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!
Cornell University
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Zoology with a placement year graduate from Bangor University. Interested in large African mammal movement and behaviour in response to climate change, particularly African elephants
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Bio-acoustician, marine biologist, marine mammal specialist, drone enthusiast
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Latin American environmental scientist.
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Hello! My name is Anabelle Marques Klovrza and I am a Ph.D. student at Dawson's lab. I am studying community assembly of island-like environments, and in trying to connect it with the vulnerability and fragility of the ecosystem.
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Brazilian biologist, PhD in Ecology and 10 yrs of experience in the Amazon with bat bioacoustics
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PhD Student on bio- and ecoacoustics at the University of Freiburg (GER)
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I am nature lover and now lost the tolerance to just be an admirer watching its destruction. Hence joining this crew to contribute my supportive work much lesser than a penny worth
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Careers
Proposals wanted for Innovation in Practice
Ellie Warren
The Innovation in Practice edition of Methods in Ecology and Evolution is still seeking proposals about conservation technology
6 March 2023
Article
The Arbimon newsletter is back!
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23 February 2023
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Tropical pilot of insect camera traps
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New technology enabling the automated monitoring of moths has been put to rigorous testing in tropical conditions in Panama by an international team of researchers
22 February 2023
Article
Researchers and conservationists are embarking on a bold initiative to save the world's most trafficked wild mammal — the pangolin
16 February 2023
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Zooplankton Prosome and Lipid Sac Segmentation
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A machine learning-based solution that can segment the Prosomes and Lipid sacs with sufficient accuracy helps to recognize the ecological plasticity of key Arctic copepods. It allows scientists to learn more about the...
15 February 2023
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AI, sensors enhance wildfire detection
Stephanie O'Donnell
A pilot program in Oregon’s Willamette Valley will test how well artificial intelligence-enabled sensors can identify and characterize wildfires, which will help with responder resource allocation and boost community...
15 February 2023
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Technology to End the Sixth Mass Extinction. Salary: $104k-144K; Location: Washington DC or Seattle WA, potential hybrid; 5+ years of Full stack development experience; Deadline March 15th - view post for full job...
10 February 2023
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Machine Learning Scientist
British Antarctic Survey
The British Antarctic Survey’s Artificial Intelligence Lab is looking to hire a machine learning engineer/researcher.
10 February 2023
Careers
Research Associate - Machine Learning (Underwater Sound)
Stephanie O'Donnell
You will develop and apply novel approaches and machine learning techniques for the detection, classification and identification of marine fauna from passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) validated with paired visual...
10 February 2023
Careers
Engineering Manager, Skylight
Allen Institute for AI
On the AST Skylight team, you will work with talented engineers, domain experts, and product managers to uncover illegal fishing by developing the tools that help countries around the globe combat this problem.
10 February 2023
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AI for Biodiversity Webinars
Isobel Ashbey
Just had this in my inbox, thought I'd share!
9 February 2023
Link
Hi! I created a new tutorial video on how to annotate high density acceleration data using Firetail 10 (www.firetail.de). In particular, I cover * how to automatically segment your data * how to edit and modify...
8 February 2023
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| We are working on the identification of the threats along the flyway of the Egyptian vulture, endangered vutlure species migrating from... |
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AI for Conservation | 8 years 11 months ago | |
| Hi Jason, Thanks for sharing this demo, it's interesting to see the fluke id process in action. Is this part of the flukebook project? How do you see the project... |
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AI for Conservation | 8 years 11 months ago | |
| Hi folks! The team at Skytruth (responsible for Global Ocean Watch) are looking for a machine learning developer. It might be of... |
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AI for Conservation | 9 years 3 months ago | |
| Hi, I am jason Holmberg from WildMe.org. I am one of the developers of Wildbook (wildbook.org), an open source data management platform for wildlife research. I'm... |
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AI for Conservation | 9 years 4 months ago | |
| I'd like to suggest our open source package Wildbook (http://www.wildbook.org) as a base data management platfor for this. I agree with the above that there are a number of... |
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AI for Conservation | 9 years 4 months ago | |
| Over the past year the open data GDELT Project (http://gdeltproject.org/), which monitors local news coverage worldwide in... |
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AI for Conservation | 9 years 4 months ago |
