With experts across the WILDLABS community working with every type of technology and in every imaginable environment, our platform is a great place to find advice and resources on choosing what tools are right for your conservation project. Whether you're in the market to try a new camera trap model, want to experiment with drones for the first time, or need help weighing the pros and cons of data management tools, there's someone in the WILDLABS community who can help you make a smart and informed choice!
The Community Base is our general gathering group. It's the place where we cover more general, big picture topics in conservation technology - ones that don't fit neatly into our other groups. If you don't know where to post something, just post it in this group. Our moderators will move it if needed!
At our Community Base, you'll find updates from the WILDLABS team on upcoming events and opportunities, and have the chance to shape our programs and platform with your opinions. And most importantly, the Community Base is also home to our Welcome to WILDLABS thread, the best place to introduce yourself to us and the community. Stop by and tell us what you're working on!
Whether you're new to WILDLABS and want to know where to begin, or you're a longtime member looking for a handy bank of resources, our Getting Started on WILDLABS thread will be your one-stop guide to getting the most out of our platform.
Want to find out more about WILDLABS? Check out our recent community call:
Header image: Ana Verahrami/Elephant Listening Project
Group curators
- @StephODonnell
- | She / Her
WILDLABS
I'm the Community Manager at WILDLABS
- 150 Resources
- 656 Discussions
- 30 Groups
- @TaliaSpeaker
- | She/her
WILDLABS & World Wide Fund for Nature/ World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
I'm the WILDLABS Research Specialist at WWF-US
- 12 Resources
- 54 Discussions
- 24 Groups
- @EllieW
- | She/Her
- 64 Resources
- 124 Discussions
- 14 Groups
April 2024
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May 2024
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June 2024
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October 2024
March 2024
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February 2024
Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
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@richardturere Hello :) and a warm welcome to WILDLABS! Here is the link to @Lekato Samuel Lekato - Founder and Chairman, Enduata Emaa CBO. Sam is interested in conservation... |
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Citizen Science, Climate Change, Community Base, Connectivity, Conservation Tech Training and Education, East Africa Community, Human-Wildlife Conflict | 8 months 3 weeks ago | |
Hi everyone! Quick coordinating update - whatsapp group! We can't wait to see you at ICCB in just a few days. We have a whatsapp chat with wildlabs folks attending - dm... |
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Community Base | 8 months 4 weeks ago | |
Hi Lev,We always need more hands in conservation, from whichever field! Engineering, computer science, AI/ML, ecology, environmental science, communications, statisticians, etc.... |
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Community Base, Data management and processing tools, Marine Conservation, Protected Area Management Tools | 9 months ago | |
I am also super keen to see what peeps are interested in here. Maybe a video tutorial series of attempted fixes (e.g. trail cameras; collars) or teardowns? Various hacks and re-... |
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Community Base | 10 months ago | |
Here's another article I came across about tracking gear powered by animal movement, which would drastically reduce the need for batteries and increase the lifespan of biologging... |
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Climate Change, Community Base | 10 months ago | |
Did we send you an invite to our workshop? I know you were on the list! We're organising a few networking things, including an event in partnership with EFN, Rufford Foundation,... |
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Community Base | 10 months 1 week ago | |
Wildlabers, I have been randomly trying a few things here and there for a career switch. But so far it has been in bits and pieces. Meanwhile, I have started pursuing Masters... |
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Community Base, Early Career | 11 months 1 week ago | |
Hello all! Bluspark is a plateform that allows natural area managers such as natural parks or reserves to optimize their day to day... |
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Citizen Science, Community Base, Connectivity, Conservation Tech Training and Education, Ethics of Conservation Tech, Protected Area Management Tools, Software and Mobile Apps | 11 months 2 weeks ago | |
Here's a new one for your calendar! Circle the dates for this year's EarthRanger User Conference. Hosted in Cape Town from 1-5 November 2023, the EarthRanger User Conference... |
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Community Base | 11 months 2 weeks ago | |
Hey everyone,On Thursday 11th May, Howard Frederick from Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute will be covering a Tech... |
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Community Base, East Africa Community, Protected Area Management Tools | 11 months 3 weeks ago | |
Posting this with the caveat that I have NOT listened to this yet so it's not an endorsement. I have skimmed the accompanying article though and found it through Simon Gardener... |
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Community Base | 11 months 4 weeks ago | |
Hi Carly, many thanks for getting back to me and apologies for the slow reply. The internet has been down here for the last week. We do not currently do any acoustic monitoring... |
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Community Base | 1 year 1 month ago |
Variety Hour: What do you want to see?
15 September 2022 12:46pm
17 April 2024 11:03am
These are great suggestions & feedback, thank you!
- Lars: Great minds! Not to spoil the surprise of this month's lineup, but Robin is going to be our main speaker next week :)
- Dan: Awesome, great suggestions - I'll see what i can do about tracking them down, particularly the identiflight one!
- Frank: Yes completely agreed - surprisingly tricky to get people to talk about though, as we discovered when pulling together Technical Difficulties. I do encourage speakers to try and cover the parts that went wrong and lessons learnt, so we're trying to incorporate these sort of setbacks, but it's a big thing to talk about in a public forum with a recorded talk. I wonder if we had a failure theme one month it might be possible to reframe it into a positive conversation. Will mull on how to get it in there and I'd also love to hear from anyone who would like to take on that request...
Steph
17 April 2024 7:53pm
Steph, yes, I gathered as much myself, but I still wanted to put it on the agenda. It links to the bigger problem in nature conservation, and especially funding : all projects are required to be effective and successful, scalable, profitable and so on (not to mention the paper trail that applicants need to produce to prove it ). It makes sense from the donors' perspective, because if a project is not at least one of these, then it is a waste of money an how do they explain that to the public and the donors' donors. On the other hand, the IMHO ( H for honest ) over emphasis on this requirement is counterproductive and it does not fit in the world of tech development.
To start with the latter, as we all know, in the world of tech VC and startups, people are very used to the idea that a tech invention is not successful. I've read that if you haven't had two failed startups behind you, you're a better contender with your next one. 9 Out of 10 will fail and the remaining one will more than make up for the loss, is the idea. This way of looking at projects fits very well in this tech oriented forum.
Then the counter productive part : with a funding climate like that, who is going to take risks with tech development for nature conservation? Seriously, anybody reading this: if you raise your hand, please do get in touch, because I am curious how you look at the issue and how you deal with it. Whereas I do agree that nature conservation as a whole needs to be successful, I don't believe that the sponsors' stress on it for individual projects is successful itself. Nature's degradation has developed so far ( call me a pessimist ), that we need to take risks and find out if ( and hope that ) what works for silicon valley can work for nature.
Kudos for your attempt at the 'Technical difficulties'. I didn't know about it. Maybe we ( but I mean you, of course ;-) can tinker with the formula. Ask people to talk about how they overcame problems in some detail, because then it is a success story again. ( They could earn a badge! ) And if the recording is an issue, then don't record, or work on anonymity with temporary accounts, TOR, voice scramblers and the camera off. Maybe people are willing to write about their failures instead of doing a live presentation. That way, one has absolute control over anonymizing individuals and hiding the project from being identified. Little risk of a slip of the tongue.
Become a WILDLABS group manager!
17 April 2024 7:36pm
Lotek Telemetry Talks Presents: Tagging Owls – Tips & Tricks from the Experts
16 April 2024 8:26pm
Welcome to WILDLABS!
29 October 2015 5:16pm
11 April 2024 8:00am
LOL, GIFs make communication so much cooler!!! I wonder if we have a tech4wildlife GIF? That would be super cool!
11 April 2024 8:03am
Amazing, very well put Talia!
16 April 2024 2:27pm
Hello everyone!
I'm thrilled to join this dynamic community of innovators and explorers. My name is Latifa, and I bring passion for adventure, a love for nature and a deep curiosity for the wild world around us.
With a background in Environmental Disaster Management, I'm excited to join and collaborate with each of you. As for now am working with a local NGO in Tanzania (LEAD FOUNDATION). I'm eager to contribute my skills and learn more from everyone.
Together let's embark on an incredible journey of exploration, discovery, and conservation in making a positive impact.
Best regards Latifa
InConversation: Season 1*New Episode*
16 April 2024 1:38pm
Are you interested in starting a new group on WILDLABS? Apply to launch one!
15 April 2024 4:33pm
Thoughts on RooBadge?
2 April 2024 2:55pm
4 April 2024 5:25am
Hi @alexrood , I would normally be quite sceptical, as there's been quite a lot of work over here on what's called the 'shuRoo' (because of course that's what it would be called in Australia), and it doesn't seem to have as much of a beneficial effect as one might hope (e.g. https://meridian.allenpress.com/australian-zoologist/article-abstract/42/3/690/472529/Roo-the-day-evaluating-the-ShuRoo-for-prevention). However, given that it involves two researchers with a wealth of knowledge about macropods and deterrents (and the very same authors of the ShuRoo experimental trial linked to above), I am much, much more optimisitic! Shall be watching (or listening to?) this one with great interest and thanks for sharing!
Cheers,
Rob
5 April 2024 12:31pm
Sound deterrents to prevent collisions with Kangaroos in Australia have been sold for many years. None have been shown to work. Whether the Volkswagen device will be any better waits to be seen. Collision data will have to be collected for a while to see if the VW device has any effect on collision rate.
8 April 2024 12:49am
That is an interesting concept, and it would be great if something out there worked. In the meantime, I will try not to drive at dusk 🦘
At one point, I knew the "sonic" animal guards were the most stolen components of cars. You head in, get groceries, and come out, and they are gone. They weren't on the car long enough for me to confirm that would work
Involve our young learners in climate change action.
27 March 2024 3:24pm
5 April 2024 4:01pm
Hi Cathy
I can't help personally but on seeing your post reached out to a contact who's previously been involved in the British Cartographic Society in case they had any ideas. Their advice:
"I would suggest that she becomes a member of British Cartographic Society (£45 or so) and then writes for/becomes an editor. Then, she will be able to apply for a funding budget for travel... as long as she also writes about the conference! It's a bit long winded, but I am sure that just being an Editor would be an advantage to her anyway."
I hope that helps (or that you find an easier way to get to the conference :D ) - good luck!
Here's their website -
6 April 2024 7:50pm
Thank you so much for this!
Fonseca Leadership Program
3 April 2024 4:46pm
Seventh International Conference on the Effects of Noise on Aquatic Life
3 April 2024 4:34pm
EuropaBON'sFinal Stakeholder Conference
3 April 2024 4:29pm
Postdoctoral Research Associate in Ecoacoustics
2 April 2024 2:49pm
JWO Research Grant: Biodiversity and Conservation
2 April 2024 2:45pm
9ICCGIS 2024
27 March 2024 2:28pm
Announcing the WILDLABS Awards 2024 awardees!
26 March 2024 9:52am
11 April 2024 8:35am
12 April 2024 9:28am
15 April 2024 9:24am
The Variety Hour: 2024 Lineup
22 March 2024 4:30pm
Empowering women, protecting nature: Insights from WiCT 2023
22 March 2024 7:59am
Are you attending SMART Global Congress 2024?
22 February 2024 11:13am
20 March 2024 4:32pm
Hi!
A number of the sessions have been recorded. I hope that they will become accessible, though I'm uncertain about the audience who will have access to them.
20 March 2024 4:32pm
Here is a quick report of what we have learnt there:
21 March 2024 9:48pm
Awesome, thanks for the summary!
Catch up with The Variety Hour: March 2024
21 March 2024 7:39pm
21 March 2024 9:48pm
30 March 2024 3:08pm
31 March 2024 12:43pm
SMART Global Congress 2024: A quick summary
19 March 2024 6:42pm
The Freshwater Sounds Archive
15 March 2024 10:32am
Introducing The Freshwater Sounds Archive, a global database of sounds produced by freshwater species.
Submit your species-specific or unidentified sounds to the archive now and receive recognition for your contribution in a forthcoming data paper as a co-author!
2 Postdoctoral Conservation Ecologist Positions at Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute (SNZCBI)
14 March 2024 7:18pm
Unlock New Features by Earning Your Community Involvement Badge!
14 March 2024 11:54am
14 March 2024 2:41pm
The journey to Ent begins
14 March 2024 2:56pm
@Rob_Appleby follow these instructions to get your Sprout badge!
PhD Opening: Revealing the Dynamics of Soaring Environments Through GPS and Drones
13 March 2024 2:11pm
Senior Post-doctoral Researcher/Senior Research Associate Opportunity: Movement ecology of Greenland halibut
13 March 2024 2:00pm
Ph.D. Assistantship: Collared Peccary Population and Spatial Ecology in Southern Texas
13 March 2024 1:51pm
Young Futures - The Lonely Hearts Club Funding Challenge
13 March 2024 10:14am
WILDLABS Badges User Guide
12 March 2024 12:00pm
12 March 2024 3:20pm
15 April 2024 11:54pm
I would be interested in projects where the use of technology has gone wrong ( in whatever sense one can think of ), where the ( sometimes big ) promises of new tech simply didn't materialize or not to the expected extent, where implementing a technology turned out too difficult, or where unintended consequences caused serious setbacks. I'm not interested in seeing these as 'failed' projects, but as cautionary tales and stories where we can learn a lot from for the design of technologies and their use in the field.