Conservation

Wildlife tracker

JosÉ Lahoz-Monfort was trained as an engineer, but his heart was always in conservation. Now, he uses his tech skills to make it easier to spot wildlife

As a kid, José Lahoz-Monfort was crazy about wildlife and nature, but his tech curiosity landed him a career in tech engineering world.

After studying telecommunications engineering at the University of Zaragoza in his home country, Spain, José worked as a system design engineer at Nokia but his passion for conservation never faded.

During his Masters in Conservation Science at Imperial College London, UK, José found himself in Madagascar monitoring Alaotran gentle lemurs. He then pursued a PhD in Ecological Statistics at the University of Kent.

“There’s so much potential in technology,” he says. “That motivated me to get back to my origins and combine my research in wildlife and conservation with my background in engineering.”

Wildlife Watcher

Now a senior lecturer and researcher in ecological modelling at the University of Melbourne, José is using several high-tech tools to keep an eye on threatened wildlife, including drones, thermal cameras and acoustic sensors.

One of José’s projects is tracking down Coxen’s fig parrot, a small elusive bird found in south-eastern Queensland. Instead of spending weeks in the field trying to see or hear them, José and his team are training their acoustic monitoring device to detect the parrot’s call automatically. When a call is pinpointed, the device remotely alerts the researchers so they can plan an expedition to that area. José says the most rewarding thing about his work is that he gets to put both of his passions to use.

“There’s the technology challenge as an engineer, but also that aspect of caring for nature and trying to save species and habitats,” says José. “Conservation is a crisis discipline, so we need technology now more than ever.”

For students looking to save the planet with tech, José says that it’s important to be collaborative and learn to communicate with people in other disciplines. “There’s going to be a growing market for conservation technologies,” adds José. “It’s a career that didn’t really exist five years ago.” – Gemma Conroy

Career path

Telecommunications engineering, University of Zaragoza

PhD in ecological statistics, University of Kent

System Design Engineer, Nokia Mobile Phones

Master of Science, Conservation Science, Imperial College London

Senior Lecturer and Researcher in ecological modelling, the University of Melbourne

Growth detector

From mussels to dolphins, Bing Xue uses her coding skills to conserve the planet one species at a time

For Bing Xue, computer science (CS) is so much more than working with numbers and code on a screen. “The thing I enjoy most is solving real-world problems,” says Bing.

“You can see that we’re making a difference and that’s exciting.” With her team at New Zealand’s Victoria University of Wellington, Bing is designing machine learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms to track how mussels grow in national parks.

By applying her technique to images of the mussels, Bing and her team can track how fast the mussels are growing and understand their feeding patterns. “It’s far more efficient than having to actually go into the water and look at them,” says Bing.

Listening to dolphins

Bing is also developing systems and using sensors to study dolphin behaviour. The algorithms that Bing and her colleagues are designing will be able to detect dolphin clicks in noisy audio files recorded beneath the waves, making it easier for researchers to study their behaviour.

Positive tech

While Bing’s interest in CS was sparked when she took a data mining class during her Master’s in Management Science and Engineering at Shenzhen University, it wasn’t until she came to New Zealand to do a PhD in evolutionary computing – a field in AI that uses algorithms inspired by biological evolution – that Bing realised she could use her skills to make a positive impact.

“Conservation is beneficial for humans and every living thing,” she says. “Everything is connected.”

Bing’s advice to students interested in CS and conservation is to keep their study options broad. For example, it’s a good idea for CS majors to take ecology and conservation subjects to build their knowledge. It also doesn’t hurt to reach out to lecturers and professors, she says.

“Talk to your teachers, as they are also looking for students with the right expertise,” says Bing. “They will be able to guide you to opportunities.” – Gemma Conroy

Career path

Bachelor of Science, Information Management and Information Systems, Henan University of Economics and Law

Master of Science, Management Science and Engineering, Shenzhen University

PhD in Evolutionary Computation, Victoria University of Wellington Associate

Coding for conservation

How to save the planet with drones, satellites and Artificial Intelligence (AI)

From using tiny electronics to track turtles to catching wildlife poachers with drones, scientists are using game-changing tech to solve some of the biggest challenges in conservation.

And it’s all thanks to huge advances in computer science (CS), says Alex Dehgan, co-founder of Conservation X Labs, a US-based non-profit startup that develops conservation technology.

“Computer science and engineering can create new tools that allow us to meet the speed and scale of the problems we’re facing,” says Alex. “We can now connect our forests, rivers and oceans in the way that smart homes and cities are connected.”

Saving the natural world with AI

Tech-focused solutions also have the potential to make wildlife conservation and environmental management faster, cheaper and more far-reaching. The Allen Coral Atlas is a tool for mapping the world’s fragile coral reef systems from space.

Developed by an international cohort of scientists, conservationists and technologists, including an Aussie team from The University of Queensland, this very cool tool uses satellite imagery to create a super-detailed coral reef atlas you can see online – for free!

Another piece of tech using machine-learning techniques is Wildlife Insights, a cloud-based collaborative program that allows users to upload camera trap images from anywhere in the world. It can recognise 614 different species, making wildlife monitoring as easy as a click of a mouse.

Whether it’s designing handheld DNA screening devices to uncover illegal fishing activities or training drones to spot wildlife in far-flung locations, Alex says technology is set to transform how we protect the environment. It’s also shifting conservation away from simply tracking species loss to creating smart solutions that make a real impact.

So what does this mean for a career in tech? Skills like programming, machine learning and data mining are going to be highly sought by conservationists and environmental managers. “Powerful new emerging technologies offer hope for the future of conservation,” says Alex.

“If we can send rovers and humans to Mars, then ending the sixth mass extinction is entirely within our reach.” – Gemma Conroy