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.
- @ImaniWilson
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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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- @Fatuma
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I aim to transition my career towards conservation technology after gaining two years of experience in the tech industry.
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- @Heloise
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Bio-acoustician, marine biologist, marine mammal specialist, drone enthusiast
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- @Ferrugem
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Latin American environmental scientist.
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- @TempleB
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- @katja
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AI/ML consultant for climate/environment solutions industry
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- @karinnacvijanovich
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- @amklovrza
- | she / her
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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- @Giu.Appel
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Brazilian biologist, PhD in Ecology and 10 yrs of experience in the Amazon with bat bioacoustics
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- @Dominik
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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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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
Funding
Challenge: ElephantEdge
Smart Parks
Protecting elephants from conservation's most pressing issues like poaching and human-wildlife conflict requires big, bold, and innovative solutions. Hackster.io, Smart Parks, Edge Impulse, Microsoft, and several other...
11 August 2020
August 2025
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Louisa Richmond-Coggan
September 2025
event
Louisa Richmond-Coggan
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Louisa Richmond-Coggan
October 2025
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Lacey Hughey and 3 more
December 2025
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Alex Rood
March 2026
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Stephanie O'Donnell
January 2023
17 Products
Recently updated products
| Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| In case you missed it, last year the British Ecological Society published A Guide to Reproducible Code in Ecology and Evolution... |
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AI for Conservation | 7 years 4 months ago | |
| Hey Steffen, I know you've had a student working on this challenge for the past year - how is this project progressing? If you (or your student) have a moment,... |
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AI for Conservation | 7 years 9 months ago | |
| Hi Kate, It's really exciting to hear that you've now launched the challenge, congratulations on getting to this point! It's going to be interesting to... |
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AI for Conservation | 7 years 10 months ago | |
| If you're interested, you can check out the live recordings from past events (links below take you to the videos): August: The Blockchain The Blockchain's potential... |
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AI for Conservation | 7 years 10 months ago | |
| Hypraptive and Brown Bear Research Network collaboration to develop a deep learning, brown bear face identification system: BearID Project. [Disclosure: I am a member of... |
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AI for Conservation | 7 years 11 months ago | |
| It looks like they haven't updated for a couple of years do you know if it is still active or are they changing to a different system like tensor flow? |
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AI for Conservation | 7 years 11 months ago | |
| Here' s a press release we put out today talking about how we're using a deep convolutional neural network to find and curate whale... |
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AI for Conservation | 8 years 2 months ago | |
| For those interested: in the acoustics channel I have posted news on our sound event recognition sensor, using conv-net: https://... |
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AI for Conservation | 8 years 3 months ago | |
| Ah! Thanks for posting this Tom. It's such a well designed, simple to understand video series, and the backing track is utterly delightful. Given the... |
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AI for Conservation | 8 years 4 months ago | |
| Hello all, I'm looking at using a combination of machine learning and satellite imagery to identify and count individual animals,... |
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AI for Conservation | 8 years 10 months ago | |
| 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 | 9 years 2 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 | 9 years 2 months ago |
