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Climate Change / Feed

The conservation tech community has the power to help us understand and overcome the enormous challenges posed by climate change. Join our Climate Change group to meet others who are passionate about using their expertise to innovate new solutions and find reasons to be optimistic about tech's potential in the fight against climate disasters.

discussion

PhD Advice

Ethan Marburger

22 April 2025 1:34am

Hey Everyone!First post here. I'll be graduating soon with a Master's degree in Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology from NC State and am looking to continue my education...

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Rob Appleby

4 May 2025 4:14pm

Hi @ethanmarburger, I am probably not the best to give advice here given that it took me nearly two decades to actually finish my PhD, but I'd aim for something that you are really interested in so that you can keep up a high momentum. If you love your project you are more likely to cruise through the 'grind' periods. In terms of networking, WILDLABS is definitely a great place to start! You may well find some connections just looking across the threads here, and reaching out to people that are doing work you are interested in. More broadly, and depending on where you are in the world, you might be able to volunteer or even get some work on projects in your area, which can be a good way to get a foot in the door to larger research projects. You could possibly look at helping out on some analysis of spatial/AI datasets etc, or reach out to not-for-profits and conservation charities and see what they need/you might be able to help with - but try and be as specific as possible so they know straight away what you are after. Just a few quick ideas off the top of my head, and more than happy to discuss further. My best for your search!

Cheers,

Rob

Alan Dorin

19 May 2025 12:29am

Hi Ethan, It's indeed a competitive area. My advice for you (and anybody else seeking a PhD supervisor)...

  1. Do background research on each individual potential supervisor and always approach them demonstrating your alignment with their research focus.
  2. Show that you have read and understood one or two of their key (relevant) papers in your initial email to them.
  3. Have in mind something relevant to you AND to the potential supervisor, to propose as a topic in your initial email to them. But, remain open to their ideas - there's a good chance they have something that would align with your interests and that would (more) smoothly generate a successful PhD than you might have come up with ;-)
  4. Write clearly and succinctly.
  5. Demonstrate enthusiasm and highlight any relevant past experience and engagement in the relevant area (briefly).
  6. Attach a PDF CV.
  7. Apply for PhD positions in areas where you are qualified.
  8. Evidence that you have published a good paper, especially as first author, from your Masters thesis would be a bonus.

This is a time-consuming process. But you may end up spending 3+ years working with this supervisor, and vice versa. It's important for all concerned that you (and they) make a good, informed decision.

Good luck in your search!

Alan.

 

 

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article

Fires in the Serengeti: Burn Severity & Remote Sensing with Earth Engine

Vance Russell

29 April 2025 6:16pm

Fires in Serengeti and Masai Mara National Parks have burned massive areas this year. With Google Earth Engine, it's possible to quantify burn severity using the normalized burn ratio function, then calculate the total...

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Vance Russell

1 May 2025 11:44am

This was originally presented on 24 April, 2025 as part of a Geospatial Group Cafe. We will post the recording and highlights from other speakers of that session soon!
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discussion

From Field to Funder: How to communicate impact?

Léa Smadja

16 April 2025 3:51pm

Conservation involves a mosaic of actors — field practitioners, local communities, funders, government agencies, scientists, and more.Each one needs different levels of...

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Frank van der Most

17 April 2025 5:04pm

Great questions @LeaOpenForests !

I don't have concrete answers since I am not a stakeholder in any project in particular. Based on experience with research on the potential for a similar one-stop-shop for science metrics, I would suggest that there is no simple solution: different actors do need and have different views on presenting and viewing impact. This means possible gaps between what one group of actors need and what the other is willing or able to produce. One can hope, search and aim for sufficient overlap, but I don't see how they would necessarily or naturally overlap.

Still, I would guess that if there are dimensions of overlap, they are time, space and actor-networks 

Amber Balfour-Cunningham

28 April 2025 3:18pm

I have posted about this in a different group, but I love boosting the impact of my communication through use of visuals. 

Free graphics relating to conservation technology and the environment are available at:

  1. National Environmental Science Program Graphics Library

    Graphics below of a feral cat with a tracking collar and a cat grooming trap are examples of symbols available courtesy of the NESP Resilient Landscapes Hub, nesplandscapes.edu.au.

  2. UMCES Integration and Application Network Media Library
Feral cat with tracking collar courtesy of the NESP Resilient Landscapes Hub, nesplandscapes.edu.au

Cat grooming trap graphic courtesy of the NESP Resilient Landscapes Hub, nesplandscapes.edu.au

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discussion

Beekeeping training center/field school

Muganyizi Melchior Kamuganga

3 April 2025 10:38am

Greetings from Tanzania ,Lake zone Tanzania Beekeeping field schoolI am a founder of none for profit organization based in North-western Tanzania. Currently am designing a...

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Travis Butler

8 April 2025 9:17am

Hi, I'm really interested in your project. If you're open to it, I’d be happy to build and send you a couple of data logger units — free of charge — to help monitor temperature, humidity, pressure, and possibly hive weight using a load cell. I’m also considering adding a simple bee traffic sensor to track how often bees enter and leave the hive. This could help reveal patterns related to foraging behavior or colony stress. 

 It would also be an interesting use case for using LoRaWAN to send node data to a central gateway. The data could be exported in line protocol format so you can easily import it into InfluxDB or another dashboarding tool if you'd like to visualize it.

 I’m quite busy with other projects, but I’d be happy to throw something together to get you started, and I’ll include the source code in case you'd like to modify or expand it in the future. Let me know if this sounds helpful — I'd love to support your work.

 Best regards, Travis

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Link

Understanding the 2025 US Tariffs: Risks for Clean Tech and Conservation Progress

Henry Rees

7 April 2025 12:22pm

​If, like me, you are curious about the broad impact that the 2025 tariffs may have on sustainability and green energy progress then this article by Evelyne Hoffman offers an in-depth analysis of the short and long-term concerns, highlighting the increase in costs for green tech

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funding

Multiple grants

Frank van der Most

28 March 2025 1:42pm

I have been a bit distracted the past months by my move from Costa Rica to Spain ( all went well, thank you, I just miss the rain forest and the Ticos ) and have to catch up on funding calls. Because I still have little...

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event

Cloud-Native Geospatial Conference

Earthmover

26 March 2025 3:40pm

CNG Conference is where geospatial data users gather to create the future of our industry together. Learn how experts at NOAA, Planet, the World Bank, and others are using geospatial data and AI to solve some of the...

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funding

AI Weather Quest

Alex Rood

25 March 2025 5:07pm

The AI Weather Quest, organised by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), is an ambitious international competition designed to harness artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) in...

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event

DC Climate Week

Alex Rood

19 March 2025 4:06pm

DC Climate Week (DCCW) will establish Washington, DC, as the nation’s center of climate innovation by providing opportunities to engage with policymakers, fund climate solutions, and showcase cutting-edge technologies...

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Link

Utilizing Artificial Intelligence to Reduce the Impact of Climate Change on Wildlife

Alex Rood

10 March 2025 5:42pm

This thesis concludes that artificial intelligence offers valuable opportunities for mitigating the impacts of climate change on wildlife with careful consideration of its limitations and ethical implications.

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Read "Utilizing Artificial Intelligence to Reduce the Impact of Climate Change on Wildlife" on Zenodo

Utilizing Artificial Intelligence to Reduce the Impact of Climate Change on Wildlife

AbstractCurrent anthropogenic climate change poses a significant threat to biodiversity, rapidly driving species towards extinction. Wildlife conservation relies on the speed and accuracy of processing environmental data, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a promising tool to assist wildlife conservation efforts. This thesis conducts a literature review to explore how artificial intelligence is being utilized to mitigate the impacts of climate change on wildlife. It examines the key applications of artificial intelligence, such as monitoring wildlife, predicting species distribution under climate effects, mitigation solutions, and poaching and trafficking detection. This literature review focuses on identifying the effective artificial intelligence models in current conservation practices, highlighting their capabilities, challenges, and limitations. The findings suggest that artificial intelligence can significantly enhance wildlife monitoring and conservation planning, as well as providing tools to predict environmental changes and plan mitigation strategies. However, certain challenges including technical limitations, ethical considerations, and data availability remain obstacles to utilizing the full potential of artificial intelligence in this field. Future research should focus on the development of unified species databases, identifying the most reliable models, Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI), and cost-effective solutions, while addressing ethical issues. This thesis concludes that artificial intelligence offers valuable opportunities for mitigating the impacts of climate change on wildlife with careful consideration of its limitations and ethical implications.

Zenodo
Link

Saving Peatlands, Securing Our Climate Future

Elsa Carla De Grandi

21 February 2025 8:32am

Excellent StoryMap by WCS illustrating results from a recent paper https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/conl.13080. Main findings: analysis revealed that 17% of peatlands are protected globally—substantially less than many other high-value ecosystems.

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discussion

Climate changes in wildlife protected areas

Nora Noel

14 August 2024 11:26am

Hello! Good day everyone?I have a query about climate change and i would appreciate to get some ideas from you.I am volunteering in a national park, ecologist and i am interested...

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Adventina Nyanjobe Anthony

14 August 2024 5:27pm

Hi Norah! 
This is a great concern! Kudos! 
Climate change data especially for such a long time can help us answer a lot of questions including the few listed below:

  1. How has the climate variability affected the trend of species in the ecosystem? (You can choose to study a specific specie of animal or plant) and respond on their increase and (or) extinction.
  2. How has climate variability affected or supported the survival rate of introduced species?
  3. Climate variability is one among many factors of invasion, how is the invasion rate in your ecosystem?
  4. You can also answer on the general topic of your ecosystem’s health with the data! 

    I would love to read a paper from the data you have! Very resourceful! 
    Break the leg! 
Tatenda Hanyani

11 February 2025 5:17pm

I agree Adventina. I am also interested in "How has the climate variability affected the trend of BAT species in the ecosystem? and respond on their increase and (or) extinction.

 

@Norah, I am also interested in the findings regardless of the species you pick. In 2022 - 2023 we created a climate database for an NGO project in Amhara, Ethiopia. It would be cool to come up with a climate variability databasa for the park.

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discussion

ACS@1 What has happened?

CathyNj

8 November 2024 5:47pm

I had the opportunity to attend great discussions around youth and children on assessing progress since the Africa Climate Summit. Youth are keen on what actions are in place...

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