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!
- @affiliatepurna
- | general email id
Purna Man Shrestha is a program coordinator of mountain spirit, Nepal. He has 6 years of working experience in human wildlife interaction focusing on wildcats, and conflicts. He has a good knowledge on wildlife survey techniques, field survey, stakeholder engagement
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 11 Groups
- 0 Resources
- 1 Discussions
- 9 Groups
Ol Pejeta Conservancy
Deputy Technology Manager
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 7 Groups
working on the digital transformation for environment, climate, and conservation
- 0 Resources
- 5 Discussions
- 2 Groups
- @raquelgo
- | (she/her/hers)
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 17 Groups
Software Engineer
- 0 Resources
- 5 Discussions
- 10 Groups
- @Jaeyoung
- | He
I am a member of the Design for Social Innovation and Sustainability Lab (DESIS Lab) at Yonsei University, where I am pursuing a master's degree in Human Environment and Design. My study is about sustainable HCI, children's connection to nature, and product-service design.
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 4 Groups
American Museum of Natural History
- 1 Resources
- 8 Discussions
- 10 Groups
- @tadeotw
- | they/them
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 1 Groups
- @Tracks_Ecology
- | he/him
Ecological Consultant focussing on the use of UAV and GIS to advance applied ecological reasearch
- 0 Resources
- 1 Discussions
- 5 Groups
My main interest is in the application of geospatial technology for ecology and conservation
- 0 Resources
- 12 Discussions
- 6 Groups
- @bradnahill
- | he / him
SEE Turtles
Brad has worked in sea turtle conservation & ecotourism for 20+ years. He is the lead writer of Sea Turtle Research and Conservation and co-author of the Worldwide Travel Guide to Sea Turtles. He has won the President's Award from the International Sea Turtle Society.
- 1 Resources
- 4 Discussions
- 6 Groups
Link
New paper - "acoupi integrates audio recording, AI-based data processing, data management, and real-time wireless messaging into a unified and configurable framework. We demonstrate the flexibility of acoupi by...
7 February 2025
Careers
SPOTS Internship Programme
Georg Strunck
Strategic Protection Of Threatened Species (NGO) is looking for engineering interns at the Dinokeng Game Reserve, South Africa
6 February 2025
Careers
Live and work in sunny San Diego for the summer, contributing to engineering projects as they relate to conservation technology.
6 February 2025
Careers
SDZWA Conservation Tech Summer Fellowship
Kyra Swanson
The Conservation Technology Laboratory within the Population Sustainability department is seeking two fellows for summer 2025
5 February 2025
Careers
Are you a data scientist interested in developing AI to help wildlife conservation?
3 February 2025
Careers
Software Developer - Key Conservation
Megan Cromp
Key Conservation is seeking an experienced Software Developer to join our team.
28 January 2025
Careers
Senior Firmware & Systems Engineer
Alex Rood
Arribada is looking for a proactive Senior Firmware & Systems Engineer to join Arribada's experienced and passionate team of field conservationists and engineers. You will write and develop firmware and advise on...
15 January 2025
Careers
The Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Environmental Studies (WFE), SLU, Umeå, is looking for a postdoc with strong interests in wildlife conservation technology.
15 January 2025
Careers
I am thrilled to share that we are hiring for an AI Innovation Manager to help us build out CI's Nature Tech & Innovation Portfolio. You don't need to be a software engineer or AI expert to apply! We are seeking an...
7 January 2025
Careers
We are seeking a highly motivated person with an excellent academic record, a good understanding of ecology and/or conservation and an interest in contributing to cutting-edge research on kākā conservation
6 January 2025
Careers
Seeking a highly motivated person with an excellent academic record, a good understanding of artificial intelligence and computer vision/deep learning, and an interest in contributing to cutting-edge AI research on kākā...
6 January 2025
Careers
New PhD - Drones, seaweeds & climate change
Chris Yesson
A PhD opportunity for anyone interested in coastal drone surveys, seaweeds, climate change and the chance to do a whole bunch of different computer modelling including AI-driven species distribution modelling to assess...
30 December 2024
June 2025
event
Nalini
July 2025
October 2025
event
Lacey Hughey and 3 more
January 2023
December 2022
73 Products
Recently updated products
16 Products
Recently updated products
| Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I added plain old motion detection because megadetector v5 was not working well with the smaller rat images and in thermal.This works really well: Also, I can see... |
|
AI for Conservation, Camera Traps | 4 months 3 weeks ago | |
| Hello WalterThanks for your input. I have achieved better results with the puc when hooking it up to a powerbank. Have got them set up to "recording only", and GPS to low power... |
|
Acoustics, AI for Conservation, Citizen Science, Sensors | 5 months 1 week ago | |
| great, this security cameras might be interesting for monitoring crop development and maybe other bigger pests like boars or some other herbivorous animals that could eventually... |
|
AI for Conservation, Camera Traps | 5 months 1 week ago | |
| In a recent call with researchers in Thailand. They have mentioned that they use passive chip readers to log data about chipped animals as they pass by. |
+12
|
AI for Conservation, Animal Movement | 5 months 1 week ago | |
| Seems like we should include some rotations in our image augmentations as the real world can be seen a bit tilted - as this cropped corner view from our fisheye at the zoo shows. |
+13
|
AI for Conservation, Camera Traps, Data management and processing tools | 5 months 2 weeks ago | |
| Bird Monitoring Data Exchange is a standard often used for birds data. |
+4
|
AI for Conservation, Data management and processing tools, Emerging Tech | 5 months 3 weeks ago | |
| Hey everyone!As you might have heard, BlueSky is on hype now, with millions of users migrating to it from X. Including the scientific world... |
|
AI for Conservation | 5 months 4 weeks ago | |
| Hi Zhongqi! We are finalizing our modelling work over the next couple of weeks and can make our work availabile for your team. Our objective is to create small (<500k... |
|
AI for Conservation, Camera Traps, Software Development | 6 months ago | |
| Hats off to your team for this absolute game-changing technology! We rescue stray and wild animals in Taiwan, and the bulk of our work is saving animals maimed by wire snares... |
+37
|
AI for Conservation, Drones, Emerging Tech, Human-Wildlife Conflict, Wildlife Crime | 6 months ago | |
| There's quite a few diy or prototype solutions described online and in literature - but it seems none of these have made it to market yet as generally available fully usable... |
|
AI for Conservation, Camera Traps, Human-Wildlife Conflict, Sensors | 6 months ago | |
| As others have said, pretty much all image models at least start with general-subject datasets ("car," "bird," "person", etc.) and have to be refined to work with more precision... |
+20
|
AI for Conservation, Camera Traps | 6 months 1 week ago | |
| This is a thread for anyone who has questions about AI for Conservation Office Hours 2025.We're once again teaming up with Dan Morris from... |
|
Acoustics, AI for Conservation, Camera Traps, Community Base, Geospatial | 6 months 1 week ago |
