Last July, abrdn launched a partnership to support The Alan Turing Institute in its mission to change the world for the better using data science and artificial intelligence (AI). The abrdn Charitable Foundation committed £1 million of funding to enable a global research programme with The Alan Turing Institute and the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology – the AMBER project – to monitor and collect biodiversity data and understand the impact of climate change on ecosystems and insect populations.
A critical area of concern
Welcoming the launch of the partnership, Professor Mark Girolami, Chief Scientist at The Alan Turing Institute, said:
“Plummeting populations of insects around the world are causing widespread concern. It has never been more important to understand why and how these declines are happening – more research in this area is urgently needed. That’s why we’re delighted to announce this new partnership which offers huge global potential for a major change in outcomes for people and nature.’
Experts from the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) and The Alan Turing Institute are developing the use of automated sensors, bioacoustics, and computer vision (a field of AI that trains computers to interpret and understand the visual world) to monitor insects, bats and birds.
abrdn funds the deployment of the latest monitoring technology
Our support is enabling the technology, called an AMI system, to be deployed in countries across the globe.
The system brings advantages over traditional methods, which would rely on entomologists, such as Dr Chris Schmidt (pictured below), collecting the data in-person, while the AMI system continuously collects data across sites. Dr Tom August, a computational ecologist at UKCEH, explained that using microphones and cameras can ensure greater consistency and generate accurate estimates of how populations are changing:
“By using a hardware like the automated monitoring stations, you can ensure that your sampling is the same every night, every year at every site. Furthermore, the data produced is verifiable and robust across sites and years because you can always return to the images and sounds to check what was recorded, which is not always the case with other methods,” said Dr August.
Dr August added that “our project will provide a template for automated monitoring and identification globally, providing robust data at scale and low cost”.
A partnership with global reach
In December 2023, UKCEH deployed two AMI systems in Panama with the Smithsonian Institute, while in February 2024 a further 10 systems were established at five sites across Costa Rica with the assistance of the Organization for Tropical Studies.
Dr Jenna Lawson, Research Associate at UKCEH, added that:
“In April, we will deploy 10 systems across Singapore with our partners, the Nanyang Technological Institute. In May and June 2024, we will be deploying a further 15 systems across Thailand, Japan and Africa and will be sending additional systems to Panama. Our deployments in Africa are with local partners the Tropical Biology Association and will cover four African countries. Local partners in each of these locations are essential to the success of the AMBER project and we are developing close and long-term partnerships with research institutes, NGOs, universities, museums and industrial partners.”
In Singapore, our colleagues are looking forward to engaging with partners on the ground at the Project AMBER sites, and learning more about how artificial intelligence can be used to monitor the biodiversity around us.
Ian Macdonald, Head of Singapore, Deputy CEO and Chief of Staff Asia Pacific, abrdn
Opportunities for colleague engagement
Colleagues at abrdn have enjoyed engagement opportunities such as a presentation and demonstration of the AMI system from The Alan Turing Institute in London. The Singapore and Thailand sites were chosen partly due to their proximity to abrdn staff, who will be able to visit the sites.
A citizen science engagement piece, using the platform iNaturalist, will encourage colleagues to photograph wildlife and help gather species information. This opportunity will be offered to colleagues in London and Singapore and then expanded to further regions. It will allow colleagues to spend time in nature and to appreciate the potential of AI to accelerate our understanding of biodiversity.