorris joined Variety Hour to give us 'a bunch of lightning talks inside a lightning talk'. Check out the recording to get a whirlwind... |
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AI for Conservation, Drones, Remote Sensing & GIS | 5 months 3 weeks ago | |
Also, take a look at TrapTagger. It has integration with WildMe. |
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AI for Conservation, Camera Traps | 5 months 3 weeks ago | |
Hello Sam,What would you say would be the estimate cost was for the first version Instant Detect 1.0 ? That might help my research ? |
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AI for Conservation, Camera Traps, Human-Wildlife Conflict, Sensors | 6 months 2 weeks ago | |
We are writing a methodology to measure Biodiversity density in habitats.Examining lots of different options but very keen to hear from... |
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AI for Conservation | 6 months 3 weeks ago | |
Hi @GermanFore ,I work with the BearID Project on individual identification of brown bears from faces. More recently we worked on face detection across all bear species and ran... |
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AI for Conservation, Camera Traps, Data management and processing tools, Software and Mobile Apps | 7 months ago | |
Hey Wildlabbers! Is anyone planning to go to the Academic Data Science Alliance (ADSA) annual meeting next week in San Antonio? I'll be... |
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AI for Conservation, Community Base | 7 months 3 weeks ago | |
This is super cool! Me and @Hubertszcz and @briannajohns and several others are all working towards some big biodiversity monitoring projects for a large conservation project here... |
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AI for Conservation, Autonomous Camera Traps for Insects, Camera Traps | 8 months 2 weeks ago | |
Hello! If you were interested in the DSAIL Tech4Wildlife Workshop last week exploring how AI can be used to aid conservation efforts, you... |
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AI for Conservation, Conservation Tech Training and Education | 8 months 2 weeks ago | |
Very helpful, thank you. One more thing, are there any broad skills that apply to all areas of conservation tech that may be helpful to learn/improve, e.g data analysis? |
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AI for Conservation, Conservation Tech Training and Education, Early Career | 9 months ago | |
Hi everyone! We were so delighted to have Adrien along to our June Variety Hour to share more about the Nocturnal Bird Migration project. If you missed it, you can catch up with... |
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AI for Conservation | 10 months 3 weeks ago | |
During Andrew's talk in our June Variety hour (see here), @dmorris put out a call in the chat that might be relevant to our marine and ai... |
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AI for Conservation, Marine Conservation | 10 months 3 weeks ago | |
During Andrew's talk, @dmorris put out a call in the chat that might be relevant to folks catching up on the video, so I'll drop it here too: Re: Andrew's fish work... part... |
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AI for Conservation, Camera Traps, Drones, Marine Conservation | 10 months 3 weeks ago |
AI + Environment Summit
26 October 2023 11:15am
Entomological Research Specialist for Automated Insect Monitoring
25 October 2023 7:21pm
Lead Data Engineer - Climate Solutions, Open Earth
25 October 2023 11:07am
Automated moth monitoring & you!
24 October 2023 8:52am
Biodiversity modelling in the AI era
23 October 2023 12:03pm
Soundscapes and deep learning enable tracking biodiversity recovery in tropical forests
20 October 2023 3:38pm
New paper in Nature Communications from Jörg Müller et al. using BAR-LT recorders and CNNs to track biodiversity recovery. Study shows that #soundscapes 🎙🎶 and deep learning are powerful tools for tracking biodiversity recovery in tropical forests
ZSL Research Fellow (x3 roles)
20 October 2023 3:34pm
PhD Opportunity: YELLOWHAMMER - Individual acoustic monitoring to study song culture evolutionwithin and between dialect areas
20 October 2023 12:54pm
PhD Opportunity: Distributed sound source localisation and separation for wireless microphone networks consisting of two-microphone nodes
20 October 2023 12:47pm
PhD Opportunity: 'FLOATERS' position at Bioacoustic AI Doctoral Network
20 October 2023 12:36pm
Catch up with The Variety Hour: October 2023
19 October 2023 11:59am
Anyone else attending ADSA in Texas next week?
17 October 2023 8:46pm
Practical strategies for conservationists in an increasingly digital world
9 October 2023 5:04pm
Leveraging new digital technologies for conservation impact
9 October 2023 4:39pm
AI Challenge aiming to automate the identification process of sea turtles
6 October 2023 11:38am
The current method of tagging turtles for monitoring is intrusive, time-consuming, and expensive. Find out how automated recognition software using photo and video data can enhance monitoring efficiency and assist organizations dedicated to protecting these important species.
Four Amazing Impacts of This A.I.-Powered Bird Migration Tracker | Science| Smithsonian Magazine
5 October 2023 4:26pm
Check out how BirdCast's newest advances can provide detailed flight forecasts of millions of birds!
GEO BON Monitoring Biodiversity for Action
5 October 2023 3:10pm
Mozilla Foundation, funding for nature conservation
4 October 2023 6:30pm
🚀 New Grant: 'Satellites for Biodiversity Award' Round 2
2 October 2023 1:50pm
GIS & Data Science Specialist
28 September 2023 1:32pm
Conservation Innovation Manager
27 September 2023 11:08pm
1st Wildlife Scientific Conference 2023
25 September 2023 11:10am
Geospatial Data Scientist, Varaha
25 September 2023 9:58am
Digital Disruption for Conservation Toolkit
22 September 2023 12:18pm
Made available by the Digital Disruption and the Future of Conservation project team at Unearthodox, the toolkit provides conservation practitioners with a comprehensive introduction to Web 3.0 and AI concepts and their potential use for nature conservation.
IUCN and AI2 to provide AI technology at no cost to fast-track implementation of newly signed UN High Seas Treaty
22 September 2023 9:54am
Q&A: UK NERC £3.6m AI (image) for Biodiversity Funding Call - ask your questions here
13 September 2023 4:10pm
*NEW* White Paper: Harnessing the Power of Sound & AI to track Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) Targets
20 September 2023 12:53pm
DSAIL Tech4Wildlife Workshop Tutorials Now Available!
20 September 2023 12:22pm
Mozilla Technology Fund: AI and Environmental Justice Awards
15 September 2023 12:09pm
In case you missed it... (no. 1)
12 September 2023 11:49am
13 September 2023 6:23am
21 September 2023 4:27pm
This is super cool! Me and @Hubertszcz and @briannajohns and several others are all working towards some big biodiversity monitoring projects for a large conservation project here in panama. The conservation project is happening already, but hubert starts on the ground work in January and im working on a V3 of our open source automated insect monitoring box to have ready for him by then.
I guess my main question would be if this funding call is appropriate/interested for this type of project? and what types of assistance are possible through this type of funding (researchers? design time? materials? laboratory field construction)