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!
Not yet active in conservation. Finishing my data science studies and working on a theoratical foundation on ecology and conservation
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 2 Groups
NOAA Fisheries
Research Oceanographer with NOAA Fisheries in Hawaii
- 0 Resources
- 1 Discussions
- 2 Groups
Wild Me
Engineer at Wild Me, a software platform for wildlife computer vision and citizen science.
- 0 Resources
- 1 Discussions
- 1 Groups
Master student looking at monitoring biodiversity in urban green spaces
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 10 Groups
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 1 Groups
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 6 Groups
- 0 Resources
- 1 Discussions
- 4 Groups
OikoM Ltd.
Environmental Biologist with a passion for UAV, Computer Vision and Machine Learning Applications in Ecology and Conservation
- 0 Resources
- 1 Discussions
- 2 Groups
- 0 Resources
- 3 Discussions
- 1 Groups
PhD student interested in human impacts on mammals and their ecological functions in tropical forests.
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 2 Groups
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 8 Groups
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 3 Groups
We demonstrate the power of using passive acoustic monitoring & machine learning to survey species, using ruffed lemurs in southeastern Madagascar as an example.
23 January 2024
Article
new paper in Journal of Animal Ecology
17 January 2024
Do you work for a climate organization looking to multiply impact with AI? Apply for the Salesforce Accelerator - AI for Climate! This new philanthropic initiative is dedicated to supporting innovative solutions for...
16 January 2024
Two years in Cape Town, South Africa. Yearly visits to Rwanda. If you love to code, and all things Python/deep learning/tech stuff/ then you'll have an awesome time!
16 January 2024
Given the sharp increase in agricultural and infrastructure development and the paucity of widespread data available to support conservation management decisions, a more rapid and accurate tool for identifying fish...
11 January 2024
Article
An update on @Alasdair and @adanger24's HWC project
11 January 2024
The Conservation Technology Laboratory within the Population Sustainability department is seeking two fellows for summer 2024.
9 January 2024
Here are a few key insights from this year's event that we're carrying into 2024.
2 January 2024
News from a grant to explore potential projects for monitoring biodiversity in latin american countries
16 December 2023
SEE Shell is an innovative phone app that uses machine learning to identify products made from the shell of the critically endangered hawksbill sea turtle.
14 December 2023
Outstanding chance for a motivated and ambitious individual to enhance their current project support skills by engaging with a diverse array of exciting projects in the field of biodiversity science.
11 December 2023
The Wildlife Society features a new paper where TrailGuard cameras have been used with tigers
9 December 2023
June 2024
July 2024
August 2024
event
event
September 2024
event
event
October 2024
54 Products
Recently updated products
14 Products
Recently updated products
Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
---|---|---|---|---|
Hi everyone! I’m sending some information for a paid user study about Explainable AI and bird identification that may be of interest:Our... |
|
AI for Conservation, Citizen Science | 1 day 19 hours ago | |
Hi Johnathan, There is a Canadian company more or less doing that. They have their own endurance drone and optical/thermal cameras. Very much keyed into surveys and they may... |
+19
|
AI for Conservation | 2 days 22 hours ago | |
Aakash, that is a really amazing offer, we really need people capable of analyzing the radar data and used to working with signal processing I will reach out to you now. |
+18
|
AI for Conservation, Drones, Emerging Tech, Human-Wildlife Conflict, Wildlife Crime | 3 days 3 hours ago | |
I am also commenting for future notifications - very interested to hear some responses.While not directly related to AI, here in Canada there's quite a conversation around data... |
|
AI for Conservation | 1 week 3 days ago | |
Yes, this system is designed to be installed near farms. We also have the repeller system with audio & light, that is battery & solar powered. This system is a "last line... |
|
AI for Conservation | 3 weeks 1 day ago | |
Undoubted things will quickly evolve from just "straight" ChatGPTn, BARD, ClaudeAI, etc "standard" models, to more specialized Retrieval Augmentation Generation (RAG) , where... |
+42
|
AI for Conservation, Emerging Tech | 4 weeks 1 day ago | |
This is so cool! I am 1000% going to see if they want to come talk about it at Variety Hou! |
|
AI for Conservation, Citizen Science | 4 weeks 2 days ago | |
Hi Sol,If the maximum depth is 30m, it would be worth experimenting with HydroMoth in this application especially if the deployment time is short. As Matt says, the air-filed case... |
|
Acoustics, AI for Conservation, Data management and processing tools, Emerging Tech, Sustainable Fishing Challenges | 1 month ago | |
Online citizen science platforms like iNaturalist and Macaulay Library contain a wealth of images but are hard to search using text. We are... |
|
AI for Conservation, Citizen Science | 1 month ago | |
We're seeking training data for AI for wolf ID - we at T4C manage 3 Wildbook platforms: Wild North, Whiskerbook and the... |
|
AI for Conservation | 1 month ago | |
Hi Phani,An entry point might be to participate in a challenge related to conservation on:KaggleDrivenDataFruitPunchMax Planck Institute of Animal BehaviorYou could also reach out... |
|
AI for Conservation | 1 month 1 week ago | |
[oops, the same reply got submitted twice and there doesn't seem to be a "delete" button] |
|
AI for Conservation, Camera Traps | 1 month 1 week ago |