Getting tech right with Wildlabs
Wildlabs is always looking for technology experts – and that includes you, PC Pro readers. The challenge faced by conservationists is figuring out what tech is actually useful to their work, which isn’t always easy to unpick when marketing companies descend on a project. “How do you know if this technology is something I should be looking at,” said O’Donnell, “or is someone just selling a shiny object that won’t actually do anything for my project?”
She points to drones as an example of hype in conservation tech. “Drones have definitely gone through a peak of inflated expectations, and then the trough of disillusionment,” O’Donnell said. “And now we’re coming out and finding specific use cases where drones are really useful for conservation.”
If you want to get involved in tech support for conservation, it will require a bit of commitment. Conservationists have been working on projects for years, and need long-term help. O’Donnell points to one-off support from the tech industry such as hackathons, calling such short-term, PR-motivated offers to help “silicon seagulling”, where they come in, drop off some tech and then disappear. “It’s really easy to run a one-off event like a hackathon,”
O’Donnell added. “But prototypes don’t help us, we need someone who can commit for three years… so it becomes something conservationists can actually use.”
Instead, Wildlabs is looking for technologists with specific expertise and a passion for conservation, who are willing to invest time into building relationships with academics and field workers. The best way to get started, said O’Donnell, is to register on the website, sign up for the newsletter and start attending virtual events that appeal to you. That’s the best way to find out what sort of projects are looking for help and get to know the rest of the community. For example, at least once a week there’s a tech tutorial.
The most recent one had a panel discussion with remote camera tracking projects in the Canadian north, including an elder from a local community, a trapper and a research scientist. “We hear from tech people that it’s really hard to find conservation projects that can use their help, and this is the best way to connect into that community around the world,” she said.
O’Donnell adds that Wildlabs is a welcoming place and an open community. “It’s the place to discover this world of conservation,” she said. To find out more, head to wildlabs.net.