Group curators
Pen-Yuan Hsing
- @Nycticebus_scientia
- | he/they
MammalWeb.org
Amanda Matthes
Brianna Johns
- @briannajohns
- | she/they
Gathering for Open Science Hardware (GOSH)
Despite critical advancements in the tech solutions available to conservationists worldwide, many existing tools are cost-prohibitive in the landscapes that need them most. Additionally, those who create low-cost and open-source alternatives to pricey market tech often operate on tight budgets themselves, meaning they need more resources to promote their solutions to a broader market. We need increased communication around these solutions to highlight their availability, share lessons learned in their creation, and avoid duplication of efforts.
This group is a place to share low-cost, open-source devices for conservation; describe how they are used, including what needs they are addressing and how they fit into the wider conservation tech market; identify the obstacles in advancing the capacity of these technologies; and to discuss the future of these solutions, particularly their sustainability and how best to collaborate moving forward. We welcome contributions from both makers and users, whether active or prospective.
Here is how we see the current OSS space and how this group plans to change it by supporting both makers and users:
Many users do not appreciate the significant benefits of open-source tech. This group will educate users about the advantages and the need for open-source tech, specifically in the context of ecology work. We achieve this by stimulating regular discussions on the forum and by encouraging and supporting users to use open-source tools wherever possible.
Building OSS can be difficult. We want to support both established and potential makers who wish to develop OSS. The OSS group is a place where makers can find funding opportunities, ask current and potential users questions, and share their technologies.
Using OSS can be difficult. We also want to support adopters of OSS tech. We do this by offering a place for users to share challenges they face and crowdsource advice on things like technology choice or technical support.
Makers do not know what users want or need. The OSS group is a place that facilitates conversations between makers and users. This will give users a voice and ensure that makers are aware of the needs of users, enabling them to build better solutions.
The community is small and scattered. We want to grow an inclusive community of OSS practitioners. Our goal is to become the go-to place for discussions on the topic where people feel a sense of belonging.
Resources for getting started
- How do I use open source remote sensing data in Google Earth Engine? | Tech Tutors
- How do I use open source remote sensing data to monitor fishing? | Tech Tutors
- Low Cost, Open Source Solutions | Virtual Meetup
- What would an open source conservation technology toolkit look like? | Discussion
- December 2024 Open Source Solutions Community Call
Header image: Shawn F. McCracken
Group curators
- @Nycticebus_scientia
- | he/they
MammalWeb.org
Co-founded citizen science camera-trapping project with interest in developing 100% open source wildlife tech. Advocate for open science/open research. Community member of the Gathering for Open Science Hardware.
- 3 Resources
- 24 Discussions
- 3 Groups
trying to understand and improve the welfare of all animals that can suffer
- 4 Resources
- 6 Discussions
- 7 Groups
- @briannajohns
- | she/they
Gathering for Open Science Hardware (GOSH)
Interested in the application of open source technologies for conservation research.
- 9 Resources
- 4 Discussions
- 4 Groups
- 1 Resources
- 2 Discussions
- 7 Groups
- @womble
- | he/him
AI Researcher, with 30+ years experience in academia and industry. Currently consulting for a company using drone imagery to analyse property heat loss. Expertise in machine learning, NLP, python, Google Cloud. https://julianrichardson.net
- 0 Resources
- 6 Discussions
- 6 Groups
- @Harsha
- | He/Him
I am a marine biologist / acoustic ecologist from Australia. Fascinated by bioacoustics, I always look forward to learning from people in conservation!
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 11 Groups
- @adamsteer
- | Dr/He/Him
Researcher and consultant focused on snow, ice and landscapes, drone pilot, lidar and airborne remote sensing analyst. Based in Australia, thinks a lot about connected systems in mountain and polar landscapes. Open source geospatial specialist.
- 0 Resources
- 2 Discussions
- 4 Groups
- 0 Resources
- 3 Discussions
- 8 Groups
- @LucyD
- | She/Her
Software developer and wildlife ecologist
- 0 Resources
- 2 Discussions
- 5 Groups
- @PhilAtkin
- | He/Him
Embedded software developer of 40+ years experience, hardware designer.
- 3 Resources
- 22 Discussions
- 6 Groups
- @stevef
- | he/him
Tech Matters
Project Director, Terraso.org (1000 Landscapes for 1 Billion People): open source software for farmers, ranchers & communities.
- 0 Resources
- 2 Discussions
- 4 Groups
- @IvanIoSA
- | He/Him
CTO of IoSA, the Internet of Small Animals. Creator of ProxLogs
- 0 Resources
- 5 Discussions
- 7 Groups
St. Lawrence University
Professor of Biology at St. Lawrence University
- 0 Resources
- 2 Discussions
- 13 Groups
- @diego_lizcano
- | He/Him
Wildlife biologist interested in biodiversity monitoring and the conservation of mammals. Passionate photographer.
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 7 Groups
Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior
- 0 Resources
- 2 Discussions
- 5 Groups
Article
October + November 2024 OSS paper round-up
Amanda Matthes
In this instalment: ESPressoscope for microscopy, geographical feature extraction from OpenStreetMap, DEBEcoMod for predicting traits using dynamic energy budget theory, and more!
15 December 2024
Link
Open Sustainable Technology directory
Pen-Yuan Hsing
May be of interest to WILDLABS in terms of open source solutions, conservation tech, and learning about similar efforts. The founder of Open Sustainable Technology wrote this post about their work: https://...
2 December 2024
Careers
Computer Vision Developer
Ben Weinstein
We are hiring a computer vision developer at the University of Florida!
20 November 2024
Article
Catch up on the highlights from our two-day Mothbox v4.5 workshop at Georgia Tech, where participants gained hands-on experience building and testing the Mothbox.
13 November 2024
Link
ClimateTriage
Tobias Augspurger
Discover a meaningful way to contribute to open source projects focused on climate technology and sustainability.
22 October 2024
Link
Open Sustainable Technology
Tobias Augspurger
A directory and analysis of the open source ecosystem in the areas of climate change, sustainable energy, biodiversity and natural resources.
22 October 2024
Careers
MS and PhD Opportunities in Ocean Engineering and Oceanography
Camille Pagniello
The Marine Innovation Lab for Leading-edge Oceanography develops hardware and software to expand the ocean observing network and for the sustainable management of natural resources. For Fall 2025, we are actively...
6 October 2024
Article
September 2024 OSS paper round-up
Amanda Matthes
In this instalment: BioSense for environmental sensing, a UV data logger, KRILLSCAN for estimating krill biomass and more!
3 October 2024
Article
Project Spotlight: SnapperGPS
Brianna Johns
SnapperGPS is an open source GNSS receiver for non-real-time wildlife tracking. Learn more about the project below!
1 October 2024
Article
August 2024 OSS paper round-up
Amanda Matthes
In this instalment: HyperCoast for hyperspectral data, Fluxbot 2.0 for soil CO2 flux sensing, BirdVoxDetect for identifying bird calls, snipit for single nucleotide polymorphism visualisation and more!
15 September 2024
Article
Project Spotlight: OpenFlexure Microscope
Brianna Johns
The OpenFlexure Microscope is a low-cost, open source, and customizable microscope used worldwide. Find out more about the project and its benefits to conservation and ecology research in this post!
22 August 2024
May 2025
June 2025
event
Nalini
October 2025
event
Lacey Hughey and 3 more
May 2023
December 2022
October 2022
event
Carly Batist
September 2022
| Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yep we are working on it 1/ segment 2/remote unwanted ecosytem3/get local potential habitat4/generate5/add to picture |
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Geospatial, AI for Conservation, Data management and processing tools, Open Source Solutions, Software Development | 1 month 3 weeks ago | |
| All sound, would be nice if there were only 5, though! |
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AI for Conservation, Citizen Science, Data management and processing tools, Emerging Tech, Ethics of Conservation Tech, Funding and Finance, Geospatial, Open Source Solutions, Software Development | 1 month 4 weeks ago | |
| It's great to see so much interest in presenting at this webinar. We have also received interest through direct messages and meetings that we've happened to have had. Thank you... |
|
Open Source Solutions, Community Base, Funding and Finance | 2 months 2 weeks ago | |
| Thanks again for the interesting discussion everyone! Just a note that while I touched on it in my opening post above, there were still questions in this thread about what... |
+28
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Open Source Solutions, AI for Conservation, Ethics of Conservation Tech, Software Development | 2 months 2 weeks ago | |
| Thanks @VAR1 great insights! Funny you mentioned the honey thing, @hikinghack said the same in response on the GOSH forum. I think the point I'm trying to make with the vegan... |
|
Open Source Solutions, AI for Conservation, Conservation Tech Training and Education, Ethics of Conservation Tech, Geospatial, Software Development | 2 months 2 weeks ago | |
| Sure, Akio! Happy to answer!1. Yes, something like that. The few existing i guess applied already for GPS collar (literally collar) that usually for big cats and some other big... |
|
Sensors, Animal Movement, Open Source Solutions | 2 months 2 weeks ago | |
| How much does it cost to incorporate machine learning into your conservation drone geospatial analysis? How does it speed up your workflow... |
|
Conservation Tech Training and Education, Drones, Geospatial, Open Source Solutions, Sensors, Software Development | 2 months 3 weeks ago | |
| Another question. Right now pretty much all camera traps trigger on either PIR sensors or small AI models. Small AI models would tend to have a limitation that they would... |
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AI for Conservation, Camera Traps, Data management and processing tools, Open Source Solutions, Software Development | 3 months 1 week ago | |
| Hi Lorenzo,I highly recommend the OpenSoundscapes package (developed by the Kitzes Lab at U Pittsburgh) - there are workflows to build your own CNNs there, the documentation is... |
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Acoustics, AI for Conservation, Animal Movement, Open Source Solutions | 3 months 2 weeks ago | |
| Thanks! I am familiar with EarthRanger but wasn't aware it could be used for behavioural data collection |
+6
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Build Your Own Data Logger Community, Data management and processing tools, Open Source Solutions | 3 months 2 weeks ago | |
| Steve and I are looking to develop a low-cost benthic drift camera with a live video feed. Our hope is to use an acoustic modem to give us a low quality feed for navigation /... |
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Marine Conservation, Build Your Own Data Logger Community, Connectivity, Emerging Tech, Open Source Solutions | 5 months ago | |
| Today, I'm really grateful for the chance to present at the first WILDLABS Open Source Solutions online community meeting. Here are two... |
|
Open Source Solutions | 5 months 2 weeks ago |
