Sensors already equip a range of tools to enhance monitoring capacity for conservation. Some of the higher bandwidth technologies, like camera traps and acoustic monitoring systems, have been essential elements of the conservation toolkit for decades, and thus have enough users that we've created dedicated WILDLABS groups to address them. But a whole range of lower bandwidth sensors beyond these core technologies are being increasingly integrated into conservation monitoring systems, and offer rich new insights into the wildlife and ecosystems we're all working to protect. As with many technologies, cost and access have historically been challenges to the adoption of new sensors, but with low-cost and open-source solutions on the rise, we're excited to see what the future of this space holds.
Getting Started with Sensors:
- Watch Shah Selbe's Tech Tutors episode on scaling FieldKit, an open-source conservation sensor toolbox, from a project to a successful conservation tech product.
- Check out our Virtual Meetup about Low-Cost, Open-Source Solutions in conservation tech, including a talk by Alasdair Davies on the Arribada Initiative's work with thermal sensors in early warning systems.
- For a more in-depth introduction, watch the first video in our datalogger mini-series: Freaklabs: How do I get started with Arduino?
In this group, you'll meet others who are using and innovating diverse sensors in their work, discuss ways to make sensors more effective & accessible for conservationists, learn about what sensors are already helping us accomplish in the field, and have the opportunity to ask and answer questions. Join this group to get started!
Header image: Emma Vogel, University of Tromsø
- @Jackeline
- | She
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 7 Groups
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 15 Groups
- @RHugtenburg
- | He/They
Student at Aberystwyth University. Bug Fanatic🪲. Worked at Octophin Digital for my industrial year placement 🐙.
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 20 Groups
Arm
- 0 Resources
- 4 Discussions
- 3 Groups
- @Robincrocs
- | He/Him//El//Ele
Wildlife biologist, works with Caimans and Crocodiles
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 14 Groups
International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
Key Biodiversity Areas Programme Officer, IUCN
- 0 Resources
- 89 Discussions
- 8 Groups
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 8 Groups
Simeone Consulting
- 0 Resources
- 2 Discussions
- 4 Groups
Wildlife researcher
- 1 Resources
- 12 Discussions
- 5 Groups
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 8 Groups
TechnoSmArt
I am an ornithologist, have been working with GPS tracking of both seabirds and terrestrial birds. I have been involved also in conservation projects in Italy, Chile and Ecuador
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 5 Groups
- @magali
- | she/her
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Postdoctoral researcher at Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
- 0 Resources
- 0 Discussions
- 16 Groups
The miniaturisation of technology is rapidly opening up new possibilities for conservationists and environmental scientists in need of less invasive, easy to deploy solutions. University of Washington researchers have...
13 October 2020
To celebrate the first Black Mammalogists Week (starting Sunday, September 13th), we talked to four of the amazing Black scientists behind this event! Find out what they had to say about their favorite (and most...
10 September 2020
Today, WWF conservation engineering intern Ashley Rosen shares insight into the process of redesigning a camera mount for FLIR thermal cameras used by rangers in the fight against poaching. Ashley's design will become a...
24 August 2020
Our first season of Tech Tutors may have wrapped, but the connections and collaborations from these episodes are still going strong! Today, we're sharing Tech Tutor presenter Laure Joanny's recap of the most important...
20 August 2020
Today, Sustainable Fishing Challenges group leader Daniel Steadman discusses how fishing gear itself could benefit from fresh technological innovations to prevent both environmental damage and damage to species and...
19 August 2020
Funding
Protecting elephants from conservation's most pressing issues like poaching and human-wildlife conflict requires big, bold, and innovative solutions. Hackster.io, Smart Parks, Edge Impulse, Microsoft, and several other...
11 August 2020
Since 2016, ZSL’s Instant Detect team have been working on improving metal detecting sensors for anti-poaching. The team believe that using metal detecting sensors will provide a highly targeted detection of potential...
10 August 2020
As we launch our new Sustainable Fishing Challenges group in the WILDLABS community, we are excited to welcome Daniel Steadman, the group manager, to give us an overview of three major areas in which #tech4wildlife...
4 August 2020
In this case study from herpetologist Emily Taylor, we learn about the best methods and gear used to track snakes, lizards, and other reptiles and amphibians via radio-telemetry, and how these techniques have changed...
31 July 2020
What is it like to track endangered species using drones? In this blog post from Wildlife Drones, Dr. Debbie Saunders travels to New Zealand to track the Kākāpō, an extemely rare and elusive bird of which approximately...
8 July 2020
In this three-part WILDLABS feature article series, we take a look at the various technologies used to fight the greatest threat to wild condors, lead poisoning, explore the innovations changing the ways we study and...
2 July 2020
In this three-part WILDLABS feature article, we're taking a look at the various technologies used to fight the greatest threat to wild condors, lead poisoning, explore the innovations that may change the way we study...
25 June 2020
February 2023
12 Products
Recently updated products
101 Products
1 R&D Projects
69 Organisations
Recently updated products
Recently updated R&D Projects
Recently updated organisations
Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
---|---|---|---|---|
Hi Steph, We appreciate the support! Thanks for the tag and your help managing the community!Patrick |
|
Sensors, Acoustics, Conservation Dogs, Emerging Tech, Open Source Solutions | 1 month ago | |
Congratulations! My first hydromoth was just arrived yesterday and so excited! Looking forward for the update from your project!!! |
|
Acoustics, Biologging, Climate Change, Conservation Tech Training and Education, Data management and processing tools, Emerging Tech, Open Source Solutions, Protected Area Management Tools, Sensors, Software and Mobile Apps | 1 month ago | |
Hi everyone, @craig joined last month's Variety Hour to chat about Tagranger, which you can read more about here. A TagRanger®... |
|
Biologging, Connectivity, Sensors | 1 month 2 weeks ago | |
'Most importantly, we have to make it play a MIDI version of the DoctorWho theme song when you arm the device. That has to be the #1 feature if you ask me!' Seconded! |
+9
|
Acoustics, Biologging, Emerging Tech, Open Source Solutions, Sensors | 1 month 3 weeks ago | |
Sounds good. Just sent you a private message. |
|
Climate Change, Conservation Tech Training and Education, Sensors | 1 month 3 weeks ago | |
First things first, our team, @jcguerra10, @hefca, and myself, is thrilled to share with immense pride... |
|
Build Your Own Data Logger Community, Data management and processing tools, Sensors | 2 months 1 week ago | |
Hi @Henrikcox I hope you are well. I am not sure if you may remember myself and my colleague from CLS. We had a meeting and met in-person at Earthranger last year. ... |
+15
|
Human-Wildlife Conflict, Sensors | 2 months 1 week ago | |
Unless you are planning on making a mesh network between nodes then the total distance spanning the location of all the nodes is important to know, not just the intra node... |
|
Sensors, Protected Area Management Tools | 3 months 1 week ago | |
Hi Danilo. you seem very passionate about this initiative which is a good start.It is an interesting coincidence that I am starting another project for the coral reefs in the... |
|
Acoustics, AI for Conservation, Biologging, Camera Traps, Citizen Science, Climate Change, Community Base, Connectivity, Drones, Emerging Tech, Human-Wildlife Conflict, Open Source Solutions, Sensors, Software and Mobile Apps, Wildlife Crime | 4 months ago | |
Real nice video. I'll have another look in the weekend in detail. |
+10
|
Acoustics, Community Base, Protected Area Management Tools, Remote Sensing & GIS, Sensors | 4 months 1 week ago | |
Fire detection is a sort of broad idea. Usually people detect the products of fire, and most often this is smoke.Many home fire detectors in the US use a radioactive source... |
|
Community Base, Conservation Tech Training and Education, Data management and processing tools, Ethics of Conservation Tech, Human-Wildlife Conflict, Open Source Solutions, Protected Area Management Tools, Sensors, Wildlife Crime | 4 months 2 weeks ago | |
Thank you for sharing! Super interesting, as we don't see many underwater stereo cameras! We also use Blue Robotics components in our projects and have found them reliable and... |
|
Sensors, Camera Traps, Marine Conservation | 5 months 1 week ago |
Southern right whale superpod blows a hole in the record books
22 November 2018 12:00am
A technologist's journey to protect wildlife: The reality and potential of conservation technology (recorded talk)
22 November 2018 12:00am
WILDLABS Virtual Meetup: Networked Sensors for Security and HWC Prevention
12 November 2018 12:00am
WILDLABS Virtual Meetup Recording: Next Generation Wildlife Tracking
12 November 2018 12:00am
Tusk Conservation Lecture 2018: Ted Schmitt
15 October 2018 12:00am
Underwater Robot Trained to Kill Coral-Destroying Reef Starfish
18 September 2018 12:00am
Next Generation Animal Tracking Ideation Challenge
14 September 2018 12:00am
Thermal imaging, drones, and sea turtles: a case study using FLIR’s new Duo Pro R camera
23 August 2018 12:00am
How to share data on species to help conserve them… whilst avoiding them being exploited by poachers
20 August 2018 12:00am
Ocean Hack: San Francisco, 10-11th September, 2018
20 August 2018 12:00am
Thermal Sensor Project Update: Testing with live animals at the San Diego Zoo
27 July 2018 12:00am
HWC Tech Challenge: Smart Electric Fence Solution
5 June 2018 12:00am
From drone swarms to tree batteries, new tech is revolutionising ecology and conservation
9 May 2018 12:00am
Eddy Expedition Log: Characterizing Eddies
23 April 2018 12:00am
HWC Tech Challenge: Thermopile Sensor Project
19 April 2018 12:00am
Eddy Expedition Log: Chasing Eddies
10 April 2018 12:00am
What technologies could help us monitor cave invertebrates?
23 July 2016 8:44am
9 April 2018 2:35am
Hi Tony, I'm leading a cross disciplinary group of researchers at Deakin University in Australia to build new technology for monitoring wildlife and engage citizen scientists with collecting data.
We have designed a video trap for monitoring reptiles and amphibians, that uses constant video and has some on-board AI to not save video with nothing in it. Works day and night (UV illumination at night), but uses a lot of power so we have a battery and solar panel arrangement. I expect this could be easily adapted to monitor cave fauna. Let me know if you already have a solution or want to discuss idea further.
Don Driscoll
Thermal imaging scopes
26 March 2018 9:26pm
27 March 2018 2:20pm
Hi Luke,
I'll leave specific recommendations to others who are better qualified ( @Eric+Becker @Rachel+Kramer or @Alasdair - maybe you can advise?) but I did come across something yesterday that may be relevant.
There is a live GroupGets campaign on at the moment (2 days left) for DIY-theromocam kits - not a scope but could do the trick if your budget is restricted as it's under $300 and you're willing to dabble in DIY?
The DIY-Thermocam is a do-it-yourself infrared camera, based on the FLIR Lepton long-wave infrared sensor and the popular Teensy 3.6 ARM Cortex M4 MCU.
The aim of this project is to give private persons, educational institutes and companies access to a portable, affordable and customizable thermal imaging plattform.
There are various applications like finding heat leaks in the insulation of buildings, the analysis of electrical or mechanical components, the detection of persons / animals or even mounting it on a drone, together with the additional video out module.
Constructed as a self-assembly solution, the DIY-Thermocam allows you to take advantage of the versatile possibilities of thermal imaging and to save money at one go.
Everything, from software to hardware, is completely open-source. This allows everyone to modify or extend the functionalities of the device to their own needs.
GroupGets does now offer a complete self-assembly kit, so you don't have to worry about buying all the parts on your own.
A scientific paper is also available, giving an overview about the whole project and its capabilities.
Update: haraldg has written a nice set of tools for post-processing the thermal raw data files. Check it out here. He also published a short article about manual calibration here.
3 April 2018 3:39pm
Hi @Luke_edwards - I just had a chat with my colleagues @Eric+Becker and @ColbyLoucks at WWF who will get back to you with some recommendations from experience with the thermal scopes that we've explored for anti-poaching (FLIR TK and SCOUT III).
Great to see that you're pairing conservation dogs and thermal imaging for wildlife surveys in Australia. In order to select the most cost-effective thermal imaging scope for your needs, it's important to know the range that you require, density of vegetation and size of the species you are monitoring. Can you share a bit more information on your parameters?
3 April 2018 11:03pm
The current project is in open plains. From a handler perspective the distance will be from 20m -100m. I will be working at night so it will be looking for me target, the Plains Wanderer, a small bird. Also it would be used to see other native and domestic animals in the area.
Other projects range from open plains through to rain forests.
The Plant-Powered Camera Trap Challenge
3 April 2018 12:00am
Eddy Expedition Log: Setting Off to Explore Eddies
3 April 2018 12:00am
Hacking together DIY time-lapse soil cameras
29 March 2018 11:35am
#Tech4Wildlife Photo Challenge 2018: Our Top 10
3 March 2018 12:00am
Landsense Innovation Challenge
19 February 2018 12:00am
Technology Empowered Conservation Lecture Series
18 January 2018 12:00am
Instant Detect 2.0: A Connected Future for Conservation
17 January 2018 12:00am
Congratulations to Zoohackathon winners, team ODINN!
6 December 2017 12:00am
FIT Cheetahs
4 December 2017 12:00am
How The San Diego Zoo Is Using AI And Drones To Save Polar Bears
30 November 2017 12:00am
RaspberryPI
5 March 2016 7:35am
20 May 2016 11:10pm
Pi Zero get a little upgrade... Anyone need a camera trap?
http://petapixel.com/2016/05/19/5-raspberry-pi-zero-now-camera-compatible/
11 October 2017 10:09am
Hi All,
just sharing this for all those Raspberry Pi beginners like me, 91% off a training bundle
https://deals.thenextweb.com/sales/complete-raspberry-pi-3-2
2 November 2017 6:02pm
Also if you are still looking for a solution this was published earlier this year and gives recommendations for soundscape microphones : http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/2041-210X.12678/full
HWC Tech Challenge Winners Announced
1 November 2017 12:00am
31 March 2023 2:15pm