Friday 1 July 2022 – 09:00 – 10:30 AEST
Assoc Professor Grant Hamilton, Dr Katie Woolaston, Judith Mirembe, Dr Kevin Elliott
There are many paths towards attaining SDGS, and some of these paths are likely to be well served by involving technology. Methods for collecting data on threatened species such as drones and fixed cameras can be used together with advanced analytics – artificial intelligence (AI) among others – to create systems for the creation of knowledge. While these methods are increasingly being used we are faced with a range of issues that need to be addressed to make them as effective as possible. How can we scale the use of these technologies to include citizens and groups across the world that may have difficulty in accessing them? How can we supply and train users to collect data effectively and answer the questions that they want to answer? In this session, we will invite dialogue from across the globe to search for solutions and introduce one possible way forward – the Conservation AI Network.
Assoc Professor Grant Hamilton – Associate Professor in Ecology, Queensland University of Technology
Associate Professor Grant Hamilton is a quantitative ecologist and Director of the Conservation AI Network. His recent work involves using leading edge quantitative analyses and technology for conservation and biosecurity, including artificial intelligence, camera traps and drones for the detection of threatened species. He is an Associate Editor for PLOS Sustainability and Transformation, and co-Lead for Ecological Monitoring program (Centre for the Environment, QUT).
Dr Katie Woolaston – Inter-disciplinary researcher, lawyer and lecturer in the School of Law at QUT
Katie Woolaston is an inter-disciplinary researcher, lawyer and lecturer in the School of Law at QUT. She holds a Masters in Law (specialising in Human Rights & Social Justice) from the University of New South Wales, and a PhD in Environmental Law from Griffith University. Dr Woolaston’s research is focused on international and domestic wildlife law and the regulation of the human-wildlife relationship. She is particularly interested in using the social sciences to resolve long-held and deeply-rooted attitudes and values that are contrary to conservation and embedding such processes in law and policy. Dr Woolaston’s current research is focused on dingo management and stakeholder collaboration on K’Gari-Fraser Island, and integration of One Health approaches in wildlife trade and environmental policy in the wake of COVID-19. She was an expert on the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) panel concerning Biodiversity and Pandemics, is an Associate Editor of the Asia-Pacific Journal of Environmental Law, and a Board Member of Australia’s National Environmental Law Association. Her first book, titled ‘Ecological Vulnerability: The Law and Governance of Human-Wildlife Relationships’ is to be published by Cambridge University Press later this year.
Judith Mirembe – Shoebill Watch Uganda
Judith Mirembe is passionate about conservation of the Shoebill, its habitat and other bird species in Uganda. Judith hopes to fill information gaps by using of advanced technology such as AI, camera traps, drones and satellite tags where she can cover bigger expanses of the wetland habitat as most areas are inaccessible by the local canoes that she currently uses for population monitoring.
Dr Kevin Elliott – Professor, Michigan State University
Dr. Kevin C. Elliott is a Professor at Michigan State University with joint appointments in Lyman Briggs College, the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, and the Department of Philosophy. His scholarship focuses on understanding and managing the roles that ethical and social values play in scientific research. Much of his recent work has focused on open science, transparency, science communication, and citizen science