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
Hello, I am working as Enterprise Solution Architect with Department of Conservation, New Zealand Government. I am keen to learn the progresses and advancements made in the conservation space. This will provide us the starting point to collaborate and implement the technology.Tkx
- 0 Resources
- 7 Discussions
- 12 Groups
BSc Graduate looking for volunteering/work in conservation biology
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 4 Groups
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 9 Groups
I'm project manager of a mountain biodiversity observatory : ORCHAMP
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 5 Groups
- @Clarkman
- | he/him
Technical Director of sfbusa.org, building real-time, location reporting, fish bomb detection arrays. I do embedded product & firmware development.
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 5 Groups
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 3 Groups
- 0 Resources
- 2 Discussions
- 8 Groups
- @Manu
- | He/him
I'm a conservation biologist working with bats and in some ONG's with other animals.
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 5 Groups
- @marusuffern
- | She/her
Passionate and curious about nature and its diversity, I seek to learn more about conservation, new technologies, and the unknown and infinite environmental world.
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 18 Groups
- @BioVipa
- | Him
Natural Resources Engineer. Birdwatcher and citizen science lover, data science enthusiast.
Wanting to learn more ways to use technology for conservation.
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 10 Groups
GIS and Database Coordinator at the Rainforest Foundation UK
- 2 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 6 Groups
DrivenData
AI for conservation developer
- 2 Resources
- 5 Discussions
- 4 Groups
Link
Weed-AI: Supporting the AI revolution in weed control
Amber Balfour-Cunningham
Weeds, by definition, are plants in the wrong place but Weed-AI is helping put weed image data in the right place. Weed-AI is an open source, searchable, weeds image data platform designed to facilitate the research and...
7 May 2025
Link
OpenAgTech newsletter: Bringing you the latest in open-source tech for agriculture.
Amber Balfour-Cunningham
Bringing you the latest in open-source technology for agriculture. This accompanies the Open Source Agriculture respository: Collating all open-source datasets, software tools and deployment platforms related to open-...
1 May 2025
Link
Open Source Agriculture Repository
Amber Balfour-Cunningham
Repository for all things open-source in agricultural technology (agritech) development by Guy Coleman. This accompanies the OpenSourceAg newsletter. Aiming to collate all open-source datasets and projects in agtech...
1 May 2025
Article
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...
29 April 2025
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
Modern GIS: Moving from Desktop to Cloud
Vance Russell
Modern GIS is open technology, scalable, and interoperable. How do you implement it? [Header image: kepler.gl]
12 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
Article
Last month, we spent four days trekking through Cerro Hoya National Park in Panama, where we hiked from near sea level up to the cloud forest to deploy Mothboxes.
14 February 2025
Link
New paper - "acoupi integrates audio recording, AI-based data processing, data management, and real-time wireless messaging into a unified and configurable framework. We demonstrate the flexibility of acoupi by...
7 February 2025
Article
Over the years, a large number of developments have gone up in the area that I live in and the municipality is not doing what they should when it comes to upholding the laws that have been put in place to protect the...
20 January 2025
Article
Throughout November and December, the Mothbox team has been running field tests in Panama, cleaning up their data for post-processing, and starting an online shop with moth-themed merch!
19 December 2024
Article
Announcement of Project SPARROW
Zhongqi Miao
SPARROW: Solar-Powered Acoustics and Remote Recording Observation Watch
18 December 2024
May 2025
June 2025
event
Nalini
October 2025
event
Lacey Hughey and 3 more
| Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Mothbox team (@briannajohns, @hikinghack, @Hubertszcz, @wellreadpanda, @alex_rogers, @mothyash) is excited to announce that we’ve won a... |
|
Open Source Solutions | 1 hour ago | |
| Hi everyone,What should we share or demo about Software Quality Assurance? Alex Saunders and I, the two Software QA people at Wildlife Protection Solutions (WPS) are going to... |
|
Software Development, AI for Conservation, Open Source Solutions | 3 days 14 hours ago | |
| Interesting. Thanks for the explanation. Nice to hear your passion showing through. |
|
AI for Conservation, Camera Traps, Data management and processing tools, Open Source Solutions, Software Development | 3 weeks 3 days ago | |
| 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... |
|
Geospatial, Climate Change, Community Base, Connectivity, Funding and Finance, Open Source Solutions | 3 weeks 3 days ago | |
| 📸 Do you use camera traps in your work? Take part in our survey!Hi everyone! I’m currently a final-year engineering... |
|
Camera Traps, AI for Conservation, Data management and processing tools, Open Source Solutions, Software Development | 3 weeks 3 days ago | |
| One of our goals with explorer.land is to bridge satellite data and on-the-ground perspectives — helping teams combine field updates,... |
|
AI for Conservation, Geospatial, Open Source Solutions, Sensors | 1 month ago | |
| 15 years ago I had to rebuild the dams on a game reserve I was managing due to flood damage and neglect. How I wished there was an easier,... |
|
Drones, Conservation Tech Training and Education, Data management and processing tools, Emerging Tech, Geospatial, Open Source Solutions | 1 month 1 week ago | |
| Hi, just wanted to let whoever is interested that v.1.3 of DeepFaune is out! Deepfaune is a software that runs on any standard... |
|
Camera Traps, AI for Conservation, Open Source Solutions | 1 month 1 week ago | |
| New stable release : v1.5.1We are pleased to announce the latest release with several important enhancement, fixes and documentation improvements to ensure compatibility with the... |
+15
|
Acoustics, AI for Conservation, Open Source Solutions, Software Development | 1 month 1 week ago | |
| Hello everyone,Thank you all for your contribution!You can read some updates about this project in this post.Julia |
|
Acoustics, Community Base, Data management and processing tools, Open Source Solutions | 1 month 2 weeks ago | |
| Reposting the original post from the GOSH Community:Cool news from the mothbox team! We still don’t have any funding, but our next big goal... |
|
Open Source Solutions, Emerging Tech, Funding and Finance | 1 month 2 weeks ago | |
| Yep see you on friday |
+3
|
Geospatial, Acoustics, AI for Conservation, Camera Traps, Citizen Science, Community Base, Data management and processing tools, Emerging Tech, Open Source Solutions, Protected Area Management Tools | 1 month 3 weeks ago |
