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!
Newcastle University
Senior Lecturer in Biological Modelling. Interests in AI, spatial data, invertebrate ecology, species mapping
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Wild Spy
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Botswana Predator Conservation Trust
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I help conservation scientists spend less time on boring stuff.
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Interested in emerging technologies related to camera traps for pollinators
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Senthil kumaran Natgeo explorer and World press photo award winning documentary photographer from South India, he is working on Human and animal conflicts.
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WILDLABS & Fauna & Flora International (FFI)
I am the WILDLABS East Africa Community Coordinator
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alpine ecology, insect conservation, evolutionary ecology, behavioural ecology.
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Asst. Prof @ MIT with research at the intersection of computer vision, biodiversity monitoring, conservation, and sustainability.
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Student at Aberystwyth University. Bug Fanatic🪲. Worked at Octophin Digital for my industrial year placement 🐙.
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I studied sustainability and worked in the international dev sector, I have tech skills in UX, data-analytics and graph modelling, can prototype web services and want to help in nature conservation.
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Consultancy opportunity at ZSL for an experienced monitoring specialist to support species monitoring in rewilding landscapes across Europe
31 January 2023
The Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management (ESPM) at the University of California, Berkeley (UCB)
25 January 2023
Are you stuck on an AI or ML challenge in your conservation work? Apply now for the chance to receive tailored expert advice from data scientists! Applications due 27th January 2023
18 January 2023
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WILDLABS and Fauna & Flora International are seeking an early career Vietnamese conservationist for 12-month paid internship position to grow and support the Southeast Asia regional community in our global...
11 January 2023
Careers
PhD position (m/f/d) in Insect Ecology and Conservation
Andrew Fairbairn
This position focuses on the ecology aspect of the project, while a second PhD in Ilmenau will be dealing with programming/AI development. Because of the high temporal resolution of our data, we can investigate how land...
9 January 2023
Careers
Job: maker / workshop technician
Duncan Wilson
We are looking for someone who enjoys the craft of making to come and help run our London based lab.
5 January 2023
Seeking Software Engineer for Marine Science Lab a UC Santa Barbara
19 December 2022
Using satellite imagery to detect and classify the severity of cyanobacteria blooms in small, inland water bodies.
15 December 2022
Careers
PhD - Sensory ecology of vespine wasps
Duncan Wilson
a technology-led solution to understanding the honeybees of the wasp world
8 December 2022
The University of Alaska Fairbanks is seeking a research Post Doctoral Fellow to work in collaboration with the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The position will focus on using Machine...
7 December 2022
Article
New: Satellites for Biodiversity Award
EmmaOldham
Conservation partnership launches new award to advance biodiversity conservation from space
5 December 2022
Careers
PhD Positions at University of Michigan CSE
Elizabeth Bondi-Kelly
Interested in a PhD exploring the potential of AI? Please consider applying to Realize Lab at the University of Michigan CSE.
23 November 2022
July 2022
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Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
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Really excited to see ChatGPT making waves even in this community! I think there's a huge amount of potential for not just ChatGPT, but LLMs (large language models) and NLP (... |
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AI for Conservation, Emerging Tech | 5 days 4 hours ago | |
My original background is in ecology and conservation, and am now in the elected leadership of the Gathering for Open Science Hardware which convenes researchers developing open... |
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AI for Conservation, Biologging, Camera Traps, Conservation Tech Training and Education, Data management and processing tools , Drones, Emerging Tech, Sensors | 2 weeks 1 day ago | |
Hi Simon, i've popped you an email too, but actually sharing some more information here about what you're after will mean you'll be able to get better help from our full... |
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AI for Conservation, Camera Traps | 2 weeks 2 days ago | |
Hi Sophie, Can you please help me or get in touch in developing a system where we are able to detect an Elephant? Would like to discuss more about it. Kindly treat this as urgent!! |
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AI for Conservation | 2 weeks 4 days ago | |
Hello All - @sarabeery et Al have just put a pre-print out on their educational insights into teaching Computer Vision to ecologists. I... |
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Acoustic Monitoring, AI for Conservation, Conservation Tech Training and Education, Early Career, Emerging Tech | 3 weeks 2 days ago | |
The Conservation Technology Lab at San Diego Zoo seeks undergrads for summer projects in computer vision, machine learning, bioacoustics,... |
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Acoustic Monitoring, AI for Conservation, Conservation Tech Training and Education | 1 month 1 week ago | |
I just came across this interesting paper in which seismic monotoring of animals like elephants was mentioned. This is the study refered to:Cheers,Lars |
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AI for Conservation, Camera Traps, Emerging Tech, Ethics of Conservation Tech, Human-Wildlife Conflict, Remote Sensing & GIS, Sensors | 1 month 2 weeks ago | |
Quick reminder that the deadline for applications is just shy of a week away. This workshop is particularly geared to teach ecologists computer vision tools to apply to their... |
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Conservation Tech Training and Education, AI for Conservation | 1 month 3 weeks ago | |
Hahaha, now I see why you were asking ... |
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AI for Conservation | 1 month 4 weeks ago | |
Hi all, one of the 8 MozFest 2023 spaces is 'Tech & Biodiversity', and the organisers seek input for an event on the intersection of... |
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AI for Conservation, Ethics of Conservation Tech, Open Source Solutions | 2 months 1 week ago | |
@antoineede @divyar EcoAssist is now also available on Windows and Linux: |
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AI for Conservation | 2 months 1 week ago | |
Full article here: Lauha, P., Somervuo, P., Lehikoinen, P., Geres, L., Richter, T., Seibold, S., & Ovaskainen, O. (2022).... |
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Acoustic Monitoring, AI for Conservation, Citizen Science, Software and Mobile Apps | 2 months 2 weeks ago |
Accessible Tech and Real Impact with the WILDLABS Fellowship: On the Edge

9 August 2021 12:00am
WILDLABS Community Call: August 12th

4 August 2021 12:00am
Tech Tutors: How do I get started with Wildlife Insights?
29 July 2021 12:04am
Wildlife Insights Launches

27 July 2021 12:00am
Tech Tutors: How do I get started with Megadetector?
22 July 2021 3:34pm
Opportunity: Lead an ML Workshop

21 July 2021 12:00am
How do I get started with Wildlife Insights?

19 July 2021 12:00am
NBM - A collaborative and open source project to monitor Nocturnal Bird Migration
7 July 2021 7:01am
How do I get started with Megadetector?

7 July 2021 12:00am
WILDLABS Tech Tutors: Season 3

6 July 2021 12:00am
How do I choose the right camera trap(s) based on interests, goals, and species?

6 July 2021 12:00am
BearID Featured: Artificial Intelligence & Other New Technology In Bear Research

1 July 2021 12:00am
PhDs (or MSc) in tech + nature conservation ?
28 April 2021 9:16am
26 May 2021 5:09pm
I think programming and machine learning are what I wish I did in uni the most. Particularly Python coding. Most biologists use R/Rstudio but Python is more popular in the tech world. And machine learning is taking over everything, conservation included, so it's definitely a high-demand skill.
26 May 2021 9:14pm
carlybatist, I can help with python. Is there anything you or people in your network may need help?
About ML - can you tell 3 main challenges you'd think as priority in conservation, that ML can be helpful ? Also, anything that also small NGOs may struggle to work on, due to limited budget / IT capacity, and so they may benefit from freelancers ? Large NGOs or international agencies will likely work with established companies. I'ìd like to know if there could be a niche were I can interact directly with NGOs and philantropic institutions, both for supporting with services, as well for listening to feedback to project proposals that could benefit from mutual collaborations (e.g. tech pilot + fundraising = startup and product iterations with lower costs).
Also, can you mention a few activities / roles that may offer both outdoor + analytics / tech skills ?
Piorirty is outdoor for me. But since I have a few tech skills and management skills, im trying to trade them!
26 May 2021 10:04pm
You should join the Key Conservation app, which connects people and NGO's for specific needs, whether funding, time, or skills (programming included). Organizations can list particular things they need and you can get day-to-day updates on progress.
In terms of how ML is used in conservation, it's mostly to process the large datasets yielded by conservation tech (camera traps, passive acoustics, biologging, remote sensing/GIS). Annotating detections (which pictures have animals, which species a call belongs to, where deforestation is happening through satellite imagery, etc.).
And lots of freelancing opportunities come up in Wildlabs - the community threads and the biweekly digest. Twitter is also great for finding those kinds of opportunities, search by relevant keywords or hashtags (e.g., #tech4wildlife). I would also start following conservation tech organizations on LinkedIn and Twitter or subscribing to their newsletters or listservs so you don't miss opportunities as they come up.
New Papers: Methods in Ecology and Evolution

23 April 2021 12:00am
New Papers: Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation

22 April 2021 12:00am
BirdCLEF 2021 Kaggle Challenge

19 April 2021 12:00am
Looking for animal emotions data for ML
17 March 2021 12:43pm
26 March 2021 4:06pm
There is a TON of research on ML algorithms for all this!
For facial rec-
BearID project - http://bearresearch.org/ (individual facial rec for grizzlies)
AnimalFACS (facial action coding system) - http://www.chimpfacs.com/ (the model started with chimps but they now have versions for orangutans, gibbons, macaques, dogs, cats, and horses)
A lot of the gesture/facial expression literature is focused on primates, particularly apes, so if you do a Google Scholar search on that, you'll loads of papers that have looked into this as well.
For vocals -
Carlson, N. V., Kelly, E. M., & Couzin, I. (2020). Individual vocal recognition across taxa: a review of the literature and a look into the future. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 375(1802), 20190479.
Turesson, H. K., Ribeiro, S., Pereira, D. R., Papa, J. P., & de Albuquerque, V. H. C. (2016). Machine learning algorithms for automatic classification of marmoset vocalizations. PloS one, 11(9), e0163041.
Wijers, M., Trethowan, P., Du Preez, B., Chamaillé-Jammes, S., Loveridge, A. J., Macdonald, D. W., & Markham, A. (2020). Vocal discrimination of African lions and its potential for collar-free tracking. Bioacoustics, 1-19.
Clink, D. J., Crofoot, M. C., & Marshall, A. J. (2019). Application of a semi-automated vocal fingerprinting approach to monitor Bornean gibbon females in an experimentally fragmented landscape in Sabah, Malaysia. Bioacoustics, 28(3), 193-209.
Spillmann, B., van Schaik, C. P., Setia, T. M., & Sadjadi, S. O. (2017). Who shall I say is calling? Validation of a caller recognition procedure in Bornean flanged male orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii) long calls. Bioacoustics, 26(2), 109-120.
Hantke, S., Cummins, N., & Schuller, B. (2018, April). What is my dog trying to tell me? The automatic recognition of the context and perceived emotion of dog barks. In 2018 IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing (ICASSP) (pp. 5134-5138). IEEE.
Totakura, V., Janmanchi, M. K., Rajesh, D., & Hussan, M. T. (2020). Prediction of Animal Vocal Emotions Using Convolutional Neural Network. International Journal of Scientific & Technology Research, 9(2), 6007-6011.
Other -
Neethirajan, S., Reimert, I., & Kemp, B. (2021). Measuring Farm Animal Emotions—Sensor-Based Approaches. Sensors, 21(2), 553.
Hong, W., Kennedy, A., Burgos-Artizzu, X. P., Zelikowsky, M., Navonne, S. G., Perona, P., & Anderson, D. J. (2015). Automated measurement of mouse social behaviors using depth sensing, video tracking, and machine learning. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(38), E5351-E5360.
26 March 2021 7:44pm
Thank you VERY much for that, Carly. I really appreciate it. I have only heard of the bear research project and was not aware of the others. This is very helpful.
FYI: Most studies I am aware of use ML with facial recognition software. I am interested to find out if there are recognition software/research for facial-gesture-voice-speech as this will be more accurate to read animals that have less elastic facial expressions than primates or humans.
The 2021 #Tech4Wildlife Photo Challenge: Community Highlights
25 March 2021 12:00am
Event: tinyML for Good: Conservation & Climate

22 March 2021 12:00am
Allen Coral Atlas - using machine learning to map coral reefs
17 March 2021 6:48pm
Building Experts Into AI

15 March 2021 12:00am
Kaggle Competition: iWildcam 2021 - FGVC8

12 March 2021 12:00am
Funding Opportunity: COVID-19 Science Fund

10 March 2021 12:00am
Resource: WildID

8 March 2021 12:00am
Looking help with camera trapping for Jaguars: Software for species ID and database building
23 February 2021 9:49pm
2 March 2021 3:44pm
Hi Carmina,
I definitely get not wanting to create another copy of your data, I realized this about Camelot just a little late, and we did have to buy a 4 TB external hard drive. The unique names that Camelot assigns to its copies of the data are also not friendly if you want to move things around.
I mentioned that Wild.ID is being more and more integrated with Wildlife Insights, but it can still be used as a standalone software. It has the same format as Camelot, but I think it doesn't create and additional copy (I might be wrong about this, though). You should take a look at this, it might be what you need.
As for detection, Camelot puts together batches of photos, uploads them to Microsoft's servers, and then gets the resulting database back. The model they use, however, is available and you can run it on your own computer. The AI model that it uses is called Megadetector. You used to have to run it from the command line, but recently Petar Gyurov posted this GUI that makes using Megadetector soooo much easier. You just tell the software where your photos are, and let it run. You can decide whether you trust it enough to sort your photos automatically, or check yourself. In most conditions it performs very well, you may have issues when you can only see parts of an animal behind some vegetation. The check would take less time than going through the raw pictures, since it marks boxes where it found things. You still have to identify the pictures after they're sorted. Megadetector will work on any computer, but it performs much faster if it has an Nvidia graphical card. However, setting this up is a little tricky.
Finally, the output from Megadetector can be integrated into the workflow of Timelapse, another software. I've never used this one so I can't really say how well it works.
Integrating everything can be a little intimidating, so feel free to ask if you need guidance for any of these steps.
Best,
Juan
4 March 2021 9:34pm
Hi.
Thanks a lot for your explanation. I decided to try megadetector but I'm dumb with computers and of course I don't have a Nvidia graphical card, can you help me?
If it is better for you to talk directly, you can write to [email protected]
I'm so happy I can finally see the light with so many photos :)
Thanks again
Carmina
4 March 2021 11:06pm
Sure thing, I'll email you directly.
Tech Tutors: How do I strategically allocate drones for conservation?
16 February 2021 1:01pm
Transparency, AI, and Machine Learning Conservation Impacts
3 February 2021 10:12pm
5 February 2021 2:21pm
Hello,
Just spit-balling some ideas, but you might check out WildMe/WildBook, Widlife Insights, the ICARUS/Movebank project, Arbimon, Norway's new imaging initiative (https://www.planet.com/nicfi/), Hack the Poacher, Vulcan's EarthRanger, SmartParks, the SMART app/platform, the TEAM camera trap network?
Not sure if any of this is what you're looking for but just some things that came to mind!
13 February 2021 12:14am
Thanks Carly,
These are great ideas. The movebank recommendation reminds me of some work from Save the Elephants that used its transparency to exonerate an elephant that had been accused of eating up some crops. I didn't know about Hack the Poacher - I'll check that out. I'm familiar with the others, but will dig deeper to understand the transparency angle. I work on Wildlife Insights, so know that one well. TEAM has essentially morphed into Wildlife Insights as I understand things.
Thanks again!
Best,
Thau
Windows explorer video thumbnails
26 September 2019 9:31am
12 February 2021 7:10pm
This works very well, and can remove the movie strip icons from the edges of the thumbnails, which obscure animals just coming into the frame. https://icaros.en.softonic.com/
Intro to Embedded Machine Learning on Coursera

9 February 2021 12:00am
Tech Tutors: How do How do I launch machine learning projects using MLOps?
3 February 2021 12:08pm
5 February 2021 7:16pm
Dan's comments about the need for technologists and conservationists to manage and share (properly annotated) data struck a chord with me, it was right at the end of the presentation.
I fired off a point into the chat "could your old background data be my background data?" or something similar, and it got me thinking...
(Firstly, sorry for clouding this issue with my simultaneous "Ian Tuna" joke)
In the context of using AI as described in EdgeImpulse example, lets say - audio.
Lets say Group A are trying to detect the roar of lions, and Group B are trying to detect the grunt of wild pigs, and lets imagine that is in roughly the same area of Africa. I mean they could both send out teams to capture the sound of their target animal, and the sound of NOT their target animal, e.g everything else.
Well if "serengetti sounds" was a known audio track, then all you need is the unique sound of the beast in question, am I right?
7 July 2021 7:16am
Updates will regularly be added in comments !