AI for Conservation

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Artificial intelligence is increasingly being used in the field to analyse information collected by wildlife conservationists, from camera trap and satellite images to audio recordings. AI can learn how to identify which photos out of thousands contain rare species; or pinpoint an animal call out of hours of field recordings - hugely reducing the manual labour required to collect vital conservation data.

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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!

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@LaxAgg

Passionate about wildlife and impact investment with an academic, research and practitioner background in environmental science, environmental law and green criminology pursued in Central America, China, Tanzania and the United Kingdom I am driven to decolonise the research on c

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@Gwamaka

Passionate with conservation

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@rasanderson

Newcastle University

Senior Lecturer in Biological Modelling. Interests in AI, spatial data, invertebrate ecology, species mapping

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@JunglelaniTales
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We currently producing an animation series meant to teach and inspire climate action to kids. Looking forward to networking opportunities.

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@Venance
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As a wildlife conservationist, I am deeply committed to the Ecology and Community Development. I help communities balance conservation with livelihoods, promoting beekeeping with the motto “Shusha Shoka, Pandisha Mzinga (Drop the Axe, Raise the Hive).

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@kseemae

National Geographic Society

Experience utilizing technology to inspire, educate, and create solutions to some of our biggest challenges. Currently, head of the National Geographic Society Exploration Technology Lab, overseeing the development and deployment of research and storytelling technologies.

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@AthenaRycyk
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@TheSarahShu
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Director of User Experience in B2B SaaS and PaaS. Background in helping users configure, visualize, and interpret big data to solve complex networking challenges. Passionate about conservation.

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@magerk
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wildlife ecologist, Associate Professor of Environmental Science, Policy, & Sustainability and Biology

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@stienheremans
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Remote sensing researcher for environmental monitoring and nature conservation/restoration

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@issiecorvi
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Ocean Vision AI Program Manager (MBARI)

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Description	Activity	Replies	Groups	Updated
[ARCHIVED] Workshop on Deep Learning Methods and Appliocations for Animal Re-Identification	Hey everyone! My colleagues and I are hosting a workshop on Animal Re-ID, and the submission deadline is a little less than a month...		AI for Conservation	5 years 8 months ago
Who wants to learn Python? Courses to get you started coding	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...	+7	AI for Conservation	5 years 9 months ago
Conservation biologists find new applications for AI tools	Hi all! This is a great article summarizing new applications for AI for conservation, and highlights @vsahai 's work with...		AI for Conservation	6 years ago
[ARCHIVED] Position: UI/UX Machine Learning Engineer	Wild Me (wildme.org) is looking to retain a UI/UX Machine Learning Engineer to help translate advanced ML into beautiful interfaces...		AI for Conservation	6 years 1 month ago
[ARCHIVED] Position: Senior Computer Vision Research Engineer	Wild Me (wildme.org) is looking to hire a second, Masters or PhD-level Senior Computer Vision Engineer to focus on individual ID of...		AI for Conservation	6 years 1 month ago
Hello buzzing World!	Hi, I would just like to introduce our Project BEESWAX7 and announce that today we acheived two milestones for success; we recorded bee...		AI for Conservation	6 years 1 month ago
ML at the Edge	There's a discussion over in camera traps about the design of a device to run autonomously (in an inaccessible location) with reliable...		AI for Conservation	6 years 1 month ago
New open data site for fisheries	I got to help TNC launch fishnet.ai over the weekend, a home for training data for fisheries monitoring & computer vision AI. We have a...		AI for Conservation	6 years 2 months ago
Workshop & Challenges on Computer Vision for Wildlife Conservation (CVWC) at ICCV 2019	Please consider submitting to this workshop and/or challenge which may be relevant to your work: Call for Papers and Call...		AI for Conservation	6 years 2 months ago
CogX Festival of AI and Emerging Technology - free tickets for WILDLABS members	yep! Drop me an email at stephanie.odonnell@wildlabs.net and I'll get you a link. Steph		AI for Conservation	6 years 2 months ago
Call for Papers: Thematic issue of Environment Conservation on ‘Conservation Artificial Intelligence’	Artificial intelligence & Machine Learning Algorithms are transforming data analysis, but little is known about how they...		AI for Conservation	6 years 4 months ago
Conserving the Sumatran and Javan Rhino	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 (...		AI for Conservation	6 years 5 months ago

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