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Drones / Feed

Used to pick up signals from tracking gear on the ground, collect images of wildlife and habitats from the air, gather acoustic data with specialized hydrophones, or even collect snot samples from whales' blowholes, drones are capable of collecting high-resolution data quickly, noninvasively, and at relatively low cost.

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Synergistic use of UAV surveys, satellite tracking data, and mark-recapture to estimate abundance of elusive species

Stephanie O'Donnell

21 March 2023 5:21pm

We used a combination of high-resolution satellite tracking (Fastloc-GPS), uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) surveys, and capture-mark-recapture approaches to assess the abundance of immature hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) and green turtles (Chelonia mydas) in a tidal lagoon of...

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https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecs2.4444
event

Wildlife Conservation Drones & Technologies Summit 2023

Lonnie McCaskill

16 March 2023 11:31am

Engage, learn from, and network with researchers, students, and other wildlife professionals from around the world that are using or interested in using drones to support wildlife conservation, management and research.

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Lonnie McCaskill

30 March 2023 4:15pm

Hi Emmah,Thanks again for inquiring. At this time there is no plans for streaming of the presentations. I'm hoping in the future we can add this option but right now doesn't look...
Wildlife Drones

12 April 2023 5:18am

We are looking forward to attending the event! 
Lonnie McCaskill

15 April 2023 3:26pm

That's Great! We're looking forward to the event and all of the networking and collaborations that might result from it! 
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discussion

Computer Science student looking to work for wildlife

Virgile Foussereau

5 March 2023 10:04pm

Hello everyone,I am a master student in Computer Science, with a specialization in AI and computer vision. I like to work with AI, computer vision, drones, sensors, autonomous...

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Devi Hall

14 March 2023 2:00pm

Great information! Thank you for sharing this. I actually have Masters in Zoology and have done some field work in Marine Conservation. Since then I have worked in Science education and eventually switched to Software Programming. My dream has always been to work in Conservation, however life happened and I had to give up on this pipe dream. I currently work as a Developer in a contractor role for the Federal Government. Would someone with my experience have an advantage in conservation Tech?

Tom August

14 March 2023 2:58pm

I think the real demand in conservation tech is for transdisciplianry individuals. If you look at all the stand-out people in this space they are people who occupy multiple domains that are traditionally isolated. These are people who talk fluently in computer science and ecology, for example. Not only this, they are also people who create and imagine in ways that intertwin ideas and concepts across these domains. Its these people, thinking in these ways, that lead to innovations that really move us forward. Some of these people started out where you are now, having crossed domains through their career and then seeing opportunities to bring these skills together in imaginative ways. 

Stephanie O'Donnell

14 March 2023 9:53pm

I couldn't agree more with both of these comments tom! I'm reading hundreds (literally hundreds) of applications for open WILDLABS roles at the moment, and the ones that stand out are those where it's really clear they're following genuine curiosity across different disciplines. If you're in conservation, it's the evidence of interest in tech (courses, projects, things you're trying and learning yourself). For tech, it's getting into conservation - all the things you mentioned. 

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discussion

Drones for GIS - Best Practice

Adrian Hughes

17 October 2017 8:22am

I thought I would share our best pratice document we created as part of the Drones for GIS project we we are running at the RSPB. The aim of the document is to provide insight...

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Adrian Hughes

31 March 2020 10:38am

We've just created a new version. General updates throughout

 

version notes

 

General refresh and update based on knowledge acquired over the last couple of years

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Updated CAA regulations, drone model advice including Yuneec, sensor advice (including thermal), classification advice, hydrological modelling advice, and nest survey info

Stephanie O'Donnell

15 February 2023 9:39am

This thread continues to be one of the most useful, evergreen resources - even 5+ years later! Who would have thought? 

I was speaking to a colleague from another conservation ngo last week - and it came out that she was having to start from scratch developing some consistent internal guidance to support staff members using drones. I've poiinted her here and it's already been super useful, but I'm curious if anyone has newer guidance they've developed to support drone use their organisation that they'd be able to share? If you've updated your guidance, what have you changed or found to be most important? 

Reinvigorating this thread might turn out to be super useful for lots of folk and save a lot of time in developing supporting documentation - I appreciate anyone who is able to share! 

Thanks 

Steph 

Alex Sams

24 February 2023 12:30pm

Hi all,

I've been quickly developing in-house drone services in the UK for Providence Ecological and have found some useful information for building a workflow with Rich Charpentier's YouTube channel. There are loads of good resources on YouTube but Rich's channel seems to be more useful with regard to budget/free software etc. 

It has occurred to me that there may not be very good "Best Practice" guidance for drone pilots with regard to wildlife disturbance so when considering employing a drone pilot, please bear this in mind. It is useful to talk through their experience of avoiding/mitigating disturbance to wildlife during drone operations asnd provide guidance where you feel it is required. 

Hopefully this is helpful!

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Using drones and camera trapping to track New Hampshire’s moose populations

Ellie Warren

22 February 2023 9:38pm

Interesting article that links to research on how technology has made studying moose populations easier, with particularly good explanation of what makes moose populations difficult to track.

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discussion

Call for Data: A Global Database of Tree Crown Footprints from RGB Imagery

Matt Allen

3 February 2023 11:22am

Hello! I am putting together a benchmark dataset for tree crown segmentation - do you have data and would you like to join our effort?Call for data: we're looking for...

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Carly Batist

3 February 2023 7:01pm

You should definitely talk with Ben Weinstein and co (the folks behind DeepForest), if you haven't already!

Liz Scott

10 February 2023 4:18pm

Bluesky have a commercial tree crown dataset available covering most of Great Britain (England, Wales and parts of Scotland). There is a canopy layer with approximate outlines of each canopy (the image on this page shows just circular crowns). It's created using aerial imagery.

 

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How daredevil drones find nearly extinct plants hiding in cliffs

Stephanie O'Donnell

10 February 2023 11:07am

Nice article about one of the Rainforest XPrize semifinalist teams - using drones to sample plant species. 'Nyberg and the National Tropical Botanical Garden (NTBG) team, working with the State of Hawaii's Division of Forestry and Wildlife, have rediscovered three species...

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discussion

Interview for Technologies in Conservation

Nikolas

24 November 2022 10:07am

Dear Wildlabs community, my name is Nikolas and I am a Master's Student from Lisbon. Like many of you, I grew up with a great passion for the wildlife that we are surrounded...

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Carly Batist

16 January 2023 2:42pm

I'd be happy to chat with you if you wanted! My expertise is within passive acoustic monitoring particularly. The Conservation Tech Directory might be useful for you in identifying relevant actors within the space.

Pen-Yuan Hsing

17 January 2023 5:12pm

My original background is in ecology and conservation, and am now in the elected leadership of the Gathering for Open Science Hardware which convenes researchers developing open source tech for science. I am not working on a specific piece of technology right now, but am happy to contribute some higher-level views for your interview if that helps.

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Crowdfunding Aerial Baseline Study of Ghost Gear in Koh Phangan, Thailand

Sol Milne

18 December 2022 11:06am

We are developing a project in Thailand, using drones to locate lost & discarded fishing gear across Koh Phangan, Thailand. We're 86% there & only need $1500 to get us over the line. If you can help us, we would really appreciate it! This project uses drones to create...

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Read "Using drones to find ghost gear in Koh Phangan, Thailand & study the impacts on marine megafauna | Experiment" on https://experiment.com/projects/using-drones-to-study-ghost-gear-amp-marine-megafauna-in-koh-phangan-thailand

Using drones to find ghost gear in Koh Phangan, Thailand & study the impacts on marine megafauna | Experiment

crowdfunding science research funding crowdsourcing experiment openaccess

https://experiment.com/projects/using-drones-to-study-ghost-gear-amp-marine-megafauna-in-koh-phangan-thailand
careers

12 PhD Positions - WildDrone

Jake Burton

1 December 2022 4:45pm

The WildDrone team are looking for 12 PhD candidates to join the "WildDrone - Autonomous Drones for Nature Conservation Missions" Marie-Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Network

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discussion

Picking up signal of GPS tag

Sol Milne

10 November 2022 11:29am

Hi all! Has anyone been able to collect any ID information from a GPS tag, by circling above with a drone? Thinking about FAD detection at sea.Thanks!

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Sol Milne

16 November 2022 10:54am

Thanks Carly! I've been in awe of what Wildlife Drones is doing, but as you say my work at the moment is focussed on existing GPS units rather than telemetry for tracking. I'll still reach out & ask though. Thanks for your help! :)

Sol Milne

16 November 2022 10:55am

Hi Kim! Thanks for sharing, this is really interesting! I'll check out the website & see what I can find out about the mechanics of the device. Thanks again!

Thomas Gray

21 November 2022 5:25pm

Hey Sol, 

The only way for you to collect information from a GPS tag attached to a FAD is if that tag transmits that data to the drone. Unfortunately most receiver packages are a bit too large for hobbyist-style drones (from what I've seen). 

Depending on the range/distance from shore, you might be able to have a shore-based receiver system?  

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careers

Shark Lab Data Analyst

Carly Batist

24 October 2022 7:12pm

This position (at California State University, Long Beach) provides data management & analysis support to Shark Lab research operations including shark tagging, active tracking, receiver data, AUV & UAV data...

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discussion

Conservation Tech Directory - new update!

Carly Batist

29 August 2022 2:38pm

New directory update from @gracieermi & I! And an extra special one as we've just passed our 1-year anniversary! Super exciting to see how far this has come! Check it out:...

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Liz Ferguson

23 September 2022 5:26pm

Congrats on the milestone Carly and Gracie!

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