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.
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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Newcastle University
Senior Lecturer in Biological Modelling. Interests in AI, spatial data, invertebrate ecology, species mapping
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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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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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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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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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wildlife ecologist, Associate Professor of Environmental Science, Policy, & Sustainability and Biology
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Remote sensing researcher for environmental monitoring and nature conservation/restoration
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Ocean Vision AI Program Manager (MBARI)
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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)
Wildlife Insights is excited to announce the public release of their new platform! Read on to learn about all the useful features you'll find on Wildlife Insights, and check out WILDLABS' Tech Tutors episode with...
27 July 2021
Article
WILDLABS Fellowship: On the Edge
WILDLABS Team
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
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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”) (...
19 July 2021
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
Our friends at BearID joined an EXPLORE.org live chat to discuss their work identifying the bears of Katmai National Park with powerful AI technology. Watch the full panel event below, or here on EXPLORE.org's Youtube...
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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| Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Samara P. El-Haddad Wildlife Conservation Junior Specialist at Lebanon Reforestation Initiative (LRI)... |
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AI for Conservation, Community Base | 5 years ago | |
| How neat, thanks for sharing! We'd love to hear more about your drone project once it's underway, please keep us updated on that one! |
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AI for Conservation, Emerging Tech | 5 years 1 month ago | |
| Great talk! I thoroughly enjoyed it. Some high schoolers have done small AI projects(s) and have interest in the wildlife. What resources would you all suggest to further... |
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AI for Conservation, Camera Traps | 5 years 1 month ago | |
| Author: Jody Tucker, U.S. Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Region Carnivore Monitoring ProgramFigures below text in order (Fig 1... |
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AI for Conservation, Emerging Tech | 5 years 1 month ago | |
| What better way to celebrate Endangered Species Day 2020 than try a new technology to protect them? If you're planning to be out and... |
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AI for Conservation, Emerging Tech | 5 years 3 months ago | |
| DeepForest docs are here. https://deepforest.readthedocs.io/ Welcome to have a look. My experience is that individual trees cannot be distinguished in satellite... |
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AI for Conservation | 5 years 4 months ago | |
| Steph, thank you so much for this, this is wonderful :) Really, really apreciate you sharing this with me :) Diving into all of the wonderful resources from you, thank you so very... |
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AI for Conservation | 5 years 4 months ago | |
| A call put out over on Twitter by Jesse Alston might be of interest here - both for conservationists and grad students. Looks like... |
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AI for Conservation | 5 years 4 months ago | |
| This can be done, happy to help :) But I think I need to understand the situation a little bit more. Do you already have the data for training / inference? Do you have any... |
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AI for Conservation | 5 years 4 months ago | |
| Hi there this post on Conservation X labs recently came up on designing softwarre for individual horse recognition: https://... |
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AI for Conservation | 5 years 5 months ago | |
| Wildlife Insights launched their online platform hosting over 4 million camera trap images. They use AI to automatically classify the... |
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AI for Conservation | 5 years 8 months ago | |
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AI for Conservation | 5 years 8 months ago |
