Although they cover over 70% of our planet, only 0.6% of the world oceans are protected. It is estimated that we only know about 1 in 10 species in the ocean, which is unsurprising given that 90% of the ocean is more than half a mile deep and still remains largely unexplored. How might technology help us discover, understand and protect the vulnerable ecosystems below the waterline?
Marine Conservation is a fast-growing group in the WILDLABS community, capturing a wide variety of tech expertise within its member base, including those working with bioacoustic gear and hydrophones, AUVs and drones, sensors, machine learning, and more. By bringing together WILDLABS members from so many areas of conservation tech, the Marine Conservation group is the perfect place to collaborate on big, complex issues like marine biodiversity monitoring, coral reef health, plastic pollution, and sustainability.
The Marine Conservation group forum is also your place to chat about and solve the challenges unique to using conservation technology in marine environments. Whether you're struggling with deep-sea connectivity or salt water impacting gear longevity, or looking for remote solutions for long-term reef monitoring or biologging data collection, this group wants to help you explore the possibilities!
Check out some of the key marine conservation tech resources, conversations, and virtual events from across the WILDLABS platform:
Tutorials and Talks to Watch on Demand:
- Virtual Meetups: Developing cost-effective, open-source marine megafauna tracking, Jake Levenson
- Tech Tutors: How do I use open source remote sensing data to monitor fishing?, Max Schofield
- Virtual Meetups: eDNA for Aquatic Biodiversity, Alice Valentini
Case Studies, Tools, Research, and News:
- Southern Right Whales & Genome and Satellite Technology, Emma Carroll | eDNA & genomics, satellite data, biodiversity monitoring, climate change
- Building Experts Into AI, Whale Seeker | Machine learning, marine conservation, AI ethics
- Using AIS Data to Investigate the World’s Fishing Ports, Max Schofield | Remote sensing, data visualisation, fishing monitoring
- Small-scale fisheries and tech resources, Dan Steadman | Fishery monitoring, webinars, best practices
- Press Release: BAS Giant Iceberg Mission, British Antarctic Survey | Climate change, AUVs, remote sensing
- Case Study: Thermal imaging, drones, and loggerhead sea turtles, Megan Ossmann | FLIR, Duo Pro R camera, drones
- eDNA sampling to detect invasive snails in shipping ballast water, Gavin Shelton | Invasive species, eDNA, shipping
- Sustainable Fishing Challenges: Fish Catch Monitoring, Dan Steadman | Biologging, sensors, fishing monitoring
Conversations and Questions:
- Satellite tags for marine turtle recommendations | Alasdair Davies
- Calling all hydrophone users! | Team Open Acoustic Devices
- How difficult is it to build a buoy and constrain it in place? | Lindy Knowles
- Methods to detect Derelict Fishing Gear | Nandini Mehrotra
- Drone Mapping for Algal Blooms? | Harold Tay
- Minimising habitat impact of trawling gear | Dan Steadman
- Estimating carbon from 3d models of mangroves | Mark Brown
- Can we detect gillnets in turbid water? | Aurélie Shapiro
- New low cost DIY temperature loggers for reef monitoring | Harold Tay
- Machine learning to detect fish bomb blasts | Jamie Macaulay
Header Image: Emma Vogel
- @Kathinja
- | He
A Geography Graduate with a keen interest in Geographic Information systems(GIS), a climate enthusiast, sustainable development, conservation effort and green technologies
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trying to understand and improve the welfare of all animals that can suffer
- 4 Resources
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Cornell University
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- @Heloise
- | She / Her
Bio-acoustician, marine biologist, marine mammal specialist, drone enthusiast
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- 9 Groups
Fauna & Flora
Working in marine conservation in Africa (with a quite strong focus on East Africa so far) with Fauna & Flora International.
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- @npeoples
- | she/her/hers
Undergraduate student at UNC-Chapel Hill studying environmental science and journalism
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- @katja
- | she/her
AI/ML consultant for climate/environment solutions industry
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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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- 8 Groups
Neuroscientist & engineer looking for a data/R&D role in conservation.
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- @BethClark
- | she/her
BirdLife International
Seabird Science Officer
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- @hyodopenguin
- | she/her
I am currently a rising junior at UC Berkeley studying data science. I hope to apply data with biodiversity, especially by utilizing camera traps for species classification. People in conservation tech are truly living my dream careers, and I can't wait to get even more inspired!
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I'm a researcher in aquatic sciences, studying connections between fish biology and endocrine systems that govern growth and reproduction, contributing to fisheries management, conservation efforts and aquaculture innovations.
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Article
Nature Tech for Biodiversity Sector Map launched!
Carly Batist and 1 more
Conservation International is proud to announce the launch of the Nature Tech for Biodiversity Sector Map, developed in partnership with the Nature Tech Collective!
1 April 2025
Article
Call for nominations for the Tusk Conservation Awards 2025
20 March 2025
Funding
Arctic Community Wildlife Grants Program
World Wide Fund for Nature/ World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
WWF's Arctic Community Wildlife Grants program supports conservation, stewardship, and research initiatives that focus on coastal Arctic ecology, community sustainability, and priority Arctic wildlife, including polar...
7 March 2025
Article
Advancing Hierarchical Classification of Ocean Life
Lilli Wakinekona Carlsen
Join the FathomNet Kaggle Competition to show us how you would develop a model that can accurately classify varying taxonomic ranks!
4 March 2025
Careers
Customer Support and Marketing Specialist
Thomas Gray
We are hiring for a customer support / marketing specialist.
20 February 2025
Link
GhostNetZero.ai
Alex Rood
Using advanced AI technology, GhostNetZero.ai analyzes the collected sonar data to identify specific locations where ghost nets are likely to be found. This enables the recovery of these abandoned nets and helps to rid...
13 February 2025
Funding
Osa Conservation is launching our inaugural cohort of the ‘Susan Wojcicki Research Fellowship’ for 2025, worth up to $15,000 per awardee (award value dependent on project length and number of awards given each year)....
10 February 2025
Careers
New PhD - Drones, seaweeds & climate change
Chris Yesson
A PhD opportunity for anyone interested in coastal drone surveys, seaweeds, climate change and the chance to do a whole bunch of different computer modelling including AI-driven species distribution modelling to assess...
30 December 2024
Funding
The International Climate Initiative opened its Thematic priorities call for proposals. Besides on the development of finance and business models, the call addresses several marine conservation topics.
25 November 2024
Article
FathomVerse: Gaming for the Good of the Ocean
Lilli Wakinekona Carlsen
Dive into meaningful play with FathomVerse!
20 November 2024
Careers
Arctic Acoustic Technician
Alex Rood
WCS iseeking candidates for an acoustic technician position to support the Western Arctic Program’s ongoing work using passive acoustic monitoring to study marine mammals, fish, and underwater noise in the Canadian...
19 November 2024
Funding
Ocean Exploration and Discovery Request for Proposals
Frank van der Most
The Schmidt Ocean Institute (SOI) and the National Geographic Society have a joint call for "early career scientists who can lead ship-based research, technology, or conservation projects aboard SOI’s Falkor (too)"
13 October 2024
June 2025
October 2025
event
Lacey Hughey and 3 more
April 2024
event
Alex Rood
event
Wildlife Drones
| Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The SMART Partnership will be attending the International Marine Protected Areas Congress (IMPAC4) hosted in La Serena, Chile, from the... |
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Marine Conservation | 7 years 9 months ago | |
| The Ellen MacArthur Foundation, together with The Prince of Wales’s International Sustainability Unit, have announced the launch of... |
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Marine Conservation | 8 years ago | |
| Hello all! There is an upcoming seminar on turtles in Yonkers, NY on Saturday, March 25th. If you care about turtles, you... |
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Marine Conservation | 8 years 2 months ago | |
| We are starting to deploy buoys to demarcate no entry, no-take zones in a recently declared Marine Fisheries Management Area in Cambodia,... |
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Marine Conservation | 8 years 5 months ago | |
| Hi Steph, Sorry for the late reply as I have other commitments currently. In our case, we are using facial scales pattern because we found out that each individual... |
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Marine Conservation | 8 years 7 months ago | |
| This news made me so happy this morning.. a fish chorus, what a delightful thought! And you can even listen to it! |
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Marine Conservation | 8 years 8 months ago | |
| The Niskin bottle, a seemingly simple tube designed to take water samples at discrete depths, is one of the most important tools of... |
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Marine Conservation | 8 years 11 months ago | |
| The Coral Trait Database houses physiological, morphological, ecological, phylogenetic and biogeographic trait information with the... |
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Marine Conservation | 9 years ago | |
| Algae technology is central to innovation to conserve biodiversity against the threats of climate change. I am part of a global scientific group called Ocean Foresters.... |
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Marine Conservation | 9 years ago | |
| An upcoming NOAA webinar might be of interest to this group: Ocean Exploration & MPAs: Priorities, Technological... |
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Marine Conservation | 9 years 2 months ago | |
| Hi John, Have you checked out Whale Alert? There may be some scope for applying/adapting the same technology for averting manatee strikes by applying it to the... |
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Marine Conservation | 9 years 2 months ago | |
| A new article argues that aesthically pleasing reefs are healthy reefs: 'This shows that mathematical approaches designed to assess... |
|
Marine Conservation | 9 years 5 months ago |
