WILDLABS logo

WILDLABS logo

Group

Open Source Solutions / Feed

This group is a place to share low-cost, open-source devices for conservation; describe how they are being used, including what needs they are addressing and how they fit in to the wider conservation tech market; identify the obstacles in advancing the capacity of these technologies; and to discuss the future of these solutions - particularly their sustainability and how best to collaborate moving forward.

careers

Senior Software Engineer

Lindsay Starke

9 December 2022 5:01pm

Conservify is seeking a hands-on Senior Software Engineer with front end and back end experience developing rich web and mobile applications, and a strong desire to build a best-in-class product that stands out in both...

0
See full post
discussion

Picking up signal of GPS tag

Sol Milne

10 November 2022 11:29am

Hi all! Has anyone been able to collect any ID information from a GPS tag, by circling above with a drone? Thinking about FAD detection at sea.Thanks!

5 0
Sol Milne

16 November 2022 10:54am

Thanks Carly! I've been in awe of what Wildlife Drones is doing, but as you say my work at the moment is focussed on existing GPS units rather than telemetry for tracking. I'll still reach out & ask though. Thanks for your help! :)

Sol Milne

16 November 2022 10:55am

Hi Kim! Thanks for sharing, this is really interesting! I'll check out the website & see what I can find out about the mechanics of the device. Thanks again!

Thomas Gray

21 November 2022 5:25pm

Hey Sol, 

The only way for you to collect information from a GPS tag attached to a FAD is if that tag transmits that data to the drone. Unfortunately most receiver packages are a bit too large for hobbyist-style drones (from what I've seen). 

Depending on the range/distance from shore, you might be able to have a shore-based receiver system?  

See full post
discussion

Software to aid acoustic sound files visualization/labelling + Software to syncronize video/acoustic sonograms

Adrià Lopez

23 September 2022 1:01pm

Hi everybody!I am currently trying to figure out if there is any open-source software that could improve our citizen science project on bat monitoring in Europe (and potentially...

4 1
Colin Cook

8 October 2022 12:44am

I would also recommend Arbimon. It is well set up to handle Audiomoth recordings. Being cloud based, you will need a good internet connection for sound file upload. I'm just starting to investigate its use for Song Scope recordings. Setting up the call recognisers will be a slow process, but they can be made available to all users once done.

Matthew Stanton

8 October 2022 7:33am

You could try using a video editor like DaVinci for looking at your video and audio together. I don't think DaVinci displays sonograms by default (just waveform) but I think it will open your selected audio in an external editor which would allow you to see the sonograms and make measurements with something like Audacity or Kaleidoscope.

Pshemek Zdroik

20 October 2022 11:01am

The open-source program Audacity can show the spectrograms and histograms and has quite a lot of other useful features, e.g. playing ultrasound calls slower, so it can be heard by people. 

See full post
discussion

Conservation Tech Directory - new update!

Carly Batist

29 August 2022 2:38pm

New directory update from @gracieermi & I! And an extra special one as we've just passed our 1-year anniversary! Super exciting to see how far this has come! Check it out:...

2 2
Liz Ferguson

23 September 2022 5:26pm

Congrats on the milestone Carly and Gracie!

See full post
Link

How To Use An Arduino – Beginners Guide

Ellie Warren

1 September 2022 10:02pm

For anyone interested in WILDLABS' Build Your Own Data Logger course, this beginner's guide to Arduino may be a valuable resource! This page also includes links to other relevant resources on Arduino language and getting started with Arduino software for the first time.

1
careers

Conservation Technology Research Internship

Meredith Palmer

26 August 2022 4:58pm

Boost cons tech capacity at an international NGO! Fauna & Flora International is offering a paid three-month internship to consolidate and share best practices for the application of emerging hardware and software...

2
See full post
article

CERES TAG

Kim Lane

22 July 2022 3:36am

Ceres Tag sends just in time alerts and GPS location to have the power to track and trace.

3
See full post
discussion

How can open source tools make conservation tech more sustainable and accessible?

Ellie Warren

30 June 2022 6:56pm

Open source tools help our community think of creative solutions, share resources, and make conservation tech tools more affordable and accessible for everyone. All of that means...

1 1
David Savage

1 July 2022 4:14pm

I've been working with a current visiting scholar who's from China and has been interested in getting started with some acoustic monitoring studies when he goes back to China later this year. I've been working with him to try to figure out some options (with some help from folks met through Wildlabs!) but the name-brand stuff from Wildlife Acoustics is more than double what it would be in the states once customs and imports and exchange rates are taken into account. Open-source solutions that can be manufactured on the ground in countries where we're trying to do work can avoid many of those costs, support local economies, and even be good for the environment to the extent that you're avoiding the (minimal but non-zero) emissions of shipping stuff all over the place.

See full post
discussion

Self-powered Buoy collecting vital sensor data -- Looking for conservation projects to collaborate with

Aadithya Prakash

18 May 2022 6:28am

Hey all! I work for a company called Sofar Ocean Technologies that is doing really cool work in the ocean conservation world and I'm interested in getting them to collaborate more...

3 0
Jaishanker Nair

3 June 2022 7:19am

Hello Aadithya,

Excited to hear about your marine acoustics outreach. I am interested to explore the possibilities of collaborative work on this line.

One of my doctoral scholars is about to submit his thesis on terrestrial acoustic studies. Please respond to [email protected] (as I may likely miss responses if any, send to this group). 

Regards

Jaishanker

Aadithya Prakash

14 June 2022 11:46am

Hi Jaishanker, I just reached out to over email, apologies for the delay. We are interested in working with underwater hydrophones and this might be of use in your specific case study. Bristlemouth's timeline is still being created, but we're hoping to have devkits ready closer to the end of this year. I'm happy to chat more to learn about the specific research you are doing and how we can best help!

Carly Batist

21 June 2022 10:49pm

If you're looking to identify collaborators - probably lots of organizations listed in the Conservation Tech Directory would be interested (quick prelim search yields orgs like Echospace, European Tracking Network, FACT network, IMOS, IOOS, other tracking networks like that, USA's NEON, eOceans, Oceans+)! Also org's like Blue Ventures, Save our Seas (run acoustic tracking array), MBON (run Biotrack) come to mind. 

See full post
discussion

Apply to the 2022 GOSH Gathering in Panamá!

briannaljohns

29 March 2022 9:46pm

The Gathering for Open Science Hardware (GOSH) community is excited to announce that applications to attend the 2022 GOSH Gathering are now open! The Gathering will be held at...

1 0
briannaljohns

26 April 2022 11:01am

There are only a few days left to apply to the 2022 Gathering for Open Science Hardware! Join a community of scientists, hardware developers, artists, and activists working together on open hardware for science!

See full post
article

Deep Learning for Marine Ecology and Conservation

arXiv (Journal)

20 December 2021 12:00am

This article provides a review of deep learning (predominantly ML) used in marine ecology and considerations for its future directions in conservation. In plain language, the authors provide a methodology for training...

0
See full post
article

Identification of Wildlife in Camera Trap Images

MDPI (Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute - Journal)

20 December 2021 12:00am

Camera trap wildlife surveys can generate vast amounts of imagery. A key problem in the wildlife ecology field is that vast amounts of time is spent reviewing this imagery to identify the species detected. Valuable...

0
See full post
event

How do I get started with OpenCollar Edge Trackers?

Tim van Dam

27 October 2021 12:00am

In this Tech Tutors episode, Tim van Dam, answers the question, How do I get started with OpenCollar Edge Trackers? In this episode, Tim will introduce the OpenCollar edge trackers and give a live demo of how the new...

0
See full post
event

How do I turn a conservation tech project into a product?

Shah Selbe

20 October 2021 12:00am

In this Tech Tutors episode, Shah Selbe answered the question, How do I turn a conservation tech project into a product? In this episode, he discusses how to scale an innovative conservation tech project into a product...

0
See full post
discussion

What would an open source conservation technology toolkit look like?

Akiba

23 March 2019 1:50am

Hi. We've had a nice discussion about this topic in a different thread and I wanted to break it out into a separate discussion thread. For context, here is the previous...

23 0
Nigel Cartmell

28 April 2021 1:58am

Hi Akiba, [not sure if I'm on the right thread]

The Open-Source Tech Toolkit would need a repository for designs & specifcations. Regarding the latter, I'm a Technical Editor for a specification company. The format we use for the architecture & construction industry is suitable for any discipline [e.g. teaching students how to write a spec using our format/proforma they're given a task to write "how to tie their shoe laces"].

A specification defines qualities & standards (e.g. ISO, IEC). Drawings illustrate locations & quantity. Drawings are normally referenced back to the specification clauses.

I'd like to write an example of a specification for the Wildlogger, which will cover the many options for sensors, including references to approved/tested sensors and [if necessary] how they should be calibrated.

Looking over the horizon, what is the best repository for such Toolkit drawings and specifications?

If demand was large enough, and funding available, the company I work for could host the specifications and I'd maintain them full-time: There would be many advantages using our database over MS Word-based system.

 

Best Regards,

Nigel 

  

 

Akiba

28 April 2021 2:50am

Hi Nigel. 
That's a very kind offer. I think currently github is the main repository I use for those kinds of documents. I like your idea and it'd be great to expand WildLogger out to a full featured data logger. The original intent of the design was as an educational tool to learn the programming concepts, but I didn't expect that people would deploy them in actual scientific applications. It's really cool. 

As for specs and hosting, I'd actually prefer to keep them on github which is a popular platform and gets around the funding side of things. I've dealt with formal software specs and requirements in a previous corporate life but I think the scope of many of the projects we are undertaking is small enough that formal specs might not be needed. For the scale you're thinking, you might want to discuss with the Society for Conservation Biology or the larger organizations that are trying to plan out a roadmap for conservation biology. 

Akiba

Nigel Cartmell

28 April 2021 10:52am

Hi Akiba,

Just found out from the marketing dept at my work the cost to host multiple specs - very expensive [$NZ 7K-10K].

Host it on GitHub for starters then. I'm a newbie to GitHub, so it's an opportunity to become familiar with it.

I'll begin by drafting a specification for the the Wildlogger with various peripherals/sensors other groups are testing for different scientific applications. It would be a standalone document in MS Word with hyperlinks to other docs, electronics suppliers, methodologies e.g. for calibrating sensors etc.

The doc will evolve over time, no doubt inform future development for the Wildlogger, possibly resulting in new variants. Knowledge won't be lost in the ether.

Nigel

See full post