With new technologies revolutionizing data collection, wildlife researchers are becoming increasingly able to collect data at much higher volumes than ever before. Now we are facing the challenges of putting this information to use, bringing the science of big data into the conservation arena. With the help of machine learning tools, this area holds immense potential for conservation practices. The applications range from online trafficking alerts to species-specific early warning systems to efficient movement and biodiversity monitoring and beyond.
However, the process of building effective machine learning tools depends upon large amounts of standardized training data, and conservationists currently lack an established system for standardization. How to best develop such a system and incentivize data sharing are questions at the forefront of this work. There are currently multiple AI-based conservation initiatives, including Wildlife Insights and WildBook, that are pioneering applications on this front.
This group is the perfect place to ask all your AI-related questions, no matter your skill level or previous familiarity! You'll find resources, meet other members with similar questions and experts who can answer them, and engage in exciting collaborative opportunities together.
Just getting started with AI in conservation? Check out our introduction tutorial, How Do I Train My First Machine Learning Model? with Daniel Situnayake, and our Virtual Meetup on Big Data. If you're coming from the more technical side of AI/ML, Sara Beery runs an AI for Conservation slack channel that might be of interest. Message her for an invite.
Header Image: Dr Claire Burke / @CBurkeSci
Explore the Basics: AI
Understanding the possibilities for incorporating new technology into your work can feel overwhelming. With so many tools available, so many resources to keep up with, and so many innovative projects happening around the world and in our community, it's easy to lose sight of how and why these new technologies matter, and how they can be practically applied to your projects.
Machine learning has huge potential in conservation tech, and its applications are growing every day! But the tradeoff of that potential is a big learning curve - or so it seems to those starting out with this powerful tool!
To help you explore the potential of AI (and prepare for some of our upcoming AI-themed events!), we've compiled simple, key resources, conversations, and videos to highlight the possibilities:
Three Resources for Beginners:
- Everything I know about Machine Learning and Camera Traps, Dan Morris | Resource library, camera traps, machine learning
- Using Computer Vision to Protect Endangered Species, Kasim Rafiq | Machine learning, data analysis, big cats
- Resource: WildID | WildID
Three Forum Threads for Beginners:
- I made an open-source tool to help you sort camera trap images | Petar Gyurov, Camera Traps
- Batch / Automated Cloud Processing | Chris Nicolas, Acoustic Monitoring
- Looking for help with camera trapping for Jaguars: Software for species ID and database building | Carmina Gutierrez, AI for Conservation
Three Tutorials for Beginners:
- How do I get started using machine learning for my camera traps? | Sara Beery, Tech Tutors
- How do I train my first machine learning model? | Daniel Situnayake, Tech Tutors
- Big Data in Conservation | Dave Thau, Dan Morris, Sarah Davidson, Virtual Meetups
Want to know more about AI, or have your specific machine learning questions answered by experts in the WILDLABS community? Make sure you join the conversation in our AI for Conservation group!
- @tmcgrath
- | He / Him
Geographer, Program Manager, Engineering Manager
- 0 Resources
- 1 Discussions
- 11 Groups
A Marine Conservationist based in Malaysia
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 5 Groups
- @lqmeyers
- | he/him
Graduate Student Researcher interested in computer vision, agro-ecology, and sustainability.
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 4 Groups
Snow Leopard Trust
- 0 Resources
- 44 Discussions
- 6 Groups
- @jcturn3
- | He/Him
Colorado State University
I am a graduate student at Colorado State University working to develop novel acoustic technology for remotely monitoring wildlife.
- 0 Resources
- 14 Discussions
- 3 Groups
- @KiaraHaylock
- | She/Her
PhD in Animal Ecology and Behavioural Physiology. Interested in the movement, behavioural and physiological responses of animals to environmental variability.
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 13 Groups
20+ years traveler and management consultant turned tech founder and conservationist. Founder & CEO of ZAMBEZI ZERØ; super intelligence to safeguard biodiversity.
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 15 Groups
Product Designer focusing on a project about marine mammal conservation.
- 0 Resources
- 2 Discussions
- 2 Groups
- @eaglass25
- | she/her
Fauna & Flora
Programme Officer at the Conservation Leadership Programme
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 3 Groups
Co-founder @ Behold
- 0 Resources
- 4 Discussions
- 6 Groups
- @Lilli
- | she/her
Ocean nerd, personally and professionally 🌊Engagement Coordinator for FathomNet and FathomVerse
- 2 Resources
- 3 Discussions
- 7 Groups
Sea Mammal Research Unit Univ' St Andrews
I work in marine bioacoustics with a focus on the conservation of marine mammals. Most of the time I'm developing and using passive acoustic technology to study the underwater behaviour of dolphins and porpoises. I'm also a keen developer on the PAMGuard project.
- 0 Resources
- 23 Discussions
- 6 Groups
Article
Sustained Effort: Scaling Positivity
Ellie Warren
In this interview with Edge Impulse’s Daniel Situnayake, we discuss how we can achieve that balance for machine learning tools, and how to maximize technology’s potential for good.
2 August 2023
Link
Working with WWF, Vodacom is using cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) technology and infrared cameras to help minimise whale entanglements in mussel farming ropes off the southwest coast...
28 July 2023
Link
Every nature business or wildlife NGO faces 3 obstacles: 💰 Money ⏱️ Time 🤓 Expertise Now I have great news: AI can help your nature venture with all 3 of them. 👉 You can still sign-up https://...
20 July 2023
Careers
Senior Technical Specialist, Monitoring & Technology, ZSL
Anthony Dancer
Exciting opportunity for an experienced biodiversity monitoring expert in ZSL's conservation department
18 July 2023
Link
"Artificial Intelligence could be the solution needed to effectively monitor and safeguard vast landscapes across Africa that, up until now, have been protected solely by patrolling." Read Tusk's latest Medium blog on...
12 July 2023
Funding
Tools for automating image analysis for biodiversity monitoring
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)
Apply for funding (£500,000-£750,000) to develop software systems, which will help to improve biodiversity monitoring by automating the analysis of images and videos
12 July 2023
Careers
Kew Research Fellow - Digital Revolution
Stephanie O'Donnell
We are seeking applications from promising early-career scientists and data scientists with interesting, innovative, and viable research ideas for the Future Leader Fellowship
12 July 2023
Link
Here's an interesting new paper in Nature about how new techniques in machine learning and satellite remote sensing are allowing researchers to monitor and count large populations of migratory terrestrial mammals like...
11 July 2023
Article
New Add-ons for Mbaza AI
Marundu Muturi
At Appsilon, we are always working to enable our users to get the most out of our solutions. With this in mind, we are happy to introduce two new add-ons to Mbaza AI.
4 July 2023
Careers
RFCx/Arbimon is Hiring a Data Scientist!
Carly Batist
Apply to work with an absolutely all-star group developing AI/ML techniques and models for acoustic monitoring!
28 June 2023
Article
Request for proposals - Biodiversity + tech solutions
Anna Colquhoun
The GSMA ClimateTech programme
21 June 2023
Careers
PhD opportunity aims at developing novel imaging methods and deep learning algorithms to describe and classify earthworms at Aarhus University.
21 June 2023
June 2025
event
Nalini
July 2025
October 2025
event
Lacey Hughey and 3 more
November 2023
73 Products
Recently updated products
16 Products
Recently updated products
| Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| One thing I love about software is that in an ever-changing landscape of languages, frameworks, and tools, you can never stop learning.... |
|
Software Development, AI for Conservation | 6 months 1 week ago | |
| Hi Eugene!Interesting project!I already signed up to test it!Cheers,Lars |
|
AI for Conservation, Camera Traps | 6 months 2 weeks ago | |
| I am certainly a somewhat vertical thing with a lump on top, so I get it... |
|
AI for Conservation | 6 months 3 weeks ago | |
| Hi all! I wanted to open a discussion on a topic that I've been thinking about ever since I entered the job market-- how to get a... |
|
Software Development, AI for Conservation, Early Career, Open Source Solutions | 7 months ago | |
| That's great, thanks Lars! |
|
AI for Conservation | 7 months ago | |
| I did a short presentation on our work with the polar bear alarm in the Wildlabs Variety Hour October 30th.It can be found here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zr2Q8bUJZ8U... |
|
Human-Wildlife Conflict, AI for Conservation | 7 months ago | |
| Comma.ai would be your best bet. Not sure if it's officially open source but was started by a noteable hacker with an open source ethos. Could try reaching out to them. |
|
AI for Conservation | 7 months 1 week ago | |
| For the record now that this is here:This error typically occurs when the wrong number of classes is given to timm.create_model. You should try to specify num_classes=30... |
|
Camera Traps, AI for Conservation | 7 months 1 week ago | |
| WildMon, Terra Genesis, The VF Foundation, Thaksin University, and the Wanakaset Symbiosis Network have teamed up on a new project in... |
|
Acoustics, AI for Conservation, Community Base | 7 months 2 weeks ago | |
| Do you use camera traps? If so, we'd love if you could take five minutes to fill out this survey: tinyurl.com/zambasurveyWith our WILDLABS... |
|
AI for Conservation, Camera Traps, Data management and processing tools, Software Development, Open Source Solutions | 7 months 3 weeks ago | |
| I'm not affiliated, I just happened across it... not sure who is actually leading it. |
|
Software Development, Early Career, AI for Conservation, Citizen Science, Climate Change, Conservation Tech Training and Education, Funding and Finance | 7 months 3 weeks ago | |
| Great and difficult question Lisa! I think, yes, we are adding to the problem. We have been already when ML was introduced as a solution to big data problems, and perhaps we have... |
|
AI for Conservation | 7 months 4 weeks ago |
Call for Papers: Data Mining and AI for Conservation Workshop at KDD 2019
15 April 2019 12:00am
Call for Papers: Thematic issue of Environment Conservation on ‘Conservation Artificial Intelligence’
26 March 2019 10:12am
WILDLABS Virtual Meetup: Low Cost, Open-Source Solutions
WILDLABS Team
18 March 2019 12:00am
#Tech4Wildlife Photo Challenge: Our Favourites from 2019
3 March 2019 12:00am
Conserving the Sumatran and Javan Rhino
15 January 2019 7:39pm
24 February 2019 1:28am
Hi Claire,
At the BearID Project, we are working on a similar problem for brown bears. We are currently using machine learning methods developed for human facial recognition (like Google FaceNet). We got some ok initial results, but now we are running up against small data issues. The method for human faces were trained with millions of images of hundreds of thousandes on individuals. We have a few thousand images of about a hundred individuals. We plan to investigate other methods in the future.
It will be great to keep in touch to see what methods you will be using.
Ed
24 February 2019 1:38am
Hi Colin,
At the BearID Project, we are working on a similar problem for brown bears. We are currently using machine learning methods developed for human facial recognition (like Google FaceNet). We got some ok initial results, but now we are running up against small data issues. The method for human faces were trained with millions of images of hundreds of thousandes on individuals. We have a few thousand images of about a hundred individuals. We plan to investigate other methods in the future.
The last time I talked to WildMe, the identification algorithms were based on matching unique patterns. We didn't think this would be directly applicable for brown bears as they don't have a lot of clearly identifiable markings. Have you developed other identification algorithms?
Ed
Responsible AI for Conservation?
11 February 2019 6:22pm
21 February 2019 8:17am
Hi Jaishanker
Absolutely - the overlap between image-based and sound-based analyses is increasing, and consistent terminology will no doubt help us share info.
Are you using ML in SODA for automated identification of sounds? If so, how are you determining if a given classifier is performing well?
Thanks
Ollie
21 February 2019 11:08am
Hello Ollie,
SODA is a recently launched suite. It is in the development phase. We have with us call libraries with multiple (40+) calls for 10- 12 species of birds. A research scholar is on the job for classifying at the species level.
Our interest is equally on separating the different sonic components (as stated in https://www.wildlabs.net/community/thread/666). It is different from the link shared in my previous reply. This is where I see the confluence of objectives.
As a TEAM, I believe, we can address the individual objectives faster.
regards
jaishanker
21 February 2019 9:13pm
Hi Ollie,
Great article, thank you! I mostly work with responsible AI in other contexts, at Doteveryone.org.uk and the Trust & Technology Initiative at the University of Cambridge, so don't have much to offer here, although I am very interested in the topic. I appreciate your point that many of the consumer data issues highlighted in the 'popular' responsible AI discourse aren't relevant to conservation (some of us have been gathering 'responsible tech' / 'ethical tech' resources in a shared doc, and there's essentially nothing there for conservation specifically - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SN6hYeKe3eRK6x9D0Sr7GpCA4nirpyo3u68xG1A6NDs/edit ). However there might be some links with humanitarian data practices, which are touched on by the Responsible Data folks at https://responsibledata.io and https://www.fabriders.net/data-literacy-consortium/ or in this recent article https://asecondmouse.wordpress.com/2019/02/20/instability-forecasting-models-seven-ethical-considerations/
Best,
Laura
Using Swiss AI and Drones to Count African Wildlife
18 February 2019 12:00am
ChimpFace: Facial recognition to combat wildlife trafficking
6 February 2019 12:00am
UK’s first data trusts to tackle illegal wildlife trade and food waste
31 January 2019 12:00am
The Ecosulis Rewilding Tech Challenge
14 January 2019 12:00am
WILDLABS Virtual Meetup: Big Data in Conservation
WILDLABS Team
27 November 2018 12:00am
Canopy cameras shed new light on monkey business in Brazil
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
WILDLABS Team
12 November 2018 12:00am
Tusk Conservation Lecture 2018: Ted Schmitt
Tusk
15 October 2018 12:00am
Biology Undergrad Attempts Automated Species Recognition Using MacBook Air and Google
1 October 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
One Ocean Collab
20 August 2018 12:00am
Thermal Sensor Project Update: Testing with live animals at the San Diego Zoo
27 July 2018 12:00am
31 March 2023 2:15pm
$90K in grants from the Con X Tech Prize
11 June 2018 12:00am
Webinar: Artificial Intelligence for Earth, Microsoft Research
Eye on Earth Alliance
23 April 2018 12:00am
HWC Tech Challenge: Thermopile Sensor Project
19 April 2018 12:00am
BES Guide to Reproducible Code
27 March 2018 2:50pm
#Tech4Wildlife Photo Challenge 2018: Our Top 10
3 March 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
Automated video count of migratory birds
22 April 2016 8:38am
30 October 2017 11:46am
Hey Steffen,
I know you've had a student working on this challenge for the past year - how is this project progressing? If you (or your student) have a moment, it would be great to hear an update.
@mmckown shared an in depth write up of one their projects that I thought might be relevant, as it seemed they were tackling something similar to what you are looking into? His team at Conservation Metrics (which presumably included @kleinsound) partnered with Microsoft to automate counts of Red-legged Kittiwakes with ML. I know it's not the exactly the same problem you're looking into, however the post covers their end-to-end flow for object detection, so might have some useful ideas/approaches that may have relevance for your work.
Bird Detection with Azure ML Workbench
Introduction
Estimation of population trends, detection of rare species, and impact assessments are important tasks for biologists. Recently, our team had the pleasure of working with Conservation Metrics, a services provider for automated wildlife monitoring, on a project to identify red-legged kittiwakes in photos from game cameras. Our work included labeling data, model training on the Azure Machine Learning Workbench platform using Microsoft Cognitive Toolkit (CNTK) and Tensorflow, and deploying a prediction web service.
In this code story, we’ll discuss different aspects of our solution, including:
- Data used in the project and how we labeled it
- Object detection and Azure ML Workbench
- Training the Birds Detection Model with CNTK and Tensorflow
- Deployment of web services
- Demo app setup
Steph
HWC Tech Challenge Update: Meet the Judges
20 October 2017 12:00am
[ARCHIVED] Fish identification computer vision competition
26 September 2017 8:43pm
29 September 2017 1:00pm
Hi Kate,
It's really exciting to hear that you've now launched the challenge, congratulations on getting to this point! It's going to be interesting to see what solutions come out of the challenge - please do keep us updated as it progresses if you have time. The challenge is focused on the New England fishery - are you envisaging that this is an approach you can take to scale and eventually extend to other fisheries?
To add a bit more information for anyone interested, there's actually $50,000 of prizes attached to this challenge:
Place Prize Amount 1st $20,000 2nd $15,000 3rd $10,000 4th $3,000There is also a wildcard prize:
We're also looking for innovative approaches to solving this fishy problem, even if they don't score in our Top 4. If you want to be eligible for our $2,000 Judges' Choice Award, submit your code on the Submit Report page (available once you've signed up) by the competition end date for review. Our judges will be looking for inventive, novel solutions that can be incorporated into video review programs, so share your most fin-tastic ideas.
Finally, if you're curious to find out more about what led to the challenge, Kate actually wrote a piece called 'Machine learning, meet the ocean' that we published in the resources area a few months ago. Do have a read!
Cheers,
Steph
23 January 2019 10:12pm
Hello Claire,
Engineer at Wild Me here. We would love to start a conversation about a Wildbook for rhinos.
Lets talk about citizen science and computer vision for identification possibilities. I'm curious about your current data set and the identification tools you are using as a starting point. I'm happy to talk here, or you can email our team at services@wildme.org.