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WILDLABS logoWildlabs.net : The conservation technology network

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Software Development / Feed

This group is for anyone interested in applying software to conservation and wildlife research. Whether you're a developer eager to contribute to conservation or a newbie with valuable data and ideas but limited software experience, this group connects people with diverse expertise. It provides a space for asking questions, sharing resources, and staying informed about new technologies and best practices.

Group curators

discussion

Creating a wifi hotspot in a remote site

Jenny Daltry

17 April 2019 3:30pm

Can anyone offer advice on setting up a wifi hotpot for a team based on a very remote, flat, treeless island? I'm looking at a few options, including the following link, but...

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Jenny Daltry

18 April 2019 10:03am

Thanks1 The Moja system looks fantastic. I've neevr heard of anything similar in the Caribbean.

 

Damian

10 May 2019 7:12am

Hi Jenny,

Trust you're well. Were you successful in getting something for your team?

Ivan

4 June 2019 4:02pm

Hi Jenny,

Interesting problem.

I don't have direct experience, but it looks like there are some experts you can probably reach out to and ask... if you haven't already:

http://www.groundcontrol.com/Caribbean_Satellite_Internet.htm

http://www.globaltt.com/en/internet_satellite/Caribbean.html

Also I found an interesting discussion on Reddit:

https://www.reddit.com/r/networking/comments/72wrio/satellite_internet_in_the_caribbean/

Best of luck!

Ivan

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article

Canopy height mapping with drones

Tom Swinfield

31 May 2019 12:00am

Tom Swinfield and colleagues at the Forest Ecology and Conservation Group have assessed the quality of three dimensional forest models produced from drone surveys, and conclude that concerns about their quality for...

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funding

FLIR Conservation Discount Program

Teledyne FLIR

23 May 2019 12:00am

FLIR announces the launch of their Conservation Discount Program, which offers projects the opportunity to qualify for a 30% discount on select thermal, visible, and maritime products. Share your conservation plan and...

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article

Meet the WILDLABS TECH HUB Winners

WILDLABS Team

13 May 2019 12:00am

In February, we released an open call for the WILDLABS TECH HUB, offering 3 months of support for solutions using technolgy to tackle the illegal wildlife trade. We were overwhelmed by an incredible 37 submissions,...

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discussion

SocialCoder.org

Robert Jacobson

27 March 2019 11:13am

I have felt that something like SocialCoder.org is long, long overdue. There are scores of programmers and other tech people who are looking for interesting projects to do ...

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Stephanie O'Donnell

28 March 2019 10:45am

HI Robert, 

I have so many thoughts about this topic.. will try to keep them brief! It's definitely a discussion topic I'd like to throw around in the virtual meetup we have coming up in May that's going to be about Tools and Spaces for Collaboration. 

I haven't seen this programme specifically, but I'm aware of others that have similar goals. I (and a lot of others) agree - better/clearer pathways for connecting tech people with conservation needs is something long overdue for conservation tech. It's a need we've had our eye on since launching WILDLABS. 

We're seeing it happen organically/opportunisitcally here in WILDLABS already (sometimes exactly the way you've mentioned - people posting in forums, other times it's happening behind the scenes with our community team making the connections). But I think we've reached a maturity/stability level in the community where we can now think about how to do it more strategically. 

In our 2019 survey (still a few days left to get your thoughts in - access it here), the priority we're hearing from respondants is for tools that make it easier to either find projects to get involved in, or to find people/skills who can answer needs - tools for collaboration. I've included the current responses to this question below. At the top of the list is an 'I need help portal' - I envisage this as a sort of Task Rabbit for conservation. This could be one way of delivering this matchmaking service at scale and giving tech people (early career or not) an easier way to find projects that need there specific skill set. 

I think there's also a need for a more bespoke approach, that like a mentoring/hand-picked matching process. Inevitably this is way heavier on the staff capacity requirements but may have a greater impact.It feels like this might be closer to the social coder approach. The SCB Conservation Tech Working Group is working on developing a path for how we can engaging individual tech experts and connect them with projects/challenges that could use their expertise (we'll share more on this as it evolves), and the WILDLABS Tech Hub is developing this sort of approach at a company level, engaging whole teams from tech companies strategically based on specific projects needs. 

One final thought - when we're talking about these sort of initaitves, I think it's important to keep in mind that while there's a clear benefit for getting tech people involved in addressing conservation needs, there is also a cost/risk especially if there isn't alignment between the skills on offer and an actual need. It can take significant staff time to manage these projects or even just articulate the challenge properly, if there isn't a plan for sustaining the solution then conservationists are left with something that ends up draining resources/not delivering, and we also run the risk of fatigue with tech projects not working out or field teams not wanting to be test subjects and just wanting things that work. These challenges are not a reason avoid this work, but they are things to keep in mind. 

Anway, interested to hear your thoughts or anyone elses? Are others thinking in this space? Does what i've said resonate?  

Steph

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event

WILDLABS Virtual Meetup: Low Cost, Open-Source Solutions

WILDLABS Team

18 March 2019 12:00am

The first event in Season Two of the WILDLABS Virtual Meetup Series was on Low-Cost, Open-Source Solutions. The recording is now available to watch, along with notes and recommended reading based on the discussion. In...

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discussion

we seek Beta-testers for our new platform for wildlife intelligence

Jan Kees Schakel

23 January 2019 6:56am

Sensing Clues Foundation is introducing an innovative Platform for Wildlife Intelligence, enabling rangers to create timely and actionable information for wildlife protection...

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Stephanie O'Donnell

18 February 2019 12:29pm

Excellent, that good to hear.

No, I didn't have anyone in particular in mind, it's just helpful to have that info in the back of my mind as I talk to different people/projects. I was also wondering whether to include the invite in our next Digest which will be coming out tomorrow, and based on this response I'll pop it in there :) 

Robert Jacobson

19 February 2019 11:17pm

Congratulations! This looks like great tech.

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discussion

Call for ideas & feedback

sjc07

2 January 2019 5:24pm

Hi forum, I am writing to ask the group what are the most pressing challenges they have that could potentially be solved by technology. I am a technologist, but also have...

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Sean McCormack

7 February 2019 12:45am

It certainly is. Whatever gets the job done and makes it easier for us to find the animals and prosecute the poachers. Also interested in thermal-imaging hardware and perhaps radar. I'm new to them all.

Joachim Neff

11 February 2019 9:57pm

Hello Sean
If you want to get hands-on with thermal imaging hardware then you may be interested to know that this type of technology has dramatically reduced in price in recent years. IR cameras used to costs thousands (€, £, $) but can now be had for around US$500. See here for the FLIR C2: https://www.flir.com/products/c2/

I bought one of these a couple of years ago for building inspections etc. I would expect it to show very clearly any captured animals as long as they are alive. Having said that, you need ideally a good difference in temperature between object of interest and surrounding area. From my time in Taiwan I would expect that for some part of the year you won't get much contrast. Worth trying anyway. This would, of course, be a rather manual solution to finding captured animals.

In theory, you would be able to pick up metal objects with this, too, even if they are at the same temperature as their surroundings. Bare metals (i.e. not covered in something like paint) have a very different "thermal signature" (technically known as "emissivity") from many other materials. This means they usually appear much cooler in a thermal image than they actually are. The reason you are unlikely to pick this up with a basic IR camera is quite simply the low resolution of such cameras. The FLIR C2 has 60x80 pixels. Much more expensive cameras are better on this point but you would still have to watch very carefully to pick up a thin wire that would only be a few pixel wide at the most.

It may be worthwhile getting in touch with FLIR directly to see what ideas they have. I would not be surprised if they have a base in Taiwan.

Good luck,
Joachim

Joachim Neff

11 February 2019 10:27pm

Hello Sean
I just had another thought: industrial machine vision systems come with all sorts of image inspection tools including such things as "edge detection". I wonder if this could be used in conjunction with a normal (not thermal) high resolution digital camera.

The general idea would be to:
1. take photos whilst on the move through a snare-infested area where a high res camera would be able to pick up a thin wire loop with sufficient resolution to make it visible;
2. let attached computer with vision software analyse images instantly for straight or looped edges that would indicate a snare.

What could help considerably is to take pictures in subdued natural light, maybe at dusk or dawn using a strong flash, possibly not just the built in flash of the camera but an external one. On the assumption that most snares are made from plain "shiny" metal, they should show up fairly well as "bright highlights" against the otherwise fairly dull (in terms of specular reflection) undergrowth. It would get more difficult though if the foilage was covered in water droplets as these would reflect the flash light, too.

I admit this is an idea that just sprung to mind and I have no idea how well this may work in practice. If you want to have a go yourself, set up a typical "snare scenario" and take some high resolution photos as described above from a few metres away. Then use free vision system software to process the images on your computer and see what you can find. Try this one, for example, https://www.teledynedalsa.com/en/products/imaging/vision-software/sherlock/

I have used it some years ago (for an industrial application) and found it very useful on early trials as it allows you to use all features processing images from a local folder rather than a live camera. This would be all you need to test whether there is any merit in this.

Sorry if industrial vision applications are not within your skill set but I thought I mention it here in case someone else wants to investigate it. I am not exactly twiddling thumbs otherwise I would be seriously tempted to have a look at this myself (pun intended:)).

Let me know if you need some more input on this,
Joachim

P.S.: A rough calculation on camera resolution:
- snare wire diameter is, say, 3 mm
- target size in image of the wire is at least 6 pixels (to reliably show diagonal edges)
- 20 Megapixel camera image is about 5000 pixel wide
- then you could cover an area 2.5 m wide per image (5000 / 6 * 3)
> this may be a workable distance to cover per image.
 

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discussion

How to help

rosspatman

22 November 2018 3:52pm

Hello everybody, I am a technologist, specialising in apps/web/backend/startups, and I feel an ever-growing duty to use those skills for animal conservation; particularly...

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Rosemary Hitchens

27 November 2018 2:51am

Hi Ross,

Let's connect - I am a social scientist that has been researching demand reduction and am working on some projects, including a website, that helps consumers avoid illegal "unsafe" souvenirs. I have a few ideas floating around in my head that would take someone more tech-savvy than me to know if feasible - maybe we can exchange thoughts via email. I'd love to hear more about your ideas to reduce demand!) Feel free to email me at rosemarythitchens@gmail.com. 

Best, Rosemary

Vance Russell

29 November 2018 2:31pm

Hi Ross,

We are developing a web-based platform with multiple tools to analyse biodiversity quality, habitat assessement management and other apps. We need some help thinking how to monetise the apps/subscriptions as well as further developing the platform. You can email me here: vance.russell@ecosulis.co.uk if interested. Thanks.

Kind regards,

Vance

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event

WILDLABS Virtual Meetup: Big Data in Conservation

WILDLABS Team

27 November 2018 12:00am

The third and final event in Season One of the WILDLABS Virtual Meetup Series was on Big Data in Conservation. The recording is now available to watch, along with notes that highlight the key takeaways from the talks...

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discussion

Project BEESWAX7 Infographic

Andrew Lewis MSc FLS

13 November 2018 2:27pm

Hi, To give you the "heads-up" on our Project BEESWAX7, herewith attached is a copy of our project Inforgraphic which describes the concept. I hope you like it. Tally...

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Ben Tregenna

26 November 2018 9:10am

Love it! Covers so many of my interests - conservation, beekeeping and fiddling with Arduinos - would love to know more about the project.

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discussion

Live discussion on intersection of conservation and games

Gautam Shah

14 November 2018 1:22pm

Hi all We're conducting a live interview with Brooke Tully on the intersection of games and conservation as part of her "Innovations in Conservation" series....

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Stephanie O'Donnell

23 November 2018 3:14pm

Hey Gautum,  
Looks like the interview went really well! If people weren't able to make it, Gautam's interview along iwth others in the series are all available to watch here. 

Steph

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discussion

Mobile App Comparison Table

Shannon Anstee

14 August 2018 5:12pm

Hi All, I am currently working with the BirdLife Forestry department in order to develop a capacity building reference document that summarises different data collection and...

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Colin Cook

19 September 2018 11:25pm

Some other data collection apps.

https://www.proofsafe.com.au/

https://five.epicollect.net/

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event

Tusk Conservation Lecture 2018: Ted Schmitt

Tusk

15 October 2018 12:00am

Tusk are delighted to announce that their Tusk Conservation Lecture 2018 speaker will be Ted Schmitt of Vulcan Inc, Paul G Allen Philanthropies. He will speak about advancing Innovation in conservation, a talk that will...

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event

Ocean Hack: San Francisco, 10-11th September, 2018

One Ocean Collab

20 August 2018 12:00am

A 48 hr pop up innovation lab for the ocean, bringing together a mix of designers, strategists, technologists, engineers, scientists, marine conservationists, educators, artists and buisness talent to co-create...

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discussion

Wildlife monitoring using Smart-Cities tech

Andrew Lewis MSc FLS

14 June 2018 10:49am

Hi, here at Project BEESWAX7 (www.facebook.com/ProjectBeeswax) we are investigating the feasibility and use of small sensors and Smart-Cities technology to count...

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Andrew Lewis MSc FLS

2 August 2018 1:23pm

Hi Nilaksha!

Thanks for your comments and interest in our project. I read your project profile and would like to suggest that you take a look at using LoRaWAN for low levels of communications traffic? We are looking and testing kit for use with the www.thethingsnetwork.org It might use less power than cellular or wifi networks?

I hope this helps,

Judit Urquijo

8 August 2018 11:18am

Both initiatives are very interesting. I love the one about the elephants that @nilaksha comments.

There are currently several projects that are using artificial intelligence (in fact, Microsoft is looking for interested parties for possible funding https://www2.fundsforngos.org/environment-conservation-climate-change-and-ecology/ai-for-earth-program-seeking-proposals-from-all-over-the-world/). But its main objective is to identify the species thanks to techniques such as deep learning and I do not know if it would be applicable in the present case.

Regards,

Judit

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discussion

Wildlife Crime App Development

Rosemary Hitchens

19 August 2016 11:53pm

Hi, I'm currently working with U.S. Fish and Wildlife's Office of Law Enforcement on a project related to illegal wildlife trafficking and we have an idea for an app...

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Rosemary Hitchens

7 August 2018 9:21pm

Hi Maya,

We were able to get a website developed (www.safesouvenirs.com) but are now waiting on possible grant funding. In order to move forward, we would like to some work on uploading to our database and also getting into airports to advertise. So, fingers crossed that we are successful with the grant. Either way - I think it would be great to connect. I'll follow-up with a direct email. 

Best, Rosemary

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