Ollie Wearn
@olliewearn.bsky.social
Conservationist & scientist. Wildlife monitoring | Data analytics | Camera traps | Conservation tech | Cats | Carnivores | Primates | Tropical forests | Asia
Pinned
Ollie Wearn
@olliewearn.bsky.social
· Nov 8
Cool new #dronescience coming out of Vietnam, led by my colleague Hoang Trinh-Dinh.
authors.elsevier.com/a/1k2%7Ej1R%... (#OA for 50 days / DM for pdf)
Hoang used a drone to robustly survey the Critically Endangered Delacour’s langur in its extreme limestone home for the 1st time. (1/n)
authors.elsevier.com/a/1k2%7Ej1R%... (#OA for 50 days / DM for pdf)
Hoang used a drone to robustly survey the Critically Endangered Delacour’s langur in its extreme limestone home for the 1st time. (1/n)
🧪 Finally found where all the kool kidz ran off to 👋
Hi, I’m a conservationist that does science whenever I get the chance! Great to be here!
Current work is on snow leopards. I also post about primates, conservation tech, camera traps, AI & other stuff.
Here’s a paper we just published below 👇
Hi, I’m a conservationist that does science whenever I get the chance! Great to be here!
Current work is on snow leopards. I also post about primates, conservation tech, camera traps, AI & other stuff.
Here’s a paper we just published below 👇
Hey everyone, is there a literature (can be grey) discussing the ethics of using #generativeAI in #conservation and-or #ecology? I have to persuade some folks to consider the “darker” side of it and some authoritative/academic sources would really help. Thanks for any links.
🌍#conservationscience
🌍#conservationscience
November 7, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Hey everyone, is there a literature (can be grey) discussing the ethics of using #generativeAI in #conservation and-or #ecology? I have to persuade some folks to consider the “darker” side of it and some authoritative/academic sources would really help. Thanks for any links.
🌍#conservationscience
🌍#conservationscience
Enjoyed reading about this partnership between the Kuikuro and Brazilian/US archaeologists.
✅Trust built over decades
✅Shared research objectives
✅Indigenous data sovereignty
✅Credit sharing
✅Respect & humility (“I didn’t “discover” anything”)
#participatoryscience www.science.org/content/arti...
✅Trust built over decades
✅Shared research objectives
✅Indigenous data sovereignty
✅Credit sharing
✅Respect & humility (“I didn’t “discover” anything”)
#participatoryscience www.science.org/content/arti...
To unearth their past, Amazonian people turn to ‘a language white men understand’
A model partnership between archaeologists and the Kuikuro people has helped rewrite the history of early Amazonian societies
www.science.org
November 7, 2025 at 2:47 PM
Enjoyed reading about this partnership between the Kuikuro and Brazilian/US archaeologists.
✅Trust built over decades
✅Shared research objectives
✅Indigenous data sovereignty
✅Credit sharing
✅Respect & humility (“I didn’t “discover” anything”)
#participatoryscience www.science.org/content/arti...
✅Trust built over decades
✅Shared research objectives
✅Indigenous data sovereignty
✅Credit sharing
✅Respect & humility (“I didn’t “discover” anything”)
#participatoryscience www.science.org/content/arti...
Now live! www.ethicalconservation.org/toolkit/
-Offers a fresh perspective on “human-wildlife conflict”
-Suggests shifting the narrative from demonisation of wildlife towards an empathetic & nuanced approach to conflict, in partnership w/ local communities
#ethicalconservation #conservationscience🌍
-Offers a fresh perspective on “human-wildlife conflict”
-Suggests shifting the narrative from demonisation of wildlife towards an empathetic & nuanced approach to conflict, in partnership w/ local communities
#ethicalconservation #conservationscience🌍
November 6, 2025 at 10:54 PM
Now live! www.ethicalconservation.org/toolkit/
-Offers a fresh perspective on “human-wildlife conflict”
-Suggests shifting the narrative from demonisation of wildlife towards an empathetic & nuanced approach to conflict, in partnership w/ local communities
#ethicalconservation #conservationscience🌍
-Offers a fresh perspective on “human-wildlife conflict”
-Suggests shifting the narrative from demonisation of wildlife towards an empathetic & nuanced approach to conflict, in partnership w/ local communities
#ethicalconservation #conservationscience🌍
I find it’s helpful to always start from the premise:
“All models are wrong, but some are useful” (Box, 1979)
“All models are wrong, but some are useful” (Box, 1979)
Editors & reviewers -
an ecological model can never be a complete representation of a system
they are simplifications, useful for exploring specific questions
Please do not expect models to do the impossible
an ecological model can never be a complete representation of a system
they are simplifications, useful for exploring specific questions
Please do not expect models to do the impossible
October 31, 2025 at 8:27 AM
I find it’s helpful to always start from the premise:
“All models are wrong, but some are useful” (Box, 1979)
“All models are wrong, but some are useful” (Box, 1979)
23mins running uphill to celebrate October 23rd, International Snow Leopard Day. #23for23
Because conservation often feels like an uphill battle.
But I guess you never know when the crest will suddenly appear and you’re on the downhill…
#SnowLeopardDay #MoveForSnowLeopards
Because conservation often feels like an uphill battle.
But I guess you never know when the crest will suddenly appear and you’re on the downhill…
#SnowLeopardDay #MoveForSnowLeopards
October 23, 2025 at 6:41 PM
23mins running uphill to celebrate October 23rd, International Snow Leopard Day. #23for23
Because conservation often feels like an uphill battle.
But I guess you never know when the crest will suddenly appear and you’re on the downhill…
#SnowLeopardDay #MoveForSnowLeopards
Because conservation often feels like an uphill battle.
But I guess you never know when the crest will suddenly appear and you’re on the downhill…
#SnowLeopardDay #MoveForSnowLeopards
We (Snow Leopard Trust) will have a consultancy available soon to do climate-smart protected area planning in Kyrgyzstan. Will involve #cameratrap data & Zonation. Suitable for PhD/post-doc level or a lab group. Get in touch if interested! Will post link once it’s live! 🧪🌍#conservationscience
October 17, 2025 at 3:48 PM
We (Snow Leopard Trust) will have a consultancy available soon to do climate-smart protected area planning in Kyrgyzstan. Will involve #cameratrap data & Zonation. Suitable for PhD/post-doc level or a lab group. Get in touch if interested! Will post link once it’s live! 🧪🌍#conservationscience
Important reflections on the power dynamics in large-scale syntheses of ecological data. Many of them perpetuate colonial structures.
An example that comes to mind is Google & Wildlife Insights, who used camera trap data to publish the SpeciesNet algorithm, with no credit given to field researchers
An example that comes to mind is Google & Wildlife Insights, who used camera trap data to publish the SpeciesNet algorithm, with no credit given to field researchers
“Remote-control science” keeps power in the #GlobalNorth while local experts do the work without credit. Time to #decolonize research with fair authorship, funding & respect for local knowledge 🌍
#DecolonizeScience #ResearchEquity #GlobalSouth #FairScience
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
#DecolonizeScience #ResearchEquity #GlobalSouth #FairScience
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Remote‐Control Science in Ecology: A Hidden Face of Scientific Neocolonialism
We introduce the concept of “remote-control science” as a modern form of scientific neocolonialism in ecology, where researchers, preferably from the Global North, control projects in the Global Sout....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
October 11, 2025 at 9:09 AM
Important reflections on the power dynamics in large-scale syntheses of ecological data. Many of them perpetuate colonial structures.
An example that comes to mind is Google & Wildlife Insights, who used camera trap data to publish the SpeciesNet algorithm, with no credit given to field researchers
An example that comes to mind is Google & Wildlife Insights, who used camera trap data to publish the SpeciesNet algorithm, with no credit given to field researchers
Reposted by Ollie Wearn
Finally! 🤩 Our position piece: Against the Uncritical Adoption of 'AI' Technologies in Academia:
doi.org/10.5281/zeno...
We unpick the tech industry’s marketing, hype, & harm; and we argue for safeguarding higher education, critical
thinking, expertise, academic freedom, & scientific integrity.
1/n
doi.org/10.5281/zeno...
We unpick the tech industry’s marketing, hype, & harm; and we argue for safeguarding higher education, critical
thinking, expertise, academic freedom, & scientific integrity.
1/n
September 6, 2025 at 8:13 AM
Finally! 🤩 Our position piece: Against the Uncritical Adoption of 'AI' Technologies in Academia:
doi.org/10.5281/zeno...
We unpick the tech industry’s marketing, hype, & harm; and we argue for safeguarding higher education, critical
thinking, expertise, academic freedom, & scientific integrity.
1/n
doi.org/10.5281/zeno...
We unpick the tech industry’s marketing, hype, & harm; and we argue for safeguarding higher education, critical
thinking, expertise, academic freedom, & scientific integrity.
1/n
Reposted by Ollie Wearn
Over on the Other Place I would occasionally put this thread together, most recently during lockdown, four years ago in fact, and I realised I'd not done it here. So, bear with, and feel free to mute as this is an epic (genuinely, I’m not sure we won’t reach hitherto non-invoked thread limits tbh).
September 20, 2025 at 6:21 PM
Over on the Other Place I would occasionally put this thread together, most recently during lockdown, four years ago in fact, and I realised I'd not done it here. So, bear with, and feel free to mute as this is an epic (genuinely, I’m not sure we won’t reach hitherto non-invoked thread limits tbh).
*Seeing double*
Nope, these images are not the same, or even from the same image sequence! They were taken 23 days apart, with raging snow storms & high winds between them.
#Snowleopards are creatures of habit, regularly coming back to the same tiny patches of ground to see who's been around.
Nope, these images are not the same, or even from the same image sequence! They were taken 23 days apart, with raging snow storms & high winds between them.
#Snowleopards are creatures of habit, regularly coming back to the same tiny patches of ground to see who's been around.
September 9, 2025 at 12:53 PM
*Seeing double*
Nope, these images are not the same, or even from the same image sequence! They were taken 23 days apart, with raging snow storms & high winds between them.
#Snowleopards are creatures of habit, regularly coming back to the same tiny patches of ground to see who's been around.
Nope, these images are not the same, or even from the same image sequence! They were taken 23 days apart, with raging snow storms & high winds between them.
#Snowleopards are creatures of habit, regularly coming back to the same tiny patches of ground to see who's been around.
Reposted by Ollie Wearn
Next Thursday (11th), join us to discover how 300+ local community members & camera traps generate vital ecosystem data, transforming biodiversity monitoring in the Sanjiangyuan. 📸🌿 Learn about innovative incentive models for #conservation in #China.
👉 bit.ly/SLNBioMonitoring
👉 bit.ly/SLNBioMonitoring
September 6, 2025 at 4:29 AM
Next Thursday (11th), join us to discover how 300+ local community members & camera traps generate vital ecosystem data, transforming biodiversity monitoring in the Sanjiangyuan. 📸🌿 Learn about innovative incentive models for #conservation in #China.
👉 bit.ly/SLNBioMonitoring
👉 bit.ly/SLNBioMonitoring
Reposted by Ollie Wearn
Confused writing is usually a symptom of confused thinking. As we struggle to clarify writing, we clarify our thoughts. AI writing aids rob us of that struggle, leaving clean-looking text and thoughts still confused for lack of inspection. Writing is not just a product; it is a diagnostic tool.
September 5, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Confused writing is usually a symptom of confused thinking. As we struggle to clarify writing, we clarify our thoughts. AI writing aids rob us of that struggle, leaving clean-looking text and thoughts still confused for lack of inspection. Writing is not just a product; it is a diagnostic tool.
Reposted by Ollie Wearn
Only a pre-print for now, but after 4 years of hard work I couldn't resist sharing this!
The Global Canopy Atlas: analysis-ready maps of 3D structure for the world's woody ecosystems
📜: doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Huge team effort led by the brilliant Fabian Fischer!
The Global Canopy Atlas: analysis-ready maps of 3D structure for the world's woody ecosystems
📜: doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Huge team effort led by the brilliant Fabian Fischer!
September 5, 2025 at 2:29 PM
Only a pre-print for now, but after 4 years of hard work I couldn't resist sharing this!
The Global Canopy Atlas: analysis-ready maps of 3D structure for the world's woody ecosystems
📜: doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Huge team effort led by the brilliant Fabian Fischer!
The Global Canopy Atlas: analysis-ready maps of 3D structure for the world's woody ecosystems
📜: doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Huge team effort led by the brilliant Fabian Fischer!
History appears to be repeating itself, with a new "mega-rice" project underway in South Papua, a repeat of the social and ecological disaster that was Mega Rice I in Kalimantan in the late 1990s. The UN says that > 50,000 Indigenous people will be directly affected
e360.yale.edu/features/ind...
e360.yale.edu/features/ind...
In Indonesia’s Rainforest, a Mega-Farm Project Is Plowing Ahead
The Indonesian government is fast-tracking a massive agricultural project that is turning 7 million acres of tropical forest into rice and sugarcane farms. Critics say it is the world’s largest defore...
e360.yale.edu
September 4, 2025 at 5:08 PM
History appears to be repeating itself, with a new "mega-rice" project underway in South Papua, a repeat of the social and ecological disaster that was Mega Rice I in Kalimantan in the late 1990s. The UN says that > 50,000 Indigenous people will be directly affected
e360.yale.edu/features/ind...
e360.yale.edu/features/ind...
Reposted by Ollie Wearn
Consider the first headline -- "Brazil secures Amazon allies for $125 billion global forest fund" -- against the backdrop of everything else Brazil is doing. The hypocrisy from the host of the COP30 climate conference is staggering.
August 29, 2025 at 1:35 PM
Consider the first headline -- "Brazil secures Amazon allies for $125 billion global forest fund" -- against the backdrop of everything else Brazil is doing. The hypocrisy from the host of the COP30 climate conference is staggering.
Incredible graph, and pretty much sums it up.
Teeing off as the world burns.
Teeing off as the world burns.
Thank you @joshgabbatiss.bsky.social for the reminder that golf courses should be forcibly seized by the government and converted to solar farms
interactive.carbonbrief.org/factcheck/so...
interactive.carbonbrief.org/factcheck/so...
August 28, 2025 at 10:01 PM
Incredible graph, and pretty much sums it up.
Teeing off as the world burns.
Teeing off as the world burns.
Here’s me kind of hoping it doesn’t shut down Libgen though, a vital lifeline for many who don’t have fancy pantsy university journal access (= vast number of researchers in Global South, plus almost everyone in the NGO world)
20 of my papers are in here.
See the thread for how check whether your work was used (search your name with and without initials) and joining the class action lawsuit.
See the thread for how check whether your work was used (search your name with and without initials) and joining the class action lawsuit.
There are tons of graphic novels, academic papers, film and TV scripts, & prose novels/nonfiction on the LibGen list Anthropic used.
As settlement approaches, make it easy for the class action lawyers to contact you! Here’s how
Part 1: is your work in Libgen?
www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...
As settlement approaches, make it easy for the class action lawyers to contact you! Here’s how
Part 1: is your work in Libgen?
www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...
August 27, 2025 at 10:09 PM
Here’s me kind of hoping it doesn’t shut down Libgen though, a vital lifeline for many who don’t have fancy pantsy university journal access (= vast number of researchers in Global South, plus almost everyone in the NGO world)
From last week spotting the turtle doves in the Knepp rewilding project, to having the same species at our garden pond here in Ronda, Spain!
July 26, 2025 at 12:23 PM
From last week spotting the turtle doves in the Knepp rewilding project, to having the same species at our garden pond here in Ronda, Spain!
Can we all agree macroecology is also lawful evil 😈
Spot on for Conservation ecology
Spot on for Conservation ecology
Was just sent this, author unknown. There's plenty to debate but they're right about evolutionary ecology. 🌏
July 25, 2025 at 9:12 PM
Can we all agree macroecology is also lawful evil 😈
Spot on for Conservation ecology
Spot on for Conservation ecology
Interesting 🤔 Seems like a good way forward to ensure rigour and accuracy in work.
I suspect there is a grey area, though, in deciding when genAI is acting as an assistant (which is allowed under their rules) and when it has stepped over the line into creator (not allowed).
I suspect there is a grey area, though, in deciding when genAI is acting as an assistant (which is allowed under their rules) and when it has stepped over the line into creator (not allowed).
We have decided to ban the use of GenAI for research, writing & creative work at our organization.
In fact, we make people sign an agreement saying that their research, analysis, writing, and creative work are *theirs* and not done by GenAI.
In fact, we make people sign an agreement saying that their research, analysis, writing, and creative work are *theirs* and not done by GenAI.
July 17, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Interesting 🤔 Seems like a good way forward to ensure rigour and accuracy in work.
I suspect there is a grey area, though, in deciding when genAI is acting as an assistant (which is allowed under their rules) and when it has stepped over the line into creator (not allowed).
I suspect there is a grey area, though, in deciding when genAI is acting as an assistant (which is allowed under their rules) and when it has stepped over the line into creator (not allowed).
AI challenge to find lost Amazonian civilizations draws critics | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...
There are echoes here of how macroecologists mine satellite & other global data to make maps of conservation priorities, also often without consultation or validation on the ground.
There are echoes here of how macroecologists mine satellite & other global data to make maps of conservation priorities, also often without consultation or validation on the ground.
AI challenge to find lost Amazonian civilizations draws critics
Scientists, ethicists, and officials worry the OpenAI-sponsored contest sidesteps archaeological norms
www.science.org
July 11, 2025 at 9:55 AM
AI challenge to find lost Amazonian civilizations draws critics | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...
There are echoes here of how macroecologists mine satellite & other global data to make maps of conservation priorities, also often without consultation or validation on the ground.
There are echoes here of how macroecologists mine satellite & other global data to make maps of conservation priorities, also often without consultation or validation on the ground.
Are drones fancy gadgets, or can they effectively guide management strategies and align with the overarching goals of protected areas?
Rossi & Wiesmann 2025 argue the latter 👌
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Rossi & Wiesmann 2025 argue the latter 👌
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Flying high for conservation: Opportunities and challenges of operating drones within the oldest National Park in the Alps
Drawing on our seven-year experience flying drones in the Swiss National Park and its surroundings, we provided an overview of how innovative drone applications contribute to the goals and tasks of t....
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
July 8, 2025 at 7:45 AM
Are drones fancy gadgets, or can they effectively guide management strategies and align with the overarching goals of protected areas?
Rossi & Wiesmann 2025 argue the latter 👌
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Rossi & Wiesmann 2025 argue the latter 👌
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Reposted by Ollie Wearn
My first @uk.theconversation.com article with @jackantbam.bsky.social and @lambin-ecology.bsky.social and @kennyafc.bsky.social
"Surprisingly effective way to save the capercaillie: keep its predators well-fed"
theconversation.com/a-surprising...
"Surprisingly effective way to save the capercaillie: keep its predators well-fed"
theconversation.com/a-surprising...
A surprisingly effective way to save the capercaillie: keep its predators well-fed – new research
Evidence suggests this alternative to culling the bird’s predators is effective.
theconversation.com
July 4, 2025 at 4:48 PM
My first @uk.theconversation.com article with @jackantbam.bsky.social and @lambin-ecology.bsky.social and @kennyafc.bsky.social
"Surprisingly effective way to save the capercaillie: keep its predators well-fed"
theconversation.com/a-surprising...
"Surprisingly effective way to save the capercaillie: keep its predators well-fed"
theconversation.com/a-surprising...
A no-brainer if ever I saw one.
🚨NEW from me: more than 1,000 ad agencies have called on the British government to do for the fossil fuel industry what it did for tobacco: end all advertising of their products. From @cleancreatives.bsky.social and more.
U.K. Ad Agencies Call For Total Ban On Fossil Fuel Marketing
British ad industry organizations have launched a campaign calling on the government to treat fossil fuels much as it treats tobacco products.
www.forbes.com
July 2, 2025 at 8:54 AM
A no-brainer if ever I saw one.
Reposted by Ollie Wearn
A new paper in The Lancet, one of the world’s foremost peer reviewed medical journals, estimates that USAID prevented 91 million deaths across 133 countries over 20 years.
The paper estimates that Elon Musk’s DOGE funding cuts to USAID will lead to 14 million deaths by 2030 (4.5 million children).
The paper estimates that Elon Musk’s DOGE funding cuts to USAID will lead to 14 million deaths by 2030 (4.5 million children).
Evaluating the impact of two decades of USAID interventions and projecting the effects of defunding on mortality up to 2030: a retrospective impact evaluation and forecasting analysis
USAID funding has significantly contributed to the reduction in adult and child mortality
across low-income and middle-income countries over the past two decades. Our estimates
show that, unless the a...
www.thelancet.com
July 1, 2025 at 10:43 AM
A new paper in The Lancet, one of the world’s foremost peer reviewed medical journals, estimates that USAID prevented 91 million deaths across 133 countries over 20 years.
The paper estimates that Elon Musk’s DOGE funding cuts to USAID will lead to 14 million deaths by 2030 (4.5 million children).
The paper estimates that Elon Musk’s DOGE funding cuts to USAID will lead to 14 million deaths by 2030 (4.5 million children).