Ten years ago, we couldn't have imagined how tools like machine learning, eDNA, and satellites would advance and transform conservation work. Now technology is advancing faster than ever, and as tools become smaller, lighter, and more affordable, it's vital to have a space where community members can discuss the next big thing, share ideas, compare tool options, and tell the story of their experiences - positive, negative, and anything in between - while using new technologies.
In 2021, the WILDLABS State of Conservation Tech report detailed what tools show the most promise according to community members, as well as what tools are currently seen as the most effective. And as new tools enter the field, we're excited to see how this data will change over time, and how this group grows over time as well.
Our State of Conservation Tech research also discusses something called the "Hype Cycle" - the pattern that occurs when a new technology bursts onto the scene, promises to be an exciting solution, encounters challenges as new users adopt the tool and put it into practice beyond just theory, and eventually settles into its most effective state as users acquire the right skills to use it to its actual potential. Machine learning, one of the most promising technologies, is currently in the middle of its own hype cycle, and we see community members working through their own hurdles to incorporate ML into their work effectively. Despite what you may think, this Hype Cycle can also be positive for tech development, as it means that users have big ideas for new tools, and with the right resources and skills, they can work toward bringing those ideas to life. And as our community members experiences the Hype Cycle for various tools at their own paces, we hope this group will also serve as a place to discuss that process and overcome hurdles together.
Ready to discover new possibilities? Join our Emerging Tech group now and get to know your forward-thinking conservation tech peers!
Header photo: Internet of Elephants
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Ol Pejeta Conservancy
Deputy Technology Manager
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Passionate about wildlife and impact investment with an academic, research and practitioner background in environmental science, environmental law and green criminology pursued in Central America, China, Tanzania and the United Kingdom I am driven to decolonise the research on c
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Faculty Manager for Higher Education. Lecturer in Animal Behaviour, Animal Welfare and Wildlife Conservation
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April 2024
event
Stephanie O'Donnell
October 2023
New wildlife forensics lab - Singapore
29 May 2022 12:34pm
WILDLABS Virtual Meetup: Future Questions & Tools in Movement Ecology
24 May 2022 10:10pm
Job Opening - VR / Unity Game Developer for Wildlife
28 January 2022 2:23pm
Technical Difficulties: The Path to Success
Gautam Shah
14 October 2021 12:00am
Internet of Elephants is seeking test users for our early prototypes
3 October 2016 6:13pm
25 October 2016 9:44am
Hi John - thanks for giving it a try - It is so basic that I'm surprised at all the positive response we get - nice to see people are open minded about this being version 0.000001 :)
Yes - definitely - the idea is to do this for maybe 10-15 different species around the world. We want the user to eventually come in and 'spin' the globe, see what is happening with real wild animals in different parts of the world, and have a fun way of engaging with them.
We don't yet even know which animal we would go live with first - that is still discovery to see what data is the most interesting from a game perspective combined with what captures the attention of people the most. Elephants certainly do the latter, so we're testing out with some elephant data we have. But we're seeing that wildebeest data and migratory bird data could be far more fun.
8 July 2021 8:40am
Introduction
29 June 2020 9:19pm
6 July 2020 11:16pm
Guess not!
27 July 2020 6:50pm
I only know Internet of Elephants! Have you heard about them?
I think their new competitor is Google, have you seen? https://9to5google.com/2020/07/10/google-3d-animals-list/
Internet of Elephants last launch was Wildeverse - https://www.wildeversegame.com/
Explorer Classroom: Gautam Shah
National Geographic
19 May 2020 12:00am
Creating the Wildeverse
WILDLABS Team
13 May 2020 12:00am
Introductions
15 February 2016 8:13am
26 June 2018 10:58am
Hi - my name is Rogue Marechal, founder of HAL-13, a game board publisher specifically interesting in connecting the gaming community to the world and challenges of wildlife conservation.
Our first game, Serengeti: A Race For Life is an attempt to raise players/consumers awareness to the importance of biodiversity, by emphasizing the need to study and protect a wide range of species, as a means to help the enrire ecosystem.
By joining this community, I’m hoping to gain useful insight into wildlife protection, to enrich my knowledge of this field, and feed it back into my game designs.
Applications of AR/MR for Wildlife Conservation
22 December 2017 6:10am
Pokemon Go concepts for wildlife conservation
14 July 2016 10:10am
14 July 2016 10:47am
Hi Gautam,
Really interesting idea, thanks for sharing the post. Although this isn't quite the expansive action plan identified in the piece, it reminded me of the #pokeblitz hashtag that's sprung up in parallel with the Pokemon Go frenzy. If you find an actual creature while playing #PokemonGO, you can tweet pic with #PokeBlitz & experts will help you identify it! It seems to me to be a nice first step for 'making pokemon go real'.
Cheers,
Steph
4 August 2016 5:26pm
'Pokémon-Go players could capture 400 years of wildlife sightings in 6 days' - what an incredible figure! Like you, @mygshah , and Jordan, Dr Tom August has also been thinking about how Pokemon go could be applied to conservation:
http://www.ceh.ac.uk/news-and-media/blogs/pok%C3%A9mon-go-players-could-capture-400-years-wildlife-sightings-6-days
6 August 2016 2:25am
Yes - good points in there about why traditional attempts at these attempts have hit a ceiling - we have some great approaches to that - will have some prototypes to share very soon, but happy to tell people about these ideas if interested.
Gaming with real data
4 January 2016 11:55am
25 October 2016 9:43am
Thanks Stephanie for giving it a go. It is most certainly very basic right now - hardly a game yet - but purposely left that way so as to leave a lot of space for feedback and ideas. We'll put out another version in a few weeks - what is promising is that a lot of the things we were thinking to do next align with a lot of the feedback that is coming in.