evidence-based nature conservation requires data-driven organisations

Even in the remotest of remote nature conservation areas, gigabytes of data are being generated by rangers, animal trackers, wildlife camera’s, aerial surveys, and satellites. This happens at ever increasing volumes, varieties and velocities.

The Sensing Clues Training Courses help you with evidence-based methods to turn your data into actionable insights for nature conservation and wildlife protection.

target groups

The training courses are developed for four target groups:

• Rangers who like to master new skills, tools and methods to protect nature.

• Conservation area managers and security officers, who like to develop more effective strategies to fight wildlife crime.

• Analysts, who like to spend less time on data engineering and more time on finding meaningful patterns and to write high-quality reports about nature conservation efforts and results.

• Researchers (mostly ecologists), who like to study the data in high detail and develop new algorithms and models that enforce nature conservation and wildlife protection.

Training courses

All courses are given on-site and are highly hands-on. Where possible, the training modules are tailor-made and aligned with local conditions and executed in your own conservation area.

At the moment we provide 4 (train the trainer) training courses.

1. Data Collection Training: learn how to translate tactical goals into data collection plans, and learn how to execute these plans. You’ll be introduced to a variety of hands-on data collection methods for biodiversity monitoring, mitigating human-wildlife conflicts, law enforcement, and collecting evidence from wildlife crime scenes.

2. Ranger Analyst Training: learn how to formulate tactical nature conservation goals and to use data-driven methods to evaluate these goals. In this training you’ll learn about patrol density maps, heat maps and risk-prediction maps, and how to use these to reach your conservation goals more efficiently.

3. Data Science for Nature Conservation Course: learn how to create advanced algorithms and models for nature conservation. Subjects covered include methods and technologies such as bootstrapping, agent-based modelling, machine learning, and AI.

4. IMPALAS Training: hands-on workshop series in which you learn how to study, disrupt or mitigate wildlife crimes. Methods you’ll be introduced to include crime scripting, crime barrier development, and the use of best-practice-intervention matrixes.

Duration

All training sessions are conducted with the relevant members of your team, are on-site, and have a length between 1 and 2 weeks. The training is followed by a period of coaching through Whatsapp and video calls.

Your trainers

• Jan Kees, PhD, MSc. Law enforcement,
  Information Science,
  Natural Resources Management

• Hugo, MSc.
  Data Scientist

• Koen, PhD, MSc.
  Ecologist and Data Scientist

• Madelon, MSc.
  Criminologist

• Judith, MSc.
  Business Analyst and Allround trainer

Training Impressions