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!
- @jsevans
- | He, Him
Senior biometrician, with the Nature Conservancy science team, attempting to bring vigor from diverse fields such as landscape ecology, spatial statistics, remote sensing and applied mathematics to answer practical conservation questions.
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 7 Groups
- @StreamingScience
- | he/him/his
Georgia Institute of Technology
Andrew’s always looking to find new interdisciplinary teams in the conservation tech space. He is a postdoctoral researcher at Max Planck Institute, who completed his PhD at Georgia Tech in 2022. His interests including conservation tech education and engineering work.
- 0 Resources
- 14 Discussions
- 3 Groups
Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior (MPI-AB), Technical University of Munich (TUM)
Behavioral Ecologist
- 0 Resources
- 1 Discussions
- 14 Groups
Wildlife Logistics
Ecologist / Business Management
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 11 Groups
- @christine.mungai
- | she/her
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 2 Groups
Leveraging big data to solve hard, open ended and socially impactful problems| Ex - Palantir
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 14 Groups
- @eliseb227
- | she/her
Duke University
Master of Environmental Management student at Duke University studying how technology can facilitate conservation efforts in a multitude of ecosystems.
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 7 Groups
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 1 Groups
- @davidhunter
- | he/him
University of Colorado Boulder
PhD student exploring design and technology to connect people with nature and the environment
- 0 Resources
- 14 Discussions
- 5 Groups
- @shahselbe
- | he/him
Conservify
Conservation Technologist, National Geographic Explorer, and Founder of Conservify and FieldKit
- 0 Resources
- 5 Discussions
- 18 Groups
- @Helga_Kuechly
- | she/her
World Wide Fund for Nature/ World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
I am a Geo-ecologist, who loves to use GIS, remote sensing, citizen science and knowledge transfer to shape for a better future for nature - We are part of nature, so let's act like it!
- 1 Resources
- 1 Discussions
- 4 Groups
- @Ngunu_24
- | He\him
I'm a marine biologist working at Local Ocean Conservation as a marine research and data manager. I love exploring the wonders of the underwater world and learning about the amazing creatures that live there. I'm passionate about protecting our oceans and raising awareness.
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 11 Groups
The Earth Species Project (ESP) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to decoding animal communication and translating non-human language.
8 November 2022
The large gap between data availability & use.
28 October 2022
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Try AI is seeking mentors for our upcoming 2023 Micro-internship Program, a two-week, virtual micro-internship exploring artificial intelligence research and its potential application in society.
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Check out these openings to join Google's global Sustainability Programme. Location varies.
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22 September 2022
Amazon Sustainability is welcoming proposals related to climate risk/resilience, life cycle assessment, circular strategies, and more. Selected PIs receive unrestricted funds, no more than $80,000 USD on average
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As UNGA begins, Google.org is committing $25M to accelerate progress towards the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. Applications are now open for nonprofits and social enterprises.
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Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
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Hi @DaveGaynor regarding funding, have you reached out to any lodges? I know that snaring is rife in the Manyaleti ... maybe some of the lodges in the Sabi Sands would be... |
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AI for Conservation, Drones, Emerging Tech, Human-Wildlife Conflict, Wildlife Crime | 1 day 3 hours ago | |
Actually my Raspberry Pi application is a sound localizer not related to image recognition. My image recognition related project runs on Jetsons and higher.But I think recognizing... |
+18
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AI for Conservation | 1 day 21 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... |
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AI for Conservation | 4 days 17 hours 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... |
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AI for Conservation | 2 weeks 2 days ago | |
Undoubted things will quickly evolve from just "straight" ChatGPTn, BARD, ClaudeAI, etc "standard" models, to more specialized Retrieval Augmentation Generation (RAG) , where... |
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AI for Conservation, Emerging Tech | 3 weeks 3 days ago | |
This is so cool! I am 1000% going to see if they want to come talk about it at Variety Hou! |
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AI for Conservation, Citizen Science | 3 weeks 4 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... |
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Acoustics, AI for Conservation, Data management and processing tools, Emerging Tech, Sustainable Fishing Challenges | 3 weeks 4 days ago | |
Online citizen science platforms like iNaturalist and Macaulay Library contain a wealth of images but are hard to search using text. We are... |
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AI for Conservation, Citizen Science | 3 weeks 6 days ago | |
We're seeking training data for AI for wolf ID - we at T4C manage 3 Wildbook platforms: Wild North, Whiskerbook and the... |
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AI for Conservation | 4 weeks 1 day 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... |
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AI for Conservation | 1 month ago | |
[oops, the same reply got submitted twice and there doesn't seem to be a "delete" button] |
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AI for Conservation, Camera Traps | 1 month ago | |
Hi @zhongqimiao ,Might you have faced such an issue while using mega detectorThe conflict is caused by:pytorchwildlife 1.0.2.13 depends on torch==1.10.1pytorchwildlife 1.0.2.12... |
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AI for Conservation, Camera Traps, Open Source Solutions | 1 month ago |