Sensors already equip a range of tools to enhance monitoring capacity for conservation. Some of the higher bandwidth technologies, like camera traps and acoustic monitoring systems, have been essential elements of the conservation toolkit for decades, and thus have enough users that we've created dedicated WILDLABS groups to address them. But a whole range of lower bandwidth sensors beyond these core technologies are being increasingly integrated into conservation monitoring systems, and offer rich new insights into the wildlife and ecosystems we're all working to protect. As with many technologies, cost and access have historically been challenges to the adoption of new sensors, but with low-cost and open-source solutions on the rise, we're excited to see what the future of this space holds.
Getting Started with Sensors:
- Watch Shah Selbe's Tech Tutors episode on scaling FieldKit, an open-source conservation sensor toolbox, from a project to a successful conservation tech product.
- Check out our Virtual Meetup about Low-Cost, Open-Source Solutions in conservation tech, including a talk by Alasdair Davies on the Arribada Initiative's work with thermal sensors in early warning systems.
- For a more in-depth introduction, watch the first video in our datalogger mini-series: Freaklabs: How do I get started with Arduino?
In this group, you'll meet others who are using and innovating diverse sensors in their work, discuss ways to make sensors more effective & accessible for conservationists, learn about what sensors are already helping us accomplish in the field, and have the opportunity to ask and answer questions. Join this group to get started!
Header image: Emma Vogel, University of Tromsø
- @Jackeline
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- @RHugtenburg
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Student at Aberystwyth University. Bug Fanatic🪲. Worked at Octophin Digital for my industrial year placement 🐙.
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Arm
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- @Robincrocs
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Wildlife biologist, works with Caimans and Crocodiles
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International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
Key Biodiversity Areas Programme Officer, IUCN
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Simeone Consulting
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Wildlife researcher
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TechnoSmArt
I am an ornithologist, have been working with GPS tracking of both seabirds and terrestrial birds. I have been involved also in conservation projects in Italy, Chile and Ecuador
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- @magali
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Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Postdoctoral researcher at Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
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Careers
Permanent and Full Time role at the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
8 June 2023
In this Conservation Tech Showcase case study from Fieldkit, you'll learn how accessible tools are revolutionizing environmental monitoring through innovative sensor technology.
23 May 2023
Welcome to our new Conservation Tech Showcase, a series highlighting innovative and impactful projects from outstanding organizations around the world.
11 May 2023
The Zoological Society of London, with the support of WILDLABS and the UK Space Agency, are proud to publish this new guide to satellite technologies for tracking wildlife.
17 February 2023
Technology to End the Sixth Mass Extinction. Salary: $104k-144K; Location: Washington DC or Seattle WA, potential hybrid; 5+ years of Full stack development experience; Deadline March 15th - view post for full job...
10 February 2023
Frontiers in Conservation Science is calling for submissions for a Research Topic that aims at examining the paradoxical relationship that has been established in recent years between the flagships of new technology...
10 February 2023
Are you excited by the potential for new technologies to help monitor the natural world? Do you enjoy communicating your passion for technology and nature with diverse audiences? We are seeking an enthusiastic...
2 February 2023
Consultancy opportunity at ZSL for an experienced monitoring specialist to support species monitoring in rewilding landscapes across Europe
31 January 2023
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
As the FieldKit hardware ecosystem grows, Conservify is seeking a Junior Electrical Engineer to assist with testing, troubleshooting, prototype development, and developing production test fixtures for our growing...
9 December 2022
Careers
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...
9 December 2022
February 2023
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101 Products
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69 Organisations
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Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
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Hi Tony, I'm leading a cross disciplinary group of researchers at Deakin University in Australia to build new technology for monitoring wildlife and engage citizen scientists... |
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Sensors | 6 years 1 month ago | |
The current project is in open plains. From a handler perspective the distance will be from 20m -100m. I will be working at night so it will be looking for me target, the Plains... |
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Sensors | 6 years 2 months ago | |
@hikinghack used twitter to flag a thread on hackteria that members of this group might be interested in about DIY time-lapse soil... |
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Sensors | 6 years 2 months ago | |
Also if you are still looking for a solution this was published earlier this year and gives recommendations for soundscape microphones : http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10... |
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Sensors | 6 years 7 months ago | |
If anything belongs in the 'have you seen this' group, it's this project: Researchers at Binghamton University have created... |
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Sensors | 6 years 8 months ago | |
The University of Washington is reporting that they've shattered the long-range communications barrier for devices that consume almost... |
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Sensors | 6 years 8 months ago | |
My own experience is with the FLIR iphone attachment, just informal testing, but hasn't been that great at finding animals. I also think it would work better in the... |
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Sensors | 6 years 9 months ago | |
The European Space Agency have an exciting funding opportunity coming up and got in touch with us to ask that we share it with you,... |
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Sensors | 6 years 11 months ago | |
Hi Steph Sure - we'll have the projects confirmed by 30 June and I can highlight ones that might be of interest! Jenny |
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Sensors | 6 years 11 months ago | |
For those interested: in the acoustics channel I have posted news on our sound event recognition sensor, using conv-net: https://... |
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Sensors | 7 years 1 month ago | |
Hi Thomas We are mapping a very small area in real time. The data rate is controlled by the time it take to read all the DS18B20s. The logger I use in the Octogons is using... |
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Sensors | 7 years 2 months ago | |
For good measure, here's some cave survey porn of Hang Son Doong cave in China. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOH4gbW18Ts |
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Sensors | 7 years 2 months ago |
Southern right whale superpod blows a hole in the record books
22 November 2018 12:00am
A technologist's journey to protect wildlife: The reality and potential of conservation technology (recorded talk)
22 November 2018 12:00am
WILDLABS Virtual Meetup: Networked Sensors for Security and HWC Prevention
12 November 2018 12:00am
WILDLABS Virtual Meetup Recording: Next Generation Wildlife Tracking
12 November 2018 12:00am
Tusk Conservation Lecture 2018: Ted Schmitt
15 October 2018 12:00am
Underwater Robot Trained to Kill Coral-Destroying Reef Starfish
18 September 2018 12:00am
Next Generation Animal Tracking Ideation Challenge
14 September 2018 12:00am
Thermal imaging, drones, and sea turtles: a case study using FLIR’s new Duo Pro R camera
23 August 2018 12:00am
How to share data on species to help conserve them… whilst avoiding them being exploited by poachers
20 August 2018 12:00am
Ocean Hack: San Francisco, 10-11th September, 2018
20 August 2018 12:00am
Thermal Sensor Project Update: Testing with live animals at the San Diego Zoo
27 July 2018 12:00am
HWC Tech Challenge: Smart Electric Fence Solution
5 June 2018 12:00am
From drone swarms to tree batteries, new tech is revolutionising ecology and conservation
9 May 2018 12:00am
Eddy Expedition Log: Characterizing Eddies
23 April 2018 12:00am
HWC Tech Challenge: Thermopile Sensor Project
19 April 2018 12:00am
Eddy Expedition Log: Chasing Eddies
10 April 2018 12:00am
What technologies could help us monitor cave invertebrates?
23 July 2016 8:44am
9 April 2018 2:35am
Hi Tony, I'm leading a cross disciplinary group of researchers at Deakin University in Australia to build new technology for monitoring wildlife and engage citizen scientists with collecting data.
We have designed a video trap for monitoring reptiles and amphibians, that uses constant video and has some on-board AI to not save video with nothing in it. Works day and night (UV illumination at night), but uses a lot of power so we have a battery and solar panel arrangement. I expect this could be easily adapted to monitor cave fauna. Let me know if you already have a solution or want to discuss idea further.
Don Driscoll
Thermal imaging scopes
26 March 2018 9:26pm
27 March 2018 2:20pm
Hi Luke,
I'll leave specific recommendations to others who are better qualified ( @Eric+Becker @Rachel+Kramer or @Alasdair - maybe you can advise?) but I did come across something yesterday that may be relevant.
There is a live GroupGets campaign on at the moment (2 days left) for DIY-theromocam kits - not a scope but could do the trick if your budget is restricted as it's under $300 and you're willing to dabble in DIY?
The DIY-Thermocam is a do-it-yourself infrared camera, based on the FLIR Lepton long-wave infrared sensor and the popular Teensy 3.6 ARM Cortex M4 MCU.
The aim of this project is to give private persons, educational institutes and companies access to a portable, affordable and customizable thermal imaging plattform.
There are various applications like finding heat leaks in the insulation of buildings, the analysis of electrical or mechanical components, the detection of persons / animals or even mounting it on a drone, together with the additional video out module.
Constructed as a self-assembly solution, the DIY-Thermocam allows you to take advantage of the versatile possibilities of thermal imaging and to save money at one go.
Everything, from software to hardware, is completely open-source. This allows everyone to modify or extend the functionalities of the device to their own needs.
GroupGets does now offer a complete self-assembly kit, so you don't have to worry about buying all the parts on your own.
A scientific paper is also available, giving an overview about the whole project and its capabilities.
Update: haraldg has written a nice set of tools for post-processing the thermal raw data files. Check it out here. He also published a short article about manual calibration here.
3 April 2018 3:39pm
Hi @Luke_edwards - I just had a chat with my colleagues @Eric+Becker and @ColbyLoucks at WWF who will get back to you with some recommendations from experience with the thermal scopes that we've explored for anti-poaching (FLIR TK and SCOUT III).
Great to see that you're pairing conservation dogs and thermal imaging for wildlife surveys in Australia. In order to select the most cost-effective thermal imaging scope for your needs, it's important to know the range that you require, density of vegetation and size of the species you are monitoring. Can you share a bit more information on your parameters?
3 April 2018 11:03pm
The current project is in open plains. From a handler perspective the distance will be from 20m -100m. I will be working at night so it will be looking for me target, the Plains Wanderer, a small bird. Also it would be used to see other native and domestic animals in the area.
Other projects range from open plains through to rain forests.
The Plant-Powered Camera Trap Challenge
3 April 2018 12:00am
Eddy Expedition Log: Setting Off to Explore Eddies
3 April 2018 12:00am
Hacking together DIY time-lapse soil cameras
29 March 2018 11:35am
#Tech4Wildlife Photo Challenge 2018: Our Top 10
3 March 2018 12:00am
Landsense Innovation Challenge
19 February 2018 12:00am
Technology Empowered Conservation Lecture Series
18 January 2018 12:00am
Instant Detect 2.0: A Connected Future for Conservation
17 January 2018 12:00am
Congratulations to Zoohackathon winners, team ODINN!
6 December 2017 12:00am
FIT Cheetahs
4 December 2017 12:00am
How The San Diego Zoo Is Using AI And Drones To Save Polar Bears
30 November 2017 12:00am
RaspberryPI
5 March 2016 7:35am
20 May 2016 11:10pm
Pi Zero get a little upgrade... Anyone need a camera trap?
http://petapixel.com/2016/05/19/5-raspberry-pi-zero-now-camera-compatible/
11 October 2017 10:09am
Hi All,
just sharing this for all those Raspberry Pi beginners like me, 91% off a training bundle
https://deals.thenextweb.com/sales/complete-raspberry-pi-3-2
2 November 2017 6:02pm
Also if you are still looking for a solution this was published earlier this year and gives recommendations for soundscape microphones : http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/2041-210X.12678/full
HWC Tech Challenge Winners Announced
1 November 2017 12:00am
31 March 2023 2:15pm