💬 “With AI, we are learning things that we've never had the ability to learn before about species conservation. This is crucial. We can’t protect species if we don’t know or don’t understand them.” @Jessie Oliver

This is a conversation with Jessie Oliver

🎙️ Jessie is passionate about avian ecology and environmental outreach. She has been heavily involved in the development of the Australian Citizen Science Association (ACSA) since its inception and is currently the ACSA International Liaison. Since 2015, Jessie has been researching how to design technologies that entice people to have fun, meaningful, and impactful experiences with nature, with citizen science, and with wildlife conservation activities. Jessie also explores the alignments of citizen science with the use of artificial intelligence and conservation technology.

Jessie says that many people around the world are deploying audio recorders into nature and gathering huge amounts of data that can reveal invaluable information about ecosystems and wildlife that live in them. However, analysing this data is tricky, requiring both technical and animal call knowledge. Environmental recordings have potential to be more accessible for broader uses in nature engagement, citizen science, and wildlife conservation, but technologies that are both fun and useful are needed for acoustic sensing to reach its full potential.

With this in mind, she is investigating how to design technologies that provide delightful and informative ways to explore audio recordings. Her research is centred around exploring the potential that acoustic sensing may be useful to find secretive, endangered Eastern bristlebirds. In this research, she has worked with conservationists involved in bristlebird recovery efforts, birders and additional citizen scientists, as well as members of the broader public, to uncover needs for future technologies to explore and analyse audio recordings.

This is the Infinite Leaders series on the Boundless Podcast, we are exploring how Digital Transformation, Data and Artificial Intelligence can promote, provide engagement and deliver environmental sustainability.

Key links to support the episode:

- The Earth School Citizen Science Quest for a sampler of globally relevant projects:
-- https://magazine.scienceconnected.org/2020/07/earth-school-take-a-nature-quest/

- Search for projects of interest or get inspired to create your own:
-- SciStarter (https://scistarter.org/; Based in U.S.A with some global projects)
-- Australian Citizen Science Project Finder (https://biocollect.ala.org.au/acsa)
-- European Citizen Science Project Finder (https://eu-citizen.science/all/)
-- Asia Citizen Science Projects: Project Tracker (http://projects.citizenscience.asia/)

- Citizen science associations, networks, & partnerships:
-- Australian Citizen Science Association (https://citizenscience.org.au/)
-- European CitizenScience Association (https://ecsa.citizen-science.net/)
-- U.S.based Citizen Science Association (https://www.citizenscience.org/)
-- Iberoamerican Network of Participatory Science (http://cienciaparticipativa.net/the-ricap/)
-- Citizen Science Asia (http://www.citizenscience.asia/)
-- Citizen Science Association of Aotearoa New Zealand (#CITSCINZ) (https://monicalogues.com/2020/08/25/the-citizenscience-association-of-aotearoa-new-zealand-wrapping-up-year-one)
-- Citizen Science for the Amazon Network (https://www.amazoniacienciaciudadana.org/)
-- Brazilian Birdwatching & Citizen Science Network (https://www.wikiaves.com.br/)
-- Citizen Science Global Partnership (http://citizenscienceglobal.org/)

- Follow Jessie and her work via:
-- LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessieloliver/)
-- Twitter (https://twitter.com/JessieLOliver)
-- Publications via Research Gate or ORCiD