Internet of Animals Symposium

Recently, the Interagency Satellite Needs Working Group has identified the potential for increased availability of animal movement data, the dynamic integration with remotely sensed data, and the novel computational tools to support data-informed decision-making across U.S. agencies. Consequently, NASA established the Internet of Animals initiative which aims to identify high priority science questions, applied objectives, and future observation systems needs. 

This event is the first in an intended series of workshops to be hosted by the Max Planck-Yale Center for Biodiversity and Global Change at Yale University on 2-4 Nov 2022. The meeting will bring together ca. 15-25 experts from academia, agencies, and beyond to discuss and identify:

  1. Key research, management, and conservation objectives for spaceborne tracking of animal movements and lives;
  2. Associated observation system capability needs (e.g., the size and lifetime of tags, the accuracy and cadence of geolocation knowledge, ancillary in-situ measurements or remote sensing products, the latency between a location observation and end-user availability of that information);
  3. Higher-level product needs (e.g. home ranges, migratory pathways, habitat use, connectivity metrics, etc.) and data infrastructure for exploring, monitoring, visualizing, and communicating animal movements and lives; and,
  4. Potential synergies, partnerships, and high priority opportunities.

Symposium speakers include: Ryan Pavlick (NASA JPL), Martin Wikelski (Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior), Walter Jetz (Yale), Peter Marra (Georgetown University), Tanya Berger-Wolf (Ohio State University), Jill Deppe (Audubon), Ruth Oliver (U. California Santa Barbara), Autumn-Lynn Harrison (Smithsonian), Scott Rogerson (NOAA), Cara Wilson (NOAA), Tobey Curtis (NOAA), Ian Brosnan (NASA AMES),  Ben Carlson (Yale), and more.

Poster Session

The symposium will also include a poster session on November 2. This poster session will be open to the public and will include contributions and attendees from a wide array of disciplines in academia, conservation NGOs, and government agencies.

Posters should broadly relate to the fields of movement ecology, space-based Earth observation for biodiversity science,  remote sensing, conservation and management of mobile species, and/or emerging technologies in animal ecology. We take an explicitly broad view of the session remit and particularly invite contributions that span discipline boundaries or offer a forward-looking perspective on these topics as well as projects which demonstrate the potential utility of animal movement and associated data types. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

Posters should be no larger than 48” wide X 36” tall. Alternative sizes may be accommodated on a case-by-case basis - please contact the organizers (scott.yanco@yale.edu and/or alexander.killion@yale.edu) if you have questions about poster format.

Poster abstracts can be submitted here:  https://forms.gle/tSCRjsL9LA2SKYBA8

Schedule

Public events will be held at the following times and locations:

Wednesday, November 2

10:00-12:00

Welcome and Opening Keynotes

Ryan Pavlick, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory 

The NASA Internet of Animals project

Walter Jetz, Yale University 

Monitoring and predicting changing biodiversity dynamics with animal sensors

Martin Wikelski, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior (remote)

The ICARUS system: a bottom-up IoT satellite system for global animal observation

Watson B74         

13:00-14:00

Session 1: Key research, management, and conservation objectives for spaceborne tracking

Cara Wilson, NOAA

NOAA Fisheries and Argos   

Autumn-Lynn Harrison, Smithsonian Institution

Integrating space, time, natural history, and human culture through animal tracking studies at the Smithsonian Institution

Tabitha Graves, USGS 

Frontiers of large mammal applications of spaceborne technologies

Watson B60

16:00-18:00 Poster Session OML 300

Thursday, November 3

9:30-10:30

Session 2: Observation system capability needs

Scott Rogerson, NOAA 

Argos Reimagined: Argos-4 + Kineis

Tobey Curtis, NOAA 

Telemetry Networks: Connecting Observations to End Users

Martin Wikelski, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior (remote)

First impressions from a novel IoT satellite system - ICARUS

Ian Brosnan, NASA     

Observing System Needs and Solutions: The View from NASA and USGS at Moffett Field

OML 202
13:30-14:30

Session 3: Higher-level products and data infrastructure

Scott Yanco, Yale University  

Individual ecology at scale: Bridging the informatics gap

Jill Deppe, Audubon Society

A case study for integrating bird movement data for hemispheric conservation and engagement: the Bird Migration Explorer

Ben Carlson, Yale University   

Remote Sensing for Animal Movement

Sarah Davidson, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior (remote)

Are we ready for an Internet of Animals? Harnessing knowledge from global animal movement data

OML 201         

Friday, November 4

9:30-10:15

Session 4: Emerging opportunities, new partnerships, and potential synergies

Pete Marra, Georgetown University

Using tracking technologies to recover bird populations: a new opportunity with the Road to Recovery

Ruth Oliver, University of California Santa Barbara

Cars and Trucks and Things That GO: Understanding movement in a chaotic world

Tanya Berger-Wolf, Ohio State University (remote

Imageomics: Images as the Source of Information about Life

Watson A53       

For information on how to get involved email ybgc@yale.edu

Event time: 
Wednesday, November 2, 2022 - 12:00am to 11:59pm
Thursday, November 3, 2022 - 12:00am to 11:59pm
Friday, November 4, 2022 - 12:00am to 11:59pm