Adrien Pajot
- @Adrien_Pajot
- | He/His
WILDLABS
Fauna & Flora
How do I apply?
Follow these steps:
- Review the WILDLABS Awards 2024: Terms and Conditions
- Complete the WILDLABS Awards Application Form.
The deadline for submissions is Sunday, January 14th 2024 at 11:55 PM GMT.
What projects will be supported?
We are committed to grant projects at different stages of development. This includes:
Fostering Innovation (for primarily technology projects): We aim to support innovation grounded in answering real conservation needs. We expect these projects to be testing and piloting technology solutions, with conservation end user needs already identified.
Technology Adoption and Application (for primarily conservation projects): We aim to support conservation programmes to integrate technology to broaden the reach and impact of their conservation initiatives. We expect these projects to be led by conservation practitioners and researchers and may also involve collaborations with tech providers to improve/adapt existing tools to conservation situations. We hope the findings will support technology adoption for other conservation projects.
Usability & Scaling (for conservation and technology projects): We aim to make technology more accessible and widely available. This means improving usability and bridging the gap between R&D and technologies being available at scale for conservationists to use in their work. We will also support work to transform project ideas into products, helping to scale manufacturing and deploy technologies that have already been piloted.
Across all project types and award categories, cross-sector and interdisciplinary collaboration are highly encouraged.
What do we encourage?
We believe in supporting technology-enabled projects addressing diverse challenges across species, ecosystems, and geographies. Here are examples of the types of conservation challenges projects could be working on:
- Biodiversity and/or Environmental Monitoring
- Captive Breeding
- Citizen Science
- Climate Change/Resilience
- Habitat loss or destruction - (e.g Deforestation)
- Endangered Species & Ecosystems
- Illegal or unsustainable fishing (IUU)
- Human-Wildlife Conflict and Coexistence
- Invasive Species
- Pollution
- Protected Area Management and Planning
- Scientific Research
- Species protection
- Wildlife Crime – Illegal wildlife trade or poaching
- And much more!
We also believe that our capacity to advance conservation hinges on leveraging and advancing a wide array of technologies, such as:
- AI / Machine Learning
- Bioacoustics
- Biologgers / Animal Tracking
- Camera Traps
- Data management and processing platforms (e.g., Movebank, Wildlife Insights, Zooniverse)
- GIS and remote sensing (satellite, multispectral, and thermal imagery, LiDAR)
- eDNA & genomics
- Mobile Apps & citizen science platforms
- Non-AI computational tools (e.g., R, Python, statistical software)
- Networked Sensors
- Protected area management tools (e.g., SMART, EarthRanger)
- Remote Sensing & GIS
- UAVs / Drones
- And much more!
On the application form, we will inquire about the technologies, both software and hardware, that you are currently using or intending to use/develop in your project. This information will enable Arm and its partners to assess how they can provide support to your project within and potentially beyond the grant period.
We are also interested to support applicants with projects that are in progress or active development, who could benefit from funding and support to move their projects forward.
Applicants of all skill levels, stages of development, and professional or academic affiliations (including independent conservation tech developers) are welcome to apply.
Individuals from underrepresented groups are highly encouraged to apply. Increasing accessibility to innovative tools and fostering strong collaborative networks are key aspects of these awards.
Requirements
- When planning your budget, please ensure to allocate funds for the production of a video highlighting your project's process and impact.
- Award funds will not support budget allocation towards fees for higher education.
- As these are one-year projects, we will not cover publication fees as there is insufficient time to move through the peer-reviewed publication process.
What are the selection criteria?
You can apply for one grant level only. However, the selection committee reserves the right to allocate more or less funding than the selected level.
If a project has applied for more than one grant level, all related applications will be rejected.
Each project will be assessed across four core criteria:
Project Scope and Feasibility – The project exhibits realistic prospects for success, scalability, a well-presented future, sustainability in both financial and governance aspects, and a judiciously constructed budget.
Team Capacity – Applicants or team members should demonstrate relevant experience in tech or conservation with a commitment to conservation technology and support from local communities and organisations.
Contribution to the Conservation Technology Sector – The project should relate to established conservation challenges and up-to-date or innovative technologies or technical challenges, and clearly contribute to advancing the field.
Community engagement and sustainability – WILDLABS promotes collaboration, empowerment of underrepresented groups, and active participation in the community. Projects should align with these values and clearly articulate how they will engage the global community throughout their work.
For the seven biggest grants (2x $60k and 5x $30k) :
- Projects must be proposed by teams composed of at least two people (ideally including cross-sector and/or interdisciplinary collaboration)
- Payment will be made ONLY to the bank account of an organization
To qualify for the 60k grants, we expect applications to showcase the regular or high-quality involvement of at least one person in the WILDLABS community.
Make sure to have read the 2024 WILDLABS AWARDS Terms and Conditions before applying.
Selection Process
Following the submission deadline on Sunday, January 14th 2024 at 11:55 PM GMT :
- Submitted proposals will be assessed by a reviewers committee between the 15th of January and the 30th of January. Reviewers will be announced before the end of 2023.
- Awarded applicants will be contacted on or around the 1st of February 2024.
Key Dates
Launch: 1st December 2023
Applications Close: 14th January 2024
Judging: End of January 2024
Award: March 2024
Activities: April 2024 to March 2025 (with some flexibility)
For more information
- Watch again our informative webinar from December 11th: watch here.
- And/Or join our open discussion to ask your questions.
- And/Or contact awards@wildlabs.net
Header images: We acknowledge Meredith Palmer, Shawn F McCracken, Ollie Wearn, Equilibrio Azul (Felipe) and SnapperGPS for their wonderful #Tech4Wildlife photo entries, featured in the WILDLABS AWARDS poster.
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