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 & Fauna & Flora
I'm the Executive Manager at WILDLABS.
- 152 Resources
- 668 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
- 13 Resources
- 56 Discussions
- 24 Groups
- @EllieW
- | She/Her
- 64 Resources
- 124 Discussions
- 14 Groups
Researcher interested in the conservation of endemic anurans from arid High Andes. Focused on behavior, ecology, physiology, and reproduction studies. Education for conservation.
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 7 Groups
- @Gody
- | He
Godfrey Nyangaresi, a dedicated Protection Manager with 12+ years of wildlife conservation experience. Skilled in technologies, administration, and law enforcement, he leads protection efforts at STEP, ensuring the sustainable conservation of elephants in southern Tanzania.
- 0 Resources
- 3 Discussions
- 17 Groups
Director of Spatial Planning and Innovation Nature Conservancy of Canada
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 12 Groups
- @CarlosAbrahams
- | He/him
Baker Consultants
Director of Bioacoustics and Senior Lecturer
- 2 Resources
- 24 Discussions
- 4 Groups
WildTrack
Research, development and implementation of non-invasive montoring for endangered species
- 0 Resources
- 25 Discussions
- 12 Groups
- @kricherds
- | she/her
Technology advisor for social change
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 13 Groups
Octophin Digital
Director at Octophin Digital building things for wildlife conservation.
- 1 Resources
- 21 Discussions
- 2 Groups
- @RHugtenburg
- | He/They
Student at Aberystwyth University. Bug Fanatic🪲. Worked at Octophin Digital for my industrial year placement 🐙.
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 20 Groups
- @Mary_Waithira
- | she/her
I am a conservation enthusiast who aims at learning more about conservation and its technology. My research interests lie in wildlife conservation in anthropogenic landscapes.
- 1 Resources
- 1 Discussions
- 9 Groups
- @kara_birk
- | She/Her
Advancing the international partner engagement work of ABALOBI, a tech platform aimed at integrating small-scale fishers into information and resource networks.
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 8 Groups
- @Robincrocs
- | He/Him//El//Ele
Wildlife biologist, works with Caimans and Crocodiles
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 14 Groups
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 1 Groups
Article
Learn more about our new badges feature, including what badges are available and how to obtain them!
12 March 2024
We’re unveiling badges, a new feature that allows you to showcase how you’re involved in WILDLABS. Keep track of engagement, show off your collection, and maybe even engage in some friendly competition.
12 March 2024
Catch up on the conservation tech discussions and events that happened during World Wildlife Day 2024!
7 March 2024
WILDLABS was honoured to represent the global conservation technology sector on the world stage, joining the World Wildlife Day celebrations at the UN. As an invited speaker, Stephanie O'Donnell used her talk to share...
7 March 2024
Our team at WILDLABS has just been announced as the Canva Community Awards Campaign Champions Winner! 🎉 and we couldn't have done it without you!
5 March 2024
Do you have a solution to a global problem? Apply to Solve's Global Challenges, which are open to anyone, anywhere in the world between February to April each year.
4 March 2024
Whether you’re an aspiring or established entrepreneur, an early-stage startup, or a researcher, apply to the Project 71 – A Venture Competition for Ocean Regeneration. This competition is for you if you have a bold...
4 March 2024
Do you know anyone interested in this position? Let them know by sharing widely.
27 February 2024
Join the mission to help tackle IUU fishing with cutting-edge tech! The Allan Institute for AI is seeking a Senior Software Engineer to accelerate efforts to make sure those working to restore our ocean have the tools...
21 February 2024
Careers
Arribada is seeking a motivated Technical Research Officer to manage and co-ordinate the regular deployment, configuration and testing of conservation technologies developed for Operation Pangolin in Cameroon and Gabon.
21 February 2024
UNEP is hiring a Data Scientist to use internal and external data for evidence-based decision support by looking at trends, current data and predictions. The Data Scientist will support the accelerating and scaling...
15 February 2024
Data from the WILDLABS Awards 2024 submissions confirms what our State of Conservation Tech survey unveiled: women are an underrepresented group in conservation tech.
13 February 2024
June 2024
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August 2024
event
October 2024
June 2025
February 2023
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Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
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Hey @antoineede ,I am not sure about that yet video recordings are available or not but you can visit this: SMART Global Congress 2024 | BluePrismMay be here you will get some of... |
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Protected Area Management Tools, Community Base | 1 day 17 hours ago | |
Interesting. What kind of wildlife is conflicting the most where you are ? |
+272
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Community Base | 2 days 10 hours ago | |
Fantastic!! |
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Acoustics, AI for Conservation, Biologging, Build Your Own Data Logger Community, Community Base, Early Career, Ethics of Conservation Tech, Marine Conservation, Open Source Solutions | 5 seconds ago | |
Hi @Frank_van_der_Most thanks for flagging that old/broken link. I have updated it to send to this thread here - https://wildlabs.net/discussion/new-platform-help-troubleshooting-... |
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Community Base | 3 days 19 hours ago | |
It's still a choice to close your tabs. Closing all your tabs tends to get you to have to login again.However.... Despite the expiry date on the cookie. linkedin.com logs in... |
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Community Base | 6 days 17 hours ago | |
Thank you so much Alex! |
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Community Base | 1 week 3 days ago | |
Building on Frank's comments, I'd also think about including some conversation about the ethical use of technology - Trishant's talk at Tech Tutors a little while ago sparked a... |
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Community Base, Conservation Tech Training and Education, Early Career | 1 week 4 days ago | |
We'll be presenting Wednesday morning as part of session 10.1b on "Integrating earth observations and biological tools in ecology and evolution to cogenerate knowledge towards... |
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Community Base, Biologging | 2 weeks 4 days ago | |
I noticed the site being annoyingly slow some time last week. Thank you for clearing that up, for finding the cause and solving the issue.I'm not claiming deep knowledge on AI,... |
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Community Base | 1 month 1 week ago | |
Hello Ms Esther👋Thank you for taking your time to reply to me with such helpful response.I'm interested in conservation technology such as camera traps, GIS and Remote sensing,... |
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Early Career, East Africa Community, Community Base | 1 month 2 weeks ago | |
Hi Soumya , Interested to know if you are pursuing distance education in ML while at your current job. I would love to hear more about your journey on course specifics... |
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Community Base, Early Career | 1 month 2 weeks ago | |
Totally agree.Inititally sceptical until I saw Helena and Graeme were involved.MJ |
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Acoustics, Citizen Science, Community Base, Human-Wildlife Conflict | 1 month 2 weeks ago |
Survey: Cons Tech Needs Assessment
28 July 2020 7:17pm
Fun Quiz Alert: What Conservation Tech Tool Are You?
16 July 2020 7:40pm
17 July 2020 8:54pm
Got a drone myself
Tech Tutors Happy Hour: Thursday, July 16th
10 July 2020 6:22pm
13 July 2020 2:13am
Oh cool. Looking forward to the happy hour! I'm curious just to chat and virtually eavesdrop.
WILDLABS Community Survey Input: Ideas for 2020?
24 April 2020 4:29am
Survey: Conservation Tech Applications in Vietnam
23 April 2020 4:30am
Any experts on Amazonian deforestation?
14 April 2020 3:00am
Conservation Technology Database
18 July 2019 4:42pm
27 August 2019 9:51am
Are you familiar with the Conservation Evidence database? https://www.conservationevidence.com/
It is a searchable database of conservation actions (including but not limited to technological solutions), categorised by effectiveness with relevant references. To me it sounds a lot like what you are looking for.
13 April 2020 5:56pm
I wasn't familiar but thank you for sharing this!
SURVEY: “Science and technology application for Wildlife Conservation”
13 April 2020 5:21am
Con X Tech Prize: Funding for early-stage conservation tech ideas
2 April 2020 3:51pm
A community response to help support the Australian bushfire crisis
4 January 2020 11:01pm
13 January 2020 5:02am
Hi Tom,
okay good news, Aaron's been able to track down the designs for you. He's going to drop them in the slack chat - he'll be the person you can ask questions if needed as well.
Steph
18 February 2020 10:17am
Hi all,
I've put together a short list (below) that I've pulled from the Slack channel related to long term and short term projects that were noted or posted.
It's clear that one need is to identify if a quarterly meeting (to see where various projects are vs start anything new) is needed, or that we see if anyone in the community is able fill a voluntary co-ordination role to check up on various projects. One thing at the back of my mind is to look at this from the perspective that if new fires start at scale what could we have in place, or how could we react. That may drive forward a few ideas and help us to focus on what we can do in the short term as there are plenty of project discussions around physical water feeders etc.
Here's what I got from the Slack channel;
Long term
- Work with Conservation Volunteers Australia to establish projects suitable for volunteers, especially things that can be done remotely, but also out in the field.
- Develop a small but skilled and experienced "brains trust" that can provide input for any environmental project / organisation which needs 'tech smarts' but doesn't have them in house.
Short term
- Australian Citizen Science Association - short term priorities are replacing lost nest boxes and getting more she-oaks in the ground. That has to start happening soon to be useful for the 2020 breeding season (the boxes, not the trees obviously).
- Continue to assess recovery program staff needs and the recovery team's priorities
- Zooniverse want to test ALA data sharing, using air quality data can involve remote volunteers without danger
- Setting up field cameras in burnt areas, to identify remaining wildlife or ferals (Zooniverse, ALA/DigiVol)
- Recording wildlife water point or feed locations and monitoring for maintenance, ie refills. (Kobo, other app?
- Setting up shelter tunnels in burnt areas - and recording locations, with possible addition of field cameras (Zooniverse, ALA/Digivol).
****
2 April 2020 3:35pm
Hello everyone. I hope you're well and your friends and families are safe during the Covid-19 crisis. I know that many of us are out of sync during the shut downs around the world so it isn't the easiest of times to think back on the bush fires, but also at the back of mind is the recurrence again and the recovery still underway / getting ahead of time with solutions. There is however a new opportunity that has come to light. The Australian Government has opened an application form for a $100k - £1m grant, with the desc;
The Wildlife and Habitat Bushfire Recovery Program will provide funding to support the immediate survival and long-term recovery and resilience for fire-affected Australian animals, plants, ecological communities and other natural assets and their cultural values for Indigenous Australians.
This may be the opportunity we need to move forward and progress some of the ideas we all noted. We will need Oz group WildLABS orgs and contacts on the ground, but if feel you have the capacity at this time to support a submission and be a part of it, then get in touch.
Bipod suggestion
28 March 2020 9:31am
COVID19 VIRTUAL HACKATHON, MARCH 26-30
26 March 2020 6:02pm
Is this group still live?
2 January 2019 5:09pm
15 January 2019 5:14pm
Hi,
So I have found out that Zoohackathon may actually happen in June 2019 this year, which is earlier than normal. I'm meeting with the US Embassy w/c 28th Jan and hope to find out more then and will follow up after,
Soph
16 January 2019 6:40pm
Fantastic news. Do keep me updated as I excited to commit to this.
20 February 2020 12:18am
Hello!
I'm new here, so I've missed these past events. I would love to hear about any upcoming hackathons :)
Innovate for Wildlife and People Challenge - Deadline February 24
20 December 2019 6:36pm
31 January 2020 1:06pm
Hi Everyone -
This Innovation Challenge is now open for Project Ideas, so if you are interested please go ahead and read more on the Challenge page here, where you will also find the link to Sign Up as a Project Leader or download a PDF that shows the application template and the background to the challenge.
We really welcome any ideas that fit the challenge description, and if you engage, we will have a chance to also further develop your Project idea during the review phase, based on feedback by a global community of subject-matter experts.
https://impactio.global/innovate-for-wildlife-and-people-challenge
Any questions, I am here! Anna
CAPSULE- World’s Largest Hackathon for Conservation
21 January 2020 1:17pm
내려 anigana.co.kr/sandz/ - 샌즈카지노
16 January 2020 12:15pm
Webinar: The Business of Saving the Planet: Technology, Innovation & Intelligence in Conservation, Jan 7
20 December 2019 4:32pm
An Engineer’s Experience at International Congress for Conservation Biology (ICCB)
18 November 2019 10:16am
Download the WILDLABS Community Review 2018-19
30 October 2019 12:00am
Dan Pallotta is hosting a complimentary workshop in NYC on Nov 6th for nonprofit board membership engagement.
17 October 2019 3:32pm
An ICCB newbie's experience
10 October 2019 12:32pm
WILDLABS Virtual Meetup Series: Season Three
24 September 2019 10:01am
WILDLABS Virtual Meetup Series – Season 3
5 September 2019 1:04am
The future of conservation tech: 5 key discussions
22 August 2019 5:31pm
27 August 2019 12:47pm
Who, who, who?
Steph! Steph! Steph!
27 August 2019 12:51pm
Ha! Not likely. I suspect this might be a little beyond just one person. But I will do my bit to pull the threads together and nudge things along..
27 August 2019 9:24pm
Hi Steph - as a career technologist now looking to see how I can engage my skills and experience in the world of conservation technology, this is pretty interesting review of the state of play right now.
All organisations (commercial, government, not-for-profits, military and other services ) struggle with the question of how and when to deploy technology as part of their overall systems of operation and how then to ensure that they reap the expected benefits. It's not simple, there is rarely if ever a perfect solution of any scope and longevity but of course many organisations do garner very significant beneifts from the efficient use of mainstream technologies and the innovative use of unusual or emerging technologies.
A few quick remarks spring to mind from your notes:
1) The Gartner hype cycle - it's a pretty useful visualisation (much of the latter part of my career was spent trying to guide technologies targeted at large enterprises from the "early adopter" to the "mainstream" stages) and most useful for helping a tech user to decide what kind of user they should be in their current context and where the technologies that are coming under consideration fall on that cycle of maturity. A mismatch ? Then take care ...
2) Conservation tech is not a washing machine - well that depends. I imagine there are a number of different techs and projects and the "washing machine" status will vary. If you know that the tech you NEED to meet your project aims is unproven, don't expect a washing machine level of ease of use ! If you think you're deploying a mainstream tech, then DO expect a "washing machine". As an example, if you buy and deploy a simple camera trap, you expect a good manual (albeit developed for the manufacturer's target market, which may be hunters in the USA) and you expect the device to operate in accordance with the manual. If you're deploying a set of networked sensors that will use AI in real time to detect and interact with animals in the environment - don't expect a smooth ride. In fact in this latter case, proving the technology may be one of the objectives of the study, whereas in the former, the data being collected was the required resource for the study objectives.
3) System engineering and enterprise architecture are the two disciplines that organisation use to try to get their whole tech strategy and execution to work to meet their goals. Done well, it means that the business goals are identified and understood and the allocation of tasks between people and different techs is optimally made for performance and cost effectiveness. It's how to ensure a well balanced overall system and process approach. It's an area that been studied and there are methods for implementing this discipline. In fact, if I then add there are many, many methods for implementation, you may realise that it's a problem that's easily stated and less easily solved, but still is generally better that having a splash on the latest shiny tech and hoping for the best.
4) There will be trends, experiences and best practices that can be shared, but naturally these emerge as technologies mature - nobody knows best practice the first time and innovators will also necessarily face unique challenges. However defining some ontologies or frameworks to help record and structure experiences may very well be worthwhile
Andy
Calling all makers, hackers and tinkerers
23 August 2019 7:33pm
Breaking Bio: A Youtube Platform for Promotion of Diversity in Conservation and Youth Empowerment
20 August 2019 4:45pm
Discussion: 5 Ways To Advance Conservation Entrepreneurship
29 July 2019 6:42pm
29 July 2019 7:15pm
I'll start.
My current thinking is that social-change is impractical to achieve directly. I think that ultimately, we cannot start by depending on human altruism and changing view points because economic issues such as poverty are too prevalent, especially where lots of habitat destruction occurs (Brasil gold mining, illegal logging, unsustainable palm oil farming). Economic incentive must be the primary driver. People must be able to make more money using sustainable approaches than they do with the unsustainable. For that, the sustainable approaches must be more efficient or serve a larger market. I'm not set in this thinking by any means, but it seems to me be a strong viewpoint. It's pure business.
That said, I think conservation efforts should be focused on doing that business development worldwide and one place for biologists would be in ensuring that the production being done is actually sustianable. The kinds of business development might be "clean gold", another example is the Brasil nuts that are produced by an indigenous forest community. How many more businesses like Brasil nuts can we produce? Can we make sustainable wood cheaper/better than unsustainable?
I think the most important issue to address is "How do we choke unsustainable supply chains?"
Virtual Meetup Discussion: Tools and Spaces for Collaboration
8 May 2019 12:55pm
14 May 2019 7:46pm
24 June 2019 2:27pm
Could you enable a download so I can watch while I am offline.
I think zoom have an option to enable the download button.
18 July 2019 10:46pm
Unfortunately, we're not set up to enable download for video recordings at the moment, but we do plan to upload shorter clips of each presentation to YouTube in the near future. We could also potentially make an audio-only version available for download if that would be of interest?
Are you headed to ICCB 2019?
12 July 2019 11:53am
18 July 2019 3:07am
Hi Steph,
Thanks for starting this thread. I'll be at ICCB too. I am presenting on social and organisational aspects of implementing technologies for protected area management and security on Tuesday 23rd at the session starting 11:45. Would love to join the meetups as well!
18 July 2019 3:19am
Yay! Will you also be at the pre-conference short course?
18 July 2019 3:39am
Oh yes I forgot to mention, I will be at the University of Nottingham campus on Saturday too.
Looking for field researchers and conservationists to interview about conservation roadblocks.
5 July 2019 5:13pm
29 July 2020 3:17am
Done. Good luck with the survey :)