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Emerging Tech / Feed

Technology is changing and evolving faster than ever, and as it does, our community members are looking for the next big thing to revolutionize their conservation tech work. To chat about your favorite new tools that are just emerging in the field and discover innovations you haven't yet heard of, join this group!

discussion

Autonomizing Small Mammal Traps

Parker DePond

29 November 2023 6:26pm

If there was a product on the market that was capable of trapping, ‘tagging,’ and releasing an individual without human intervention, would you or your peers invest? Live mammal...

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Lars Holst Hansen

1 December 2023 7:37pm

One thing to keep in mind is that researchers often want or at least would like to get certain metadata on the tagged animals like sex, size, weight, apperent fitness etc. Without these the questions you can ask can get rather limited. Also, it will also often be highly desired to take samples like blood, hair, other tissue e.g.

In addition, there can be cases where it may be better not to tag the animal if it is not the right age group, is too small to carry the tag, seems like it is not in a good shape etc.

I think it will take quite an effort to get automated systems (capture robots) to make these decisions to a degree you can trust.

Cheers,

Lars

Brett Muir

10 December 2023 2:30am

I always thought a tracker that attached like a slap bracelet would be sweet.

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discussion

BirdWeather | PUC

Tim Clark

27 October 2023 7:45pm

Hi Everyone,I just found out about this site/network!I wanted to introduce myself - I'm the CEO of a little company called Scribe Labs.  We're the small team behind...

1 3
Alex Rood

2 November 2023 9:20pm

I love the live-stream pin feature!

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discussion

Wishlist for kit in a field-based Research Station or tech testing space?

Stephanie O'Donnell

27 November 2023 10:41am

Hi wildlabbers!A colleague is looking to crowdsource some advice: what would be on your wishlist for kitting out a field based space for research and tech development?...

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Stephanie O'Donnell

28 November 2023 3:25am

Regine Weckauf over on linkedin: 

'Little to do with research and tech development, but given how hard it is to attract and retain experienced staff to field based positions, I know it makes a difference how nice the space is. Just because it's the "field", shouldn't mean staff living in basic conditions, regardless of how many times we've been told to see it as a badge of honor. If you have the money, put in nice bathrooms, kitchen, living spaces, and private accommodation. Maybe even a nursery? It creates more local employment opportunities and people genuinely want to visit.'

 

Carly Batist

28 November 2023 2:25pm

Love the idea for in-house gear/supplies! It can be SOO difficult to travel with batteries, electronics parts with airline regs, country policies, etc. and shipping recorders/trail cams/etc. gets VERY (prohibitively) pricey in some countries with customs and taxes. Would be great to have an in-country place to source that kind of equipment. 

Housing educational resources related to that tech (in the form of people, print materials, computer tutorials) in-house would be similarly awesome. Particularly/especially in local languages.   

Having in-country wet labs as well helps the eDNA/genetics folks, since sample import/export permitting can be (always seems to be?!) a nightmare, so if you can even just do PCR and/or extractions in-country that helps a ton. 

In terms of overall field-station-wishlist - honestly, just the promise of continued funding and staff. Every field station I've been to or worked at is in a constant search for enough money to get through the next month/year, because the funding comes in the establish a station but then not to maintain it long-term. It's not sexy for a wishlist per se, but boy is it over-looked and much-needed. 

@hikinghack from Dinalab would probably have lots of good insights on this! 

Brett Muir

29 November 2023 7:59pm

My suggestion would probably be a 3D printer and Solder Station with a stock of common components. With those two things you can solve most problems.

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Link

Atos and WWF partner up to leverage technology to support biodiversity conservation

Esther Githinji

27 November 2023 9:32am

Atos & the WWF announced a 3-year strategic partnership to leverage technology to support biodiversity conservation & encourage businesses to decarbonize. 1 of the 4 main initiatives of the partnership is: Atos to develop responsible IT solutions for WWF & its partners.

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Link

What are LoRa and LoRaWAN? | The Things Network

Godwin Mruma

10 November 2023 12:59pm

Useful

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What are LoRa and LoRaWAN?

Welcome to the first chapter of The Things Fundamentals on LoRaWAN. In this section, you’ll learn why LoRaWAN is so awesome, hear about some great LoRaWAN use cases, and learn the difference between LoRa and LoRaWAN. LoRa LoRa is a wireless modulation technique derived from Chirp Spread Spectrum (CSS) technology. It encodes information on radio waves using chirp pulses - similar to the way dolphins and bats communicate! LoRa modulated transmission is robust against disturbances and can be received across great distances.

The Things Network
Link

Insight; a secure online platform designed for sharing experiences of conservation tool use.

Cleo Graf

7 November 2023 1:01pm

A secure platform designed for those working to monitor & protect natural resources. Insight facilitates sharing experience, knowledge & tools to increase efficiency & effectiveness in conservation. By sharing we reduce time & money spent to find, test, & implement solutions.

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Welcome to Insight

Wildlife crime refers to any illegal activity that involves the taking, trading, or possession of wild animals and plants, or their parts and derivatives.

Insight
event

A SPOTLIGHT ON CUTTING-EDGE BIOMONITORING TECHNOLOGIES

Thomas Luypaert

31 October 2023 9:09am

Join us in our session to feature the latest developments and applications in groundbreaking biomonitoring tech in the tropics

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ANDREA VARELA

15 November 2023 6:10pm

Hello!The Galápagos Islands can be considered Tropics? We do drone monitoring of the marine iguanas with the project Iguanas from Above :)Thanks.Andrea Varela
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Link

Technology Aids Desert Tortoise Conservation Efforts

Esther Githinji

30 October 2023 1:33pm

Hardshell Labs advances desert tortoise conservation efforts by duping one of its biggest predators—ravens—by combining 3D-printing and spraying grape scent.

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article

In case you missed it... (no.2)

Stephanie O'Donnell

27 October 2023 1:20pm

Five #tech4wildlife people, projects and updates that caught my attention this month. This issue is a naturetech, biodiversity startup edition! Featuring a living map of the biodiversity startup scene, is nature data...

1
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careers

ZSL Research Fellow (x3 roles)

Zoological Society of London

20 October 2023 3:34pm

The Institute of Zoology (IoZ), the research division of the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), is seeking to fill three new permanent positions by recruiting outstanding early-career researchers as Research Fellows (...

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discussion

Looking for advice around building a survey to develop guidance & prioritize tech development to meet ranger/First Nations' needs in Australia. 

Emma Spencer

19 September 2023 3:08am

I'm working within WWF-Australia on a new project looking to empower First Nations-led monitoring on Country through technology and innovation. As part of this, I've been...

5 3
Kim Lane

25 September 2023 9:34pm

Hi Emma, In your new project, if you have interest in a direct to satellite platform perspective, you can contact me on [email protected] Would be interested to see your outcomes and happy to have a chat if we can assist
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discussion

Best Temperature/ Humidity Dataloggers

Becky Heath

24 April 2023 1:30pm

I'm after getting 20-25 temperature and humidity dataloggers for deployment in the field. I've considered iButtons and other single-use devices but would rather invest in...

13 1
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Link

Digital Disruption for Conservation Toolkit

Gal Zanir

22 September 2023 12:18pm

Made available by the Digital Disruption and the Future of Conservation project team at Unearthodox, the toolkit provides conservation practitioners with a comprehensive introduction to Web 3.0 and AI concepts and their potential use for nature conservation.

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Digital Disruption for Conservation Toolkit

This toolkit is made available by the Digital Disruption and the Future of Conservation project team at Unearthodox. It is designed to provide conservation practitioners with a basic introduction to blockchain concepts and their potential use for nature conservation.

discussion

Recommendations for Personnel Trackers in challenging terrain

Lisa Mayinje

18 August 2023 2:22pm

Hi WildLabs community, I support a few wildlife areas in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. The terrain can be very challenging here with deep narrow valleys and thick...

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Emma Richards

22 August 2023 1:31pm

Hi Lisa,

Not my area of expertise either and hopefully I'm not way off base here as it's not a cheap tracker but...have you looked at near vertical incident skywave (NVIS) radio systems?  I was trialling them in Nouabalé-Ndoki - we didn't have the terrain issues but we did have vegetation issues - and they worked really well over long distances.  Also possible to integrate with Earthranger if I recall correctly.  

Hope this is of at least a little help.

 

Best,

 

Emma

Akiba

17 September 2023 1:33pm

Hi Lisa. 

Did you ever find a solution for this? Would love to chat more about the use case and requirements.

Akiba

Lars Holst Hansen

18 September 2023 8:10am

Have you tried or considered Garmin Inreach or Zoleo trackers?

I have experience with Garmin Inreach in relatively rugged terrain in Greenland (probably not as steep as what you have).

They work relatively well. One disadvantage with the early models is that the tracking data can not be downloaded directly from the devices as .gpx but needs to take the detour over the Garmin cloud. The newer models have direct download of tracks available.

I like the fact that the Garmin units are proper standalone handheld GPS units to be used for navigation and waypoint marking and you can also relatively easily share your own location and even points of interest with team members in the field (by sending geotagged messages - not actual waypoints, unfortunately). 

Garmin Inreach is listed as an EarthRanger partner at https://www.earthranger.com/partner but I have no idea if there is any possibility of real integration.

Cheers,

Lars

 

 

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