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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- @ZoeDagan
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I'm Zoe, an ecologist at the intersection of SaaS, conservation, and community science. I build programs and advance projects that accelerate solutions to our most urgent climate and conservation challenges.
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- @crazybirdguy
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Field Biologist at Yayasan Cikananga Konservasi Terpadu, Indonesia, with experience and interest mainly in ornithology, citizen science and bioaccoustic
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- @emilydorne
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DrivenData
Lead Data Scientist and developer of zamba, a tool for automatic species classification from camera traps
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PhD Candidate in autonomous marine biodiversity modelling
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FruitPunch AI
CTO and Founder of FruitPunch AI
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- @ptynecki
- | Piotr
Software Engineer with 10+ years of experience in application design, development, testing and deployment. Highly experienced in Health Care, Life Science and BigData projects. Artificial Intelligence researcher (NLP, Computer Vision) with experience in Wildlife Conservation.
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San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance
Wildlife ecologist with a passtion for conseration technology.
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Artificial Intelligence and Environmental Science Researcher
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PhD Candidate at University College London. Research and develop wireless sensor networks for biodiversity monitoring. Currently working on a software package for AI bioacoustics classifiers on edge device.
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Saint Louis Zoo
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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
Article
Resource: WildID
Alchemy Software
WildID is excited to share their new camera trap processing and detection tools with WILDLABS! Using machine learning to identify Southern African wildlife species in large quantities of camera trap data, WildID's tool...
8 March 2021
Article
Intro to Embedded Machine Learning on Coursera
Edge impulse
Edge Impulse is proud to announce their brand-new online course, Introduction to Embedded Machine Learning. Hosted on Coursera, this professional training course will provide beginners with the tools to started with...
9 February 2021
Article
Protecting Wildlife with Machine Learning
Ellie Warren
Last year, Tim van Deursen and Thijs Suijten shared their new "Hack the Poacher" system with us, presenting a unique way to detect poachers in real-time within protected national parks. Read on to learn about their...
29 January 2021
Article
Our friends at Edge Impulse are proud to announce that they have become the first AI company to join 1% for the Planet, pledging to donate 1% of revenue to support nonprofit organizations focused on the environment. To...
15 January 2021
Article
British Antarctic Survey: Monitoring Whales From Space
British Antarctic Survey
Scientists have found that studying high-resolution images of whales from space is a feasible way to estimate their populations. A team led by British Antarctic Survey (BAS) compared satellite images to data collected...
21 December 2020
Article
FIS Call for Expressions of Interest (closed)
WILDLABS Team
WILDLABS community members are invited to submit an Expression of Interest to Fisheries Innovation Scotland (FIS) to participate in two research projects involving conservation tech's role in the future of sustainable...
8 December 2020
Funding
Kaggle Competition: Species Audio Detection
Rainforest Connection
Hey Acoustic Monitoring and AI for Conservation community members - don't miss Rainforest Connection's Species Auto Detection Kaggle competition, open for to competitors and teams now! Participants will have the chance...
24 November 2020
Community Announcement
WILDLABS: Building a Better World with ‘Bad’ Data
WILDLABS Admin
WILDLABS is celebrating its five year anniversary! Throughout the rest of 2020, we'll be sharing articles, community features, and case studies showcasing the incredible projects, collaborations, and successes that this...
17 November 2020
Article
Hackathon Opportunity: Vaquita Hacks
WILDLABS Team
Do you have innovative #tech4wildlife ideas that could save one of the most endangered species on earth from extinction? Apply now to join Vaquita Hack, a hackathon for students and early career conservationists! This...
10 November 2020
Article
In this article, Fulbright Scholar and National Geographic Explorer Kasim Rafiq discusses the potential to efficiently conduct wildlife surveys using cameras mounted to safari vehicles, as well as the workflow and AI...
10 November 2020
Article
Sustainable Fishing Challenges: Fishing Gear Innovations
Daniel Steadman
Today, Sustainable Fishing Challenges group leader Daniel Steadman discusses how fishing gear itself could benefit from fresh technological innovations to prevent both environmental damage and damage to species and...
19 August 2020
June 2025
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July 2025
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Lacey Hughey and 3 more
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Recently updated products
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| Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
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| In that case, you might want to keep an eye on the project from @Lars_Holst_Hansen |
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Camera Traps, AI for Conservation, Conservation Tech Training and Education, Early Career, Human-Wildlife Conflict, Protected Area Management Tools | 11 months 1 week ago | |
| No worries! I'll be trying the other one to see how it works. Thank you for your help! |
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AI for Conservation | 11 months 2 weeks ago | |
| Fantastic!! |
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Acoustics, AI for Conservation, Animal Movement, Build Your Own Data Logger Community, Community Base, Early Career, Ethics of Conservation Tech, Marine Conservation, Open Source Solutions | 11 months 2 weeks ago | |
| Hi everyone! I’m sending some information for a paid user study about Explainable AI and bird identification that may be of interest:Our... |
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AI for Conservation, Citizen Science | 11 months 3 weeks ago | |
| This is so cool! I am 1000% going to see if they want to come talk about it at Variety Hou! |
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AI for Conservation, Citizen Science | 1 year ago | |
| Hi Sol,If the maximum depth is 30m, it would be worth experimenting with HydroMoth in this application especially if the deployment time is short. As Matt says, the air-filed case... |
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Acoustics, AI for Conservation, Data management and processing tools, Emerging Tech, Sustainable Fishing Challenges | 1 year ago | |
| Online citizen science platforms like iNaturalist and Macaulay Library contain a wealth of images but are hard to search using text. We are... |
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AI for Conservation, Citizen Science | 1 year ago | |
| We're seeking training data for AI for wolf ID - we at T4C manage 3 Wildbook platforms: Wild North, Whiskerbook and the... |
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AI for Conservation | 1 year ago | |
| Hi Phani,An entry point might be to participate in a challenge related to conservation on:KaggleDrivenDataFruitPunchMax Planck Institute of Animal BehaviorYou could also reach out... |
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AI for Conservation | 1 year 1 month ago | |
| [oops, the same reply got submitted twice and there doesn't seem to be a "delete" button] |
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AI for Conservation, Camera Traps | 1 year 1 month ago | |
| Hi @zhongqimiao ,Might you have faced such an issue while using mega detectorThe conflict is caused by:pytorchwildlife 1.0.2.13 depends on torch==1.10.1pytorchwildlife 1.0.2.12... |
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AI for Conservation, Camera Traps, Open Source Solutions | 1 year 1 month ago | |
| Hi, this is pretty interesting to me. I plan to fly a drone over wild areas and look for invasive species incursions. So feral hogs are especially bad, but in the Everglades there... |
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AI for Conservation, Camera Traps, Open Source Solutions, Software Development | 1 year 1 month ago |
