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.
- @steventay
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Dynamique ET PROACTIF, JE SUIS PASSIONNÉ PAR LA PROTECTION DE L'ENVIRONNEMENT, LE TOURISME RESPONSABLE ET LA CONSERVATION DES ÉCOSYSTÈMES.
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University of California & California Academy of Sciences
Biodiversity |Technology | Socio-Ecological Systems | Wildlife Ecology | Remote Sensing | Conservation | K12STEM-education | Music | diegoellissoto.org
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- @dka32
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I am a highly motivated individual with a background in Natural Resources Management. I am a conservationist who desire to make an impact in the field of conservation using technology.
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Retired Engineer / UAV interests / Photographer
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Passionate wildlife and biodiversity conservationist
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Software Tester and Test Automator at Wildlife Protection Solutions
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- @williams
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I am a conservationist specializing in endangered species, particularly vultures. As the Endangered Species Conservation Coordinator/Co-Founder at Biota Conservation Hub Foundation (BiotaCHF), I have conducted extensive research/conservation of vultures and other water birds.
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A conservation data scientist and field ecologist with broad interest in the application of machine learning and population genetics to the conservation of threatened species. Alex has conducted field studies throughout central and south America, the Caribbean, and North America.
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Article
To celebrate our newly-lauched WILDLABS Fellowship: On the Edge, I spoke with the Edge Impulse team about why uniting the conservation and tech worlds to make funding, tools, training, and support accessible and...
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Article
Wildlife Insights Launches
Zoological Society London (ZSL)
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WILDLABS Fellowship: On the Edge
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Apply now for the WILDLABS Fellowship: On the Edge! With a $6,500 award, expert AI mentorship from Edge Impulse, and access to the world’s biggest conservation technology community, this fellowship can help you create...
21 July 2021
Article
Terms and Conditions: On the Edge Fellowship
WILDLABS Team
The following terms and conditions (the “Terms & Conditions”) shall apply to the WILDLABS Fellowship: On the Edge for the year 2021-2022 (the “Fellowship”) being awarded by Fauna & Flora International (“FFI”) (...
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Article
FAQs: On the Edge Fellowship
WILDLABS Team
Read on for our FAQs on the new WILDLABS Fellowship: On the Edge, including information on applying to this opportunity.
19 July 2021
Article
BearID Featured: Artificial Intelligence & Other New Technology In Bear Research
WILDLABS Team and 1 more
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1 July 2021
Article
New Papers: Methods in Ecology and Evolution
British Ecological Society
A new issue of Methods in Ecology and Evolution from the British Ecological Society is now available for download. In this issue, WILDLABS readers will enjoy research involving conservation dogs and non-invasive...
23 April 2021
Article
New Papers: Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation
Zoological Society London (ZSL)
ZSL's Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation journal has released new research for early view before inclusion in an issue. See the full list of recent open access research papers on RSEC.
22 April 2021
Community Announcement
Whether you spent the last year working in the field, lab, at home, or virtually, the WILDLABS community's conservation tech achievements were on full display in our annual #Tech4Wildlife Photo Challenge! Relive our...
25 March 2021
Article
Building Experts Into AI
Whale Seeker
In this article from Whale Seeker, you'll read about how human expertise plays a role in building strong AI algorithms and achieving accurate wildlife identification results, as well as the ethics of using AI in these...
15 March 2021
Article
Kaggle Competition: iWildcam 2021 - FGVC8
WILDLABS Team
This year's iWildCam competition is now live on kaggle. Go beyond just classifying species or detecting animals - this year the challenge focuses on counting how many individuals of each species are seen in a burst of...
12 March 2021
Funding
Funding Opportunity: COVID-19 Science Fund
National Geographic
National Geographic is offering funding up to up to $50,000 for conservationists conducting research on how the pandemic has impacted wildlife and conservation work. If you are interested in researching aspects of the...
10 March 2021
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Recently updated products
| Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
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| Environment conservation in Great Rift Valley. |
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AI for Conservation | 1 day 16 hours ago | |
| Hi Chris! Send me a direct message and we can have a chat! |
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AI for Conservation, Autonomous Camera Traps for Insects, Camera Traps | 2 days 4 hours ago | |
| Hey people of the world. 10 days ago I posted here about our new GUI tool where one could drag-n-drop an image and get animals detected on... |
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AI for Conservation | 2 days 23 hours ago | |
| Hi @CourtneyShuert We support NOAA with AI for individual ID for belugas (but from aerial and from lateral surface too). If some of our techniques can be cross-applied... |
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AI for Conservation, Data management and processing tools | 1 week 1 day ago | |
| Hello Eugene, I just tried your service:Was wondering how possible will it be to have the option to upload a second image and have a comparison running to let the user know if... |
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AI for Conservation, Camera Traps, Data management and processing tools, Software Development | 1 week 1 day ago | |
| Kudos for such an innovative approach—integrating additional sensors with acoustic recorders is a brilliant step forward! I'm especially interested in how you tackle energy... |
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Acoustics, AI for Conservation, Latin America Community, Open Source Solutions | 1 week 1 day ago | |
| Thank you for your reply! It surely helps, we have use exif for a while to read metadata from images, when there is information available. Could be nice to maybe see if we... |
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AI for Conservation, Camera Traps | 1 week 5 days ago | |
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AI for Conservation, Animal Movement, Data management and processing tools, Human-Wildlife Coexistence | 2 weeks 1 day ago | |
| Would love to collaborate on this we are curently building agents for conservation Kind regardsOlivier |
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AI for Conservation, Community Base | 2 weeks 1 day ago | |
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Acoustics, AI for Conservation, Emerging Tech | 2 weeks 4 days ago | |
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Software Development, AI for Conservation | 2 weeks 5 days ago | |
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