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!
No showcases have been added to this group yet.
- @Palinda
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Corporate Responsibility Specialist & Sustainability/ Climate Change Professional Helping Conservation, Restoration, Community Livelihood Development ESG strategy and Sustainable Development.
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Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN)
I'm a Biologist and currently a master's student. My research focuses on understanding how birds respond to a restoration experiment in a Seasonally Dry Tropical Forest exclusive to Brazil through bioacoustics.
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- @APooran
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- @kristian.cuervo
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Applied Mathematics student in Denmark, interested in applications of mathematics to ecology and nature conservation. Currently interested in developing sensors for perimeter detection in wildlife conservations in Africa.
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- @MorganeLabadie
- | She/Her
I'm an ecology researcher with extensive experience of fieldwork and project management in international contexts. I specialise in wildlife, zoonotic diseases, data collection and analysis using mainly non-invasive techniques (acoustic, camera traps, etc.) and invasive techniques
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- @Jen_NZ
- | she/her
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- @cappel
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Wildlife Science PhD candidate working on computer vision with camera traps and bioacoustics
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- @valengsb
- | she / her
GIS specialist for Audubon Americas | Biologist with an emphasis on Conservation and Sustainable Development | Innovative approaches in the study and monitoring of biodiversity for possible, biodiverse, and just futures.
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Ecologist at Noe NGO, Project manager in restauration, rewilding, and citizen sciences program for grassland ecosystems and wild pollinators
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- @capreolus
- | he/him
Capreolus e.U.
wildlife biologist with capreolus.at
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- @JakobWiren
- | He,him
Swedish soon-to-be graduate engineer in AI/ML and robotics. Writing my master thesis in using decision trees for anti-poaching in Limpopo, South Africa. Am passionate about conservation, AI and travelling. Help me find a way to help you!
- 0 Resources
- 1 Discussions
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- @fshort
- | He / Him
Boston University PhD Candidate, Biological Anthropology. Engaging in passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) of Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii), Bornean white-bearded gibbons (Hylobates albibarbis), and red leaf monkeys (Presbytis rubicunda)
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Article
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Lilli Wakinekona Carlsen
Join the FathomNet Kaggle Competition to show us how you would develop a model that can accurately classify varying taxonomic ranks!
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PHD IN AUTOMATED FRESHWATER DIATOM ANALYSIS USING DEEP LEARNING
Xavier Mestdagh
Up to 48 months contract - 14+22 (+12) | Belvaux
25 February 2025
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Up to 6 months internship position to work on DiMON project which aims to develop a non-lethal, compact device that, when coupled with traditional entomological traps, captures high-resolution, multi-view insect images...
25 February 2025
Link
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13 February 2025
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workshop introduced participants to the power of bioinformatics and next-generation sequencing (NGS) in conservation biology.
10 February 2025
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Elsa Carla De Grandi
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8 February 2025
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Georg Strunck
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6 February 2025
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Live and work in sunny San Diego for the summer, contributing to engineering projects as they relate to conservation technology.
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Kyra Swanson
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5 February 2025
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Louisa Richmond-Coggan
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Recently updated products
| Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hi, I am a PhD student in computer science and currently working in Animal emotion detection. I would be happy to join your team. |
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AI for Conservation | 3 weeks 2 days ago | |
| Hi everyone! I am so excited to be a part of this group for two reasons. First, as part of my job, i manage computers and other devices. On... |
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AI for Conservation | 3 weeks 5 days ago | |
| Hello Youssef,Yes, let's keep contact. I'm currently looking for good conferences to publish my work, if you are aware of something, please let me know. |
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AI for Conservation, Community Base | 4 weeks 1 day ago | |
| Also, I would generally interested to contribute to the Internet of Turtles with sea turtle photos. There are a lot of Green and Hawksbill sea turtles of various ages in the sea... |
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AI for Conservation | 4 weeks 2 days ago | |
| G-DiNC 2026: Global Drones in Nature Conservation Symposium & ExpoNairobi & Naivasha, Kenya | March 3–6,... |
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Drones, AI for Conservation, Conservation Tech Training and Education, Emerging Tech, Marine Conservation, Sensors | 1 month ago | |
| Idles around 2W, peaks a bit more than 6W. |
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Camera Traps, AI for Conservation | 1 month ago | |
| Yes, thanks Riley and Kim. Someone suggested WIS and I am currently in discussions with them. Their system seems especially well suited for the purpose and I am hoping it works... |
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AI for Conservation, Emerging Tech, Sensors | 1 month 2 weeks ago | |
| Do you know a nonprofit or organization that is looking to work with students passionate about the environment? Code the Change... |
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AI for Conservation, Citizen Science, Conservation Tech Training and Education, Open Source Solutions, Software Development | 1 month 2 weeks ago | |
| Play FathomVerse: App Store | Google Play Join the Community: Discord | Instagram | TikTok | LinkedInStay up-to-date: ... |
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Marine Conservation, AI for Conservation, Citizen Science | 4 months 3 weeks ago | |
| I create ocean exploration and marine life content on YouTube, whether it be recording nautilus on BRUVs, swimming with endangered bowmouth... |
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Acoustics, AI for Conservation, Animal Movement, Camera Traps, Citizen Science, Drones, Emerging Tech, Marine Conservation, Sensors, Sustainable Fishing Challenges, Wildlife Crime | 1 month 2 weeks ago | |
| Hey, you are asking the right kind of questions! There are quite a lot of things which make Animal Detect unique, while we constantly build on new and improved features. ... |
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AI for Conservation | 1 month 2 weeks ago | |
| Hi Sam,I'm the Nature Tech and AI Innovation Manager at Conservation International, and we have a number of use cases of AI for different aspects of conservation (sustainable... |
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AI for Conservation | 1 month 2 weeks ago |
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Who wants to learn Python? Courses to get you started coding
2 May 2016 3:13pm
1 March 2019 9:20am
Hello everyone what are you wating for..
All US, UK, India users can enroll courses from Intellipaat (the largest IT trainng company)
check some of thier superb training list:
29 October 2019 4:52pm
Chuck's Python for Everyone course is available these days at www.py4e.com, and he's also created a course called Web Apps for Everyone www.wa4e.com. Both excellent resources, and he's a strong proponent for (and creator of) open source educational tools in general.
Lucy
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Hello buzzing World!
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ML at the Edge
28 June 2019 8:16am
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A couple of years ago I completed the Coursera course Programming for Everybody (Getting Started with Python) with Charles Severance. I found it really well paced and well taught. He's a very personable tutor, and has also written a free book Python for Everybody, available as a PDF.
I found the Coursera course on R Programming with Roger Peng to be more difficult to follow, but I'm not sure whether that was down to the teaching style or the language itself. For R, I'd definitely recommend the best place to get started is swirl - Learn R, in R!
Happy coding