With new technologies revolutionizing data collection, wildlife researchers are becoming increasingly able to collect data at much higher volumes than ever before. Now we are facing the challenges of putting this information to use, bringing the science of big data into the conservation arena. With the help of machine learning tools, this area holds immense potential for conservation practices. The applications range from online trafficking alerts to species-specific early warning systems to efficient movement and biodiversity monitoring and beyond.
However, the process of building effective machine learning tools depends upon large amounts of standardized training data, and conservationists currently lack an established system for standardization. How to best develop such a system and incentivize data sharing are questions at the forefront of this work. There are currently multiple AI-based conservation initiatives, including Wildlife Insights and WildBook, that are pioneering applications on this front.
This group is the perfect place to ask all your AI-related questions, no matter your skill level or previous familiarity! You'll find resources, meet other members with similar questions and experts who can answer them, and engage in exciting collaborative opportunities together.
Just getting started with AI in conservation? Check out our introduction tutorial, How Do I Train My First Machine Learning Model? with Daniel Situnayake, and our Virtual Meetup on Big Data. If you're coming from the more technical side of AI/ML, Sara Beery runs an AI for Conservation slack channel that might be of interest. Message her for an invite.
Header Image: Dr Claire Burke / @CBurkeSci
Explore the Basics: AI
Understanding the possibilities for incorporating new technology into your work can feel overwhelming. With so many tools available, so many resources to keep up with, and so many innovative projects happening around the world and in our community, it's easy to lose sight of how and why these new technologies matter, and how they can be practically applied to your projects.
Machine learning has huge potential in conservation tech, and its applications are growing every day! But the tradeoff of that potential is a big learning curve - or so it seems to those starting out with this powerful tool!
To help you explore the potential of AI (and prepare for some of our upcoming AI-themed events!), we've compiled simple, key resources, conversations, and videos to highlight the possibilities:
Three Resources for Beginners:
- Everything I know about Machine Learning and Camera Traps, Dan Morris | Resource library, camera traps, machine learning
- Using Computer Vision to Protect Endangered Species, Kasim Rafiq | Machine learning, data analysis, big cats
- Resource: WildID | WildID
Three Forum Threads for Beginners:
- I made an open-source tool to help you sort camera trap images | Petar Gyurov, Camera Traps
- Batch / Automated Cloud Processing | Chris Nicolas, Acoustic Monitoring
- Looking for help with camera trapping for Jaguars: Software for species ID and database building | Carmina Gutierrez, AI for Conservation
Three Tutorials for Beginners:
- How do I get started using machine learning for my camera traps? | Sara Beery, Tech Tutors
- How do I train my first machine learning model? | Daniel Situnayake, Tech Tutors
- Big Data in Conservation | Dave Thau, Dan Morris, Sarah Davidson, Virtual Meetups
Want to know more about AI, or have your specific machine learning questions answered by experts in the WILDLABS community? Make sure you join the conversation in our AI for Conservation group!
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PhD Student on bio- and ecoacoustics at the University of Freiburg (GER)
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PhD student exploring design and technology to connect people with nature and the environment
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Data4Good Lead at Appsilon.com
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Hi, Cynthia Gichimu here. I'm a conservationist, and a champion for youths. I believe in environmental sustainability for posterity. I volunteer as a Project Officer with the Friends of Kinangop Plateau, a community-based local action group committed to biodiversity conservation.
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I am a naturalist specialised in wildlife ecology and nature conservation, with experience in international project management, spatial data analysis and remote sensing techniques
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IT Engineer at The Conservation Tech Lab in Ol Pejeta Conservancy. |Endeavoring to implement tech solutions for conservation.
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Passionate conservationist currently focusing on eDNA
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The Innovation in Practice edition of Methods in Ecology and Evolution is still seeking proposals about conservation technology
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Technology to End the Sixth Mass Extinction. Salary: $104k-144K; Location: Washington DC or Seattle WA, potential hybrid; 5+ years of Full stack development experience; Deadline March 15th - view post for full job...
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Careers
The British Antarctic Survey’s Artificial Intelligence Lab is looking to hire a machine learning engineer/researcher.
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On the AST Skylight team, you will work with talented engineers, domain experts, and product managers to uncover illegal fishing by developing the tools that help countries around the globe combat this problem.
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Are you excited by the potential for new technologies to help monitor the natural world? Do you enjoy communicating your passion for technology and nature with diverse audiences? We are seeking an enthusiastic...
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Consultancy opportunity at ZSL for an experienced monitoring specialist to support species monitoring in rewilding landscapes across Europe
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Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
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Interesting thoughts. 1. Great - if it makes it easier for everyone GREAT. If we can all spend less time writing about what makes us good and worthy of funding it means... |
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AI for Conservation, Emerging Tech | 10 hours 25 minutes ago | |
I couldn't agree more with both of these comments tom! I'm reading hundreds (literally hundreds) of applications for open WILDLABS roles at the moment, and the ones that stand out... |
+2
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AI for Conservation, Drones, Early Career, Sensors | 1 week ago | |
We have made available our underwater videos on YouTube as a playlist https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnhVZKKy8WkZKriCIV6r7upWhHNVrU_7L It's about 1.113 short video... |
+2
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AI for Conservation, Camera Traps, Data management and processing tools , Marine Conservation | 2 weeks 5 days ago | |
Hi Steph, This should be a simple project. Recently I came across a website with a sample video I am not sure whether it was from the wild Labs website. Where a camera is... |
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AI for Conservation, Camera Traps | 3 weeks 2 days ago | |
Bluesky have a commercial tree crown dataset available covering most of Great Britain (England, Wales and parts of Scotland). There is a canopy layer with approximate outlines of... |
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AI for Conservation, Drones | 1 month 1 week ago | |
Rainforest Connection's (RFCx) Guardian devices may be of interest. They are solar-powered and have connectivity options for Wifi, GSM and satellite transfer. They've previously... |
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Acoustic Monitoring, AI for Conservation, Connectivity, Data management and processing tools , Protected Area Management Tools, Sensors | 1 month 2 weeks ago | |
My original background is in ecology and conservation, and am now in the elected leadership of the Gathering for Open Science Hardware which convenes researchers developing open... |
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AI for Conservation, Biologging, Camera Traps, Conservation Tech Training and Education, Data management and processing tools , Drones, Emerging Tech, Sensors | 2 months ago | |
Hi Sophie, Can you please help me or get in touch in developing a system where we are able to detect an Elephant? Would like to discuss more about it. Kindly treat this as urgent!! |
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AI for Conservation | 2 months 1 week ago | |
Hello All - @sarabeery et Al have just put a pre-print out on their educational insights into teaching Computer Vision to ecologists. I... |
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Acoustic Monitoring, AI for Conservation, Conservation Tech Training and Education, Early Career, Emerging Tech | 2 months 1 week ago | |
The Conservation Technology Lab at San Diego Zoo seeks undergrads for summer projects in computer vision, machine learning, bioacoustics,... |
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Acoustic Monitoring, AI for Conservation, Conservation Tech Training and Education | 3 months ago | |
I just came across this interesting paper in which seismic monotoring of animals like elephants was mentioned. This is the study refered to:Cheers,Lars |
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AI for Conservation, Camera Traps, Emerging Tech, Ethics of Conservation Tech, Human-Wildlife Conflict, Remote Sensing & GIS, Sensors | 3 months 1 week ago | |
Quick reminder that the deadline for applications is just shy of a week away. This workshop is particularly geared to teach ecologists computer vision tools to apply to their... |
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Conservation Tech Training and Education, AI for Conservation | 3 months 1 week ago |
ChatGPT for conservation
16 January 2023 10:04am
21 March 2023 5:00pm
Has anyone signed up to try https://bard.google.com/ to see how it compares?
21 March 2023 5:13pm
Interesting thoughts.
1. Great - if it makes it easier for everyone GREAT. If we can all spend less time writing about what makes us good and worthy of funding it means we can spend more time on the actual work. And I can only speak for WILDLABS, but most of our funding comes from people seeing our work and talking to us about what we could do together, rather than us writing long applications about work we could be doing and competing against other projects - though we do do this too. That's not true for everyone, but for us it's going to mean alleviating a pretty significant administrative barrier (and already is).
2. And as someone who reviews a lot of grant and job applications, if it improves the overall quality - even better. I'd rather read across the board good applications and decide on merit, rather than deciding based on who understand how to construct a compelling case for a particular application.
3. Tricky one - but surely it's more equitable to have tighter criteria rather than knocking half hour because of weaker writing?
This last point is interesting and one I hadn't thought about - longer term access could mean entrenching more inequality rather than alleviating it. I dont have any answers, but it's given me something to think about.
ARSET - Fundamentals of Machine Learning for Earth Science
21 March 2023 4:49pm
Ol Pejeta Conservancy and Mbaza AI
16 March 2023 7:18pm
Computer Science student looking to work for wildlife
5 March 2023 10:04pm
14 March 2023 2:00pm
Great information! Thank you for sharing this. I actually have Masters in Zoology and have done some field work in Marine Conservation. Since then I have worked in Science education and eventually switched to Software Programming. My dream has always been to work in Conservation, however life happened and I had to give up on this pipe dream. I currently work as a Developer in a contractor role for the Federal Government. Would someone with my experience have an advantage in conservation Tech?
14 March 2023 2:58pm
I think the real demand in conservation tech is for transdisciplianry individuals. If you look at all the stand-out people in this space they are people who occupy multiple domains that are traditionally isolated. These are people who talk fluently in computer science and ecology, for example. Not only this, they are also people who create and imagine in ways that intertwin ideas and concepts across these domains. Its these people, thinking in these ways, that lead to innovations that really move us forward. Some of these people started out where you are now, having crossed domains through their career and then seeing opportunities to bring these skills together in imaginative ways.
14 March 2023 9:53pm
I couldn't agree more with both of these comments tom! I'm reading hundreds (literally hundreds) of applications for open WILDLABS roles at the moment, and the ones that stand out are those where it's really clear they're following genuine curiosity across different disciplines. If you're in conservation, it's the evidence of interest in tech (courses, projects, things you're trying and learning yourself). For tech, it's getting into conservation - all the things you mentioned.
Proposals wanted for Innovation in Practice

6 March 2023 10:34pm
Moveapps EMAC23 Coding Challenge – Participate now!
3 March 2023 7:45am
Underwater Fish Datasets from the Mediterranean
15 August 2022 11:45pm
26 September 2022 9:32pm
Not sure if audio data would be of any use to you, but if so FishSounds has some - I just tried their search function and there is a location tag for 'Mediterranean & Black Sea'.
You might try reaching out to the folks at Name that Fish, Innovasea, or perhaps an entity on the Fisheries Tech list would have Mediterranean stuff?
21 October 2022 7:52am
Hi,
If this is still relevant, you can try reaching out to the Belmaker lab, they do BRUV surveys in the eastern Mediterranean and have hours of video, some of it I believe is annotated. Particularly, Shahar might be helpful, he's the PhD student running point on the project.
2 March 2023 2:03pm
We have made available our underwater videos on YouTube as a playlist https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnhVZKKy8WkZKriCIV6r7upWhHNVrU_7L
It's about 1.113 short video clips with annotation and each is linked to the corresponding www.iNaturalist.org observations. The iNaturalist.org observations are research quality and have been uploaded to GBIF.org. The observations have been made between 2014 and 2022 around the Ionian Islands (Greece).
If you would need the original videos please contact me.

Elephant Recognition
14 January 2023 10:01am
14 January 2023 3:39pm
I can be reached at techie.simon@gmail.com
16 January 2023 2:30pm
Hi Simon,
i've popped you an email too, but actually sharing some more information here about what you're after will mean you'll be able to get better help from our full community.
What are you looking for in particular? It sounds like there is particular piece of software you've seen that could be useful in your work - do you know what it's called? What do you need to do - image recognition, call recognition? Alerts when calls happen or are you looking for something more detailed? The more you tell us about what you're trying to do the better we'll be able to help!
Steph
26 February 2023 1:44pm
Hi Steph,
This should be a simple project. Recently I came across a website with a sample video I am not sure whether it was from the wild Labs website. Where a camera is seen spotting a raccoon and giving an alert saying raccoon detected. My expectations are on similar lines, the only difference here is to change the raccoon to an elephant or a tiger. Please advice.
The Arbimon newsletter is back!
23 February 2023 11:34pm
Tropical pilot of insect camera traps
22 February 2023 12:17pm
Texas Chapter of The Wildlife Society’s Annual Meeting 2023
20 February 2023 10:56pm
Operation Pangolin launches to save world's most trafficked wild mammal
16 February 2023 7:51pm
17 February 2023 1:50am
Zooplankton Prosome and Lipid Sac Segmentation
15 February 2023 1:44pm
AI, sensors enhance wildfire detection
15 February 2023 10:27am
A pilot program in Oregon’s Willamette Valley will test how well artificial intelligence-enabled sensors can identify and characterize wildfires, which will help with responder resource allocation and boost community resilience.
Hiring Full Stack Developer at Conservation X Labs
10 February 2023 5:35pm
Call for Data: A Global Database of Tree Crown Footprints from RGB Imagery
3 February 2023 11:22am
3 February 2023 7:01pm
You should definitely talk with Ben Weinstein and co (the folks behind DeepForest), if you haven't already!
10 February 2023 4:18pm
Bluesky have a commercial tree crown dataset available covering most of Great Britain (England, Wales and parts of Scotland). There is a canopy layer with approximate outlines of each canopy (the image on this page shows just circular crowns). It's created using aerial imagery.
Machine Learning Scientist

10 February 2023 10:37am
Research Associate - Machine Learning (Underwater Sound)
10 February 2023 10:19am
Engineering Manager, Skylight

10 February 2023 10:14am
New tutorial on Firetail 10 - annotation of acceleration data
8 February 2023 12:18pm
Hi! I created a new tutorial video on how to annotate high density acceleration data using Firetail 10 (www.firetail.de). In particular, I cover
* how to automatically segment your data
* how to edit and modify annotations
* how to transfer models across individuals
* how to overlay external and video annotations
If you like to follow the tutorial, grab
* your movebank account
* this study: https://www.movebank.org/cms/webapp?gwt_fragment=page=studies,path=stud…
* the free edition of Firetail from firetail.de
Commercially available connected audio sensors
2 February 2023 3:08pm
2 February 2023 3:55pm
Hi!
I am not aware of any such connected loggers/recorders but they would be nice.
The AudioMoths have been revolutionary in providing audologging at a low cost but they take a lot of "data muling" (carrying SD cards in and out of the field sites) and swapping of batteries.
Cheers,
2 February 2023 7:50pm
Hi Lars, thanks for the response. We are using lots of Song Meter Micro's atm and they have proved to be resilient. Just need something which doesn't involve going on site regularly - but get the data off.
3 February 2023 7:04pm
Rainforest Connection's (RFCx) Guardian devices may be of interest. They are solar-powered and have connectivity options for Wifi, GSM and satellite transfer. They've previously been used for detecting e.g., gunshots or chainsaws (using edge computing) and then sending positive detections/alerts to folks on the ground. RFCx also hosts Arbimon, a free, no-code software platform that facilitates analysis of audio data as well. Happy to chat more if you'd like to talk further about it!
Artificial Intelligence and Conservation: Indigenous AI
3 February 2023 4:40pm
Job: Building a network of conservation tech across continents
2 February 2023 1:50pm
Consultancy opportunity: Wildlife monitoring specialist
31 January 2023 11:26am
Assistant Professor in Conservation Science
25 January 2023 4:01pm
AI for Forest Elephants Challenge
25 January 2023 3:34pm
Advanced Field School in Computational Ecology
25 January 2023 2:54pm
Apply Now: AI for Conservation Office Hours
18 January 2023 5:15pm
Interview for Technologies in Conservation
24 November 2022 10:07am
16 January 2023 2:42pm
I'd be happy to chat with you if you wanted! My expertise is within passive acoustic monitoring particularly. The Conservation Tech Directory might be useful for you in identifying relevant actors within the space.
16 January 2023 5:16pm
Happy to contribute tgray@woodsholegroup.com
17 January 2023 5:12pm
My original background is in ecology and conservation, and am now in the elected leadership of the Gathering for Open Science Hardware which convenes researchers developing open source tech for science. I am not working on a specific piece of technology right now, but am happy to contribute some higher-level views for your interview if that helps.
18 March 2023 12:26am
It sounds great does it not, easier grant writing. But one should really think this through more dynamically and over some time. You know, like systems thinking.
1 Let's suppose it makes grant writing easier for you, would it not make it easier for your competition as well? My guess is 'yes'.
2 Does that mean that everybody's grant writing quality goes up? Let's suppose 'yes'.
3 Then what does that do to the sponsors' review processes? My guess : they will notice that the overall quality increase makes it more difficult to be selective. One way out of that is to raise the criteria.
The result may very well be that those who use ChatGPT will, after a period of some gain, eventually win nothing. And those who do not use a it, will loose from those who do. It then becomes a classic story about the 'haves' and the 'have nots''. Not merely, who has access to internet, but who has access to a smart chatbox. For now they are for free, but that may change.