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Software and Mobile Apps / Feed

The software and apps used and built by the conservation tech community are as varied as the species and habitats we work to protect. From fighting wildlife crime to collecting and analyzing data to engaging the general public with unique storytelling, apps, software, and mobile games are playing an increasingly large role in our work. Whether you're already well-versed in the world of software, or you're a hardware expert looking for guidance from the other side of the conservation tech field, this group will have interesting discussions, resources, and ideas to offer.

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Gender Equality in Conservation

Meet the women and men supporting gender equality in conservation #tech. Here is a panel discussion the Women in Conservation Tech (WiCT) led in November 2022, during the EarthRanger User Conference (ERUC). Opening up...

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Phone / tablet for behavioural observations

Hi all. I'm looking for a suitable model of tablet or mobile phone for entering live observational data in the field. It needs to be rugged and have a decent battery. The screen...

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Have a look at CyberTracker:

I believe you can probably set up something to use as a behavioural log to export as .csv or similar.

On the hardware side I would look at a Samsung X cover series or CAT and would probably invest in battery banks as power backup.

 

If Cybertracker is not suitable, try Claris Filemaker 

Not for free ( but your university may have a license already ), but allows you to design your own apps on phones ( iOS only ) and desktop. You'll get a low-code relational database software. Very easy to get started and there is a very active support community for all your questions. FileMaker Go ( for free ), the software to install on the phone, has easy access to GPS, compass and other phone sensors.

For the phone-part you'll be limited to iOS, but I find them good. Just now, I tried the screen of my iPhone 12 mini, and an iPad pro in full sun ( at 11 AM in Costa Rica ), which works fine ( not excellent, but I doubt that exists, unless you use something with e-paper ). Please be aware that full sun is not good for any electronics.

For the desktop part, FileMaker is available for Mac and Windows.

Please note. I am a FileMaker developer myself, so I have an interest ;-)  But even if I wasn't I would have mentioned FileMaker here since I used it a lot for my own research before I became a developer

 

Depending on the type of data you're needing to collect, the EarthRanger or SMART platforms might be helpful. They each have mobile apps but also a suite of integrated software to facilitate analysis, reporting, data mgmt, etc. 

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Data upload solution for a citizen science project?

Hi everyone. I’m looking to build a web-based data upload server for a citizen science project and am wondering if there are out-of-the box solutions available or if there...

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If you have a server and can host a solution, install on the server your own instance of  Next Cloud, Pydio  or similar - it's exactly what you need without reinventing the wheel. 

 

Strongly supporting the Nextcloud/owncloud suggestion -
apart from bringing everything you list in your requirements, it would give you a lot of features that might be useful as the project grows (versioning, failover for lost/failed data, sharing, ..)

Available for more advice, if needed.

Hi Jim, could you please update us on your final choice and experience so far?

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Software Engineer

Join the Arribada Initiative! We have a unique opportunity for a software developer to create mobile / desktop applications and intuitive user interfaces that assist researchers and fieldworkers to conserve wildlife.

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Link

New paper - An evaluation of platforms for processing camera-trap data using artificial intelligence

We review key characteristics of four AI platforms—Conservation AI, MegaDetector, MLWIC2: Machine Learning for Wildlife Image Classification and Wildlife Insights—and two auxiliary platforms—Camelot and Timelapse—that incorporate AI output for processing camera-trap data. We compare their software and programming requirements, AI features, data management tools and output format. We also provide R code and data from our own work to demonstrate how users can evaluate model performance.

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Otter video help!

Hello everyone!I have an otter (I'm pretty sure) on a couple videos from two of my trail cameras, is there ANY way I can clear these videos up at all?  I have tried but I...

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Senior Software Engineer

Conservify is seeking a hands-on Senior Software Engineer with front end and back end experience developing rich web and mobile applications, and a strong desire to build a best-in-class product that stands out in both...

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discussion

Augmented Reality mobile app 

Hi everyone,Not quite your average post on this board! First-time user, so I hope I'm doing this right...I work in the Fauna & Flora International communications team and we...

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Fab - thanks Carly!

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Software to aid acoustic sound files visualization/labelling + Software to syncronize video/acoustic sonograms

Hi everybody!I am currently trying to figure out if there is any open-source software that could improve our citizen science project on bat monitoring in Europe (and potentially...

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I would also recommend Arbimon. It is well set up to handle Audiomoth recordings. Being cloud based, you will need a good internet connection for sound file upload. I'm just starting to investigate its use for Song Scope recordings. Setting up the call recognisers will be a slow process, but they can be made available to all users once done.

You could try using a video editor like DaVinci for looking at your video and audio together. I don't think DaVinci displays sonograms by default (just waveform) but I think it will open your selected audio in an external editor which would allow you to see the sonograms and make measurements with something like Audacity or Kaleidoscope.

The open-source program Audacity can show the spectrograms and histograms and has quite a lot of other useful features, e.g. playing ultrasound calls slower, so it can be heard by people. 

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Carbon Hack 22

In celebration of COP27, Green Software Foundation are hosting Carbon Hack 22 - a race to build the most innovative carbon aware software solutions using the Green Software Foundation's Carbon Aware SDK/API with a total...

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discussion

Conservation Tech Directory - new update!

New directory update from @gracieermi & I! And an extra special one as we've just passed our 1-year anniversary! Super exciting to see how far this has come! Check it out:...

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Congrats on the milestone Carly and Gracie!

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discussion

Mangrove soundscape

Hello everyone, I am currently working on the restoration of mangroves in an area of Colombia. I want to do an acoustic monitoring inside the mangrove. I want to record...

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You might check out the devices listed in the Conservation Tech Directory - you can search for 'acoustic recorder' or 'ARU' or something like that.

The most common off-the-shelf models (other than Frontier Labs' BARLTs mentioned above😊) are Open Acoustic Devices Audiomoths & Hydromoths (which may be particularly useful for you since they come in completely watertight cases that can be stuck underwater for deployments), Wildlife Acoustics' SongMeter series, and Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Swift units.  

 

Camilo--

Are you interested only in airborne sounds or do you want to deploy hydrophones? That decision would inform a lot of other decisions about your purchase of equipment, as would having a clearer picture of your budget.

Hi there Camilo, 

What an interesting project! If you are looking for a lower cost, but effective tools for acoustic monitoring you might want to look into two options: 

SoundTraps - are very commonly used and perform quite well: 

SonarPoints - these are also a great instrument option: 

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Conservation Technology Research Internship

Boost cons tech capacity at an international NGO! Fauna & Flora International is offering a paid three-month internship to consolidate and share best practices for the application of emerging hardware and software...

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Developer, Mara Elephant Project

Mara Elephant Project is looking to hire a developer to be based full-time in Nairobi at the Mara Elephant Project office located on Karen. The role will also require frequent field visits to the project HQ located in...

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Lead Software Engineer, Wildlife Insights

Are you creative, love new challenges and have experience developing software? The Wildlife Insights team is hiring! Join a diverse team of ecologists, data scientists, engineers and machine learning experts to protect...

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