For 10 years, WILDLABS has shared information and knowledge exchange opportunities through articles, discussions, virtual and in-person events, and our newsletter. Many members of our community, including early-career professionals, those transitioning into the sector, and experts exploring new areas have asked for structured introductions to conservation technology and in-depth training on specialised topics like camera traps, bioacoustics, eDNA, and more.

With the support of Arm and the incredible work of Octophin Digital, we are excited to announce a new WILDLABS feature: courses! Starting today, all WILDLABS members can enroll in self-led learning courses by visiting our course catalogue. Choose the course that’s right for you, learn valuable skills at your own pace, connect with other participants in your course, and create new courses of your own!

WILDLABS courses are fully integrated with the platform, including The Inventory and existing WILDLABS content. Community members across all career stages and using all technology types can benefit from the discussions these courses generate and the connections formed between participants and instructors. With this new feature, we hope to continue being the go-to place for all things conservation technology.

Courses Available At Launch

We’re launching this new feature with seven courses, including three built just for WILDLABS by Meredith Palmer, and four externally hosted by Fauna & Flora!

• Introduction to Conservation Technology | Meredith Palmer: Uncover the complex role technology plays in biodiversity conservation.
• Introduction to Acoustic Monitoring | Meredith Palmer: Become familiarized with passive acoustic monitoring fundamentals for wildlife research and conservation.
• Camera Trapping for Conservation | Meredith Palmer & Kaitlyn Gaynor: Understand camera trap fundamentals for wildlife research and conservation.
• GIS E-learning Course 1: What is GIS and why should you care? | Chelsea Smith & Hattie Branson: Learn the fundamental theory behind GIS and why it's important in conservation.
• GIS E-learning Course 2: Introduction to QGIS | Chelsea Smith & Hattie Branson: Learn how to use the GIS desktop software QGIS, an open-source software that can be downloaded by anyone.
• GIS E-learning Course 3: Introduction to ArcGIS Pro | Chelsea Smith & Hattie Branson: Learn how to use the GIS desktop software ArcGIS Pro.
• GIS E-learning Course 4: Becoming Confident in Spatial Analysis & Geoprocessing | Chelsea Smith & Hattie Branson: Get an introduction to spatial analysis and geoprocessing and practice using these skills in real-world conservation examples.

Where can you find courses?

Courses can be found on the course catalogue page, which you can also now see under “Resources” in the main navigation menu. Browse our course catalogue to find a course that suits your interests, featured courses and a list of all courses posted by the community.

At launch, you’ll find courses on a variety of conservation technology topics, including camera traps, acoustics and GIS. As the catalogue continues to grow, you can search for courses and filter your search by technology tags, external vs. internal hosting, and course cost (free or paid).

How do you enroll on a course?

To enroll on a WILDLABS course, you will need to be a member. Login or register first before choosing from the catalogue. 

Once logged in, click on the course and select “Start this course", or just navigate to the first lesson. Read through the lesson content, and mark it as complete when you are finished. Once you have completed at least one lesson in a course, you are officially enrolled! Progress through and complete all the lessons to complete a course.

The courses you’re enrolled in will appear on your profile under “My Courses,” as well as at the top of the course catalogue. For internally hosted WILDLABS courses, you can keep track of your course progress and navigate to any lesson using the lesson numbers on the course banner.

How do you create a course? 

If you are interested in creating a conservation technology course on WILDLABS or sharing a course you host externally, check out “How to Create a WILDLABS Course.” Written by our platform and community support officer @JakeBurton, this short course will explain how to post courses and use course creation tools.

New Badges!

We are also introducing a shiny new set of badges related to completing and creating courses:

• Educator Badge: Achieved by publishing courses as an instructor.
• Learner Badge: Achieved by completing courses as a participant.
• Popular Professor Badge: Achieved by other members completing your courses.

Read the badges user guide to discover what other badges you can unlock.

Help shape the future of courses on WILDLABS

We want this feature to evolve and grow based on your needs. If you have suggestions for improvements or a request for courses you'd like to see, reach out to us! 

For any questions, you can contact community@wildlabs.net or Jake directly.

Stay tuned - more courses are coming soon!