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!
Founder & Director of Tech 4 Conservation
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Allen Institute for AI
Communications for EarthRanger and Skylight
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PhD Student in statistical ecology
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TerrOïko
I am an ecological data engineer at Terroïko, where I work on OCAPI, a platform for semi-automatic camtrap data annotation, biodiversity data interoperability and biodiversity indicators.
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Electronics Engineer working in the development of smart conservation technology solutions.
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Sharing failure, tech support for conservation, roaming mentors, conservation tech hype cycles and developing new road maps - participants in our tech workshops at ICCB 2019 shared an abundance of ideas for how to shape...
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27 July 2019
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4 June 2019
To further their missions, LDF and Microsoft are collaborating on the AI for Earth innovation grant to support applicants in creating and deploying open source machine learning models, algorithms, and data sets that...
4 June 2019
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31 May 2019
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21 May 2019
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13 May 2019
To realise the potential benefits of data for our societies and economies we need trustworthy data stewardship. We need to establish different approaches to deciding who should have access to data, for what purposes and...
15 April 2019
Happy World Wildlife Day! To celebrate, this week we've asked our community to share photos showing how they are using tech in the field or the lab, using the #Tech4Wildlife hashtag.
3 March 2019
After a promising first run in Namibia, a Swiss project could aid savanna conservation using drones and automatic image analysis.
18 February 2019
Jacqueline Ramos explains how artificial intelligence can help to track and prevent chimpanzee trafficking across the globe.
6 February 2019
The Open Data Institute and the Office for AI are partnering to explore how data trusts could help to solve environmental, societal and industry challenges by enabling increased access to data while retaining trust....
31 January 2019
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Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
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Agreed. I have recently begun using SegmentAnything as a replacement for Detectron and have been very pleased. However, for a fish school I don't know how well it would do out of... |
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Data management and processing tools, AI for Conservation | 1 minute 23 seconds ago | |
Thanks, I grabbed those datasets already. I know about that website, put couldn't quite make sense of it. It says 'open repository', but then there is a login page with no way to... |
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AI for Conservation, Open Source Solutions, Protected Area Management Tools, Drones, Remote Sensing & GIS | 1 day 14 hours ago | |
Hey @Sylvain_H Am leaning towards Maad Audiophiles or The Maad Eco Community |
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Acoustics, AI for Conservation, Open Source Solutions, Software and Mobile Apps | 2 days 19 hours ago | |
@DibblexLesalon looks like a great question for your team at Expert Drones Africa :) |
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AI for Conservation | 4 days 14 hours ago | |
However, I think it's important to reflect further to determine exactly what needs to be done. |
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Climate Change, AI for Conservation, Biologging, Citizen Science | 1 week ago | |
Congrats on the publication! Great work! |
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AI for Conservation | 6 days 17 hours ago | |
The German start-up Dryad is also working on early fire detection using sensors and AI. |
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AI for Conservation | 6 days 20 hours ago | |
Hey, You're correct, traditionally species distribution models are spatial only, but here are a few ideas for how to incorporate time into your modelling: Categorise the... |
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AI for Conservation | 1 week 2 days ago | |
I found this interesting |
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AI for Conservation, Emerging Tech | 1 week 4 days ago | |
Really interesting, I will take a look |
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AI for Conservation, Camera Traps, Data management and processing tools, Emerging Tech | 1 week 6 days ago | |
Great new!! |
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AI for Conservation | 1 week 6 days ago | |
Hi Carly, thank you for the advice! I am only focusing on the two birds for now - my goal is to use part of the iNaturalist data I have pulled to train the model and the rest to... |
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Postdoc: computer vision for insect monitoring
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3 open positions at Impact Observatory
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UKAN+ Monitoring UK Biodiversity Symposium 15-16th June
31 May 2022 2:58pm
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A comprehensive review on biodiversity information portals
9 May 2022 3:16pm
Executive Director - The Eric & Wendy Schmidt Center for Data Science & Environment, UC Berkeley
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Apply now: Women in Conservation Technology Programme, Kenya
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10 February 2022 12:00am
WILDLABS Fellowships & Awards: Matchmaking between tech and conservation
28 January 2022 3:22pm
Deep Learning for Marine Ecology and Conservation
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20 December 2021 12:00am
AI for Conservation Office Hours: are you interested?
8 October 2021 12:00pm
14 December 2021 2:47pm
We've now wrapped our first run of AI for Conservation Office Hours and you can read my review of how it went and lessons learned here.
Given the overall success of the programme, we're excited to announce that in early spring next year we will be coordinating a second round - so keep an eye out for further updates in the new year on the application and sign-up process.
Also, we'd love to know whether you'd be interested in having a 1:1 so comment below and tell us what conservation tech challenge you would like to cover or how a session could help you in your conservation work.
Many thanks,
Lucas
AI for Conservation Office Hours: 2021 Review
14 December 2021 12:00am
Low-cost underwater camera trapping and deep learning
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30 November 2021 12:00am
The race to save California's rarest butterflies
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29 November 2021 12:00am
Environmental Data Justice
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26 November 2021 12:00am
Technical Difficulties: The Promise and Pitfalls of Machine Learning for Conservation
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23 November 2021 12:00am
Caiman: Images as Sources of Intelligence
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18 November 2021 12:00am
Try our open-source automatic camera trap detection/labeling tool!
12 November 2021 8:39pm
Opportunity: GEO-Microsoft Planetary Computer Programme
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4 November 2021 12:00am
EarthRanger Announces Inaugural Conservation Tech Award Recipients
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Opportunity: PhD or Postdoctoral Research Fellowships - Chinstrap penguin biologging
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1 November 2021 12:00am
25 October 2021 4:13pm
Hi Wildlabbers!
We're now going ahead with a small pilot of around ten 1:1 office hour sessions with Microsoft AI for Earth specialists. More details coming very soon.
For the time being sign-ups are now closed, but thank you to everyone who has been interested. We will keep you updated on how the 1:1s go and whether there will be further sessions to sign up for later in the year.
Cheers,
Lucas