In Season 4 of the WILDLABS Virtual Meetup Series, we’re bringing together leading engineers, conservationists, and academics to explore the future of technology in movement ecology and ask where exactly investment is needed to catapult this field forward. Join us to discuss emerging tools for movement data collection, analysis, and sharing, and to imagine future tech innovations that could answer questions we haven’t yet thought to ask. 

The third 1.5h meetup of Season 4 will explore the future of Data Sharing & Archiving in Movement Ecology and will be held on Wednesday, May 25 at 3:00 PM BST / 10:00 AM EDT. We'll hear short talks from leading experts Sarah Davidson, Abby Benson, Stuart Mackenzie, and Rafael Antelo, and then open it up to questions and discussion with the community.

Register for your free ticket now.

About the Session

Global and regional collaborations are leading the way in advancing tools for movement ecology, from coordinated sensor networks like Motus to platforms like Movebank for sharing and curating data. However, we still have a long way to go in making existing datasets easily discoverable, comparable, and accessible in order to ensure interoperability and enable effective translation of data into research and management insights (Sequiera et al. 2021).

In this event, we are bringing together a panel of experts leading collaborative efforts in movement data sharing and archiving across sectors to discuss the latest advances and what’s on the horizon. Some of the key topics to be discussed include standardizing data protocols, defining and securely archiving sensitive data, and exploring what infrastructure is needed to integrate across or merge existing data platforms and support long-term access.

Agenda

• Welcome and introductions (5 min)
• Sarah Davidson, Movebank PI and Data Curator, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior (5 min opening talk)
• Abby Benson, Biologist, Science Analytics and Synthesis (SAS), USGS (10 min)
• Stuart Mackenzie, Director of Strategic Assets, Birds Canada (10 min)
• Rafael Antelo, Wildlife Connect Leader/Pantanal Chaco (PACHA) Landscape Coordinator (10 min)
• Open discussion and community exchange (45 min)
• Takeaways and wrap up (5 min)

Ready to explore new horizons together? Join us by registering for this meetup now!

Learn more about the series

Fueled by the recent explosion of cheaper, lighter, and more powerful animal‐borne biologging technologies, movement ecology sits at the precipice of major breakthroughs that could revolutionize our understanding of wildlife and the ecosystems they navigate. However, we don’t yet have clear priorities for investment that consider a longer-term horizon for innovation and impact. 

To address this gap, we are proud to introduce Tracking Progress, a new WILDLABS research project supported by the Moore Foundation’s Science Program and an advisory committee of movement ecology experts. In this project, we aim to harness the collective expertise of the WILDLABS community through facilitated virtual meetups and focus group discussions to conduct the first global horizon scan of tech in movement ecology.

We know that when we create spaces for our passionate and innovative community to collectively define priorities, the resulting discussions lead to big steps forward for all of us. By joining us at these Virtual Meetups, your ideas and questions will do more than just drive the conversations you’ve come to know and love - they’ll be actively laying the foundation for a research project that can have real significance to the future directions and investments in this field. We hope to see you there!

Can't make it to a meetup this season? Don't worry! You can find every meetup after it airs on our Youtube channel.

Visit WILDLABS to learn more about the WILDLABS Virtual Meetup Series and other events.