#Data4Wildlife Hackathon

Historically, the top three factors driving the global biodiversity extinction crisis have been habitat loss, human-wildlife conflict, and poaching. Over about the past decade, a new factor has propelled into the spotlight: online crime. Online wildlife crime causes species declines. The algorithmic amplification of wildlife crime via social media platforms, mobile applications and high-speed broadband access is a grave concern for nongovernmental organizations working to combat online crime.  Join us for the #DATA4WILDLIFE challenge and help slow species declines!

The #DATA4WILDLIFE challenge will take place on January 29-30, 2022. Applications are now open and will close at 22.00 on January 12, 2022. Teams will be announced on January 17, 2022 and drop in mentorship sessions will be held during that week to prepare teams for the two day challenge on January 29/30. 

The winning teams from the hackathon will be announced on February 7, 2022 and will receive a number of prizes/mentorship opportunities from innovation strategists, operations engineers and global wildlife crime leaders. 

​The #DATA4WILDLIFE challenge is powered by Bright Tide and funded by the National Science Foundation-funded planning grant (Division of Information & Intelligent Systems Award IIS-2039951) which is a new collaboration between University of Maryland, Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Focused Conservation Solutions. To learn more about the research collaboration can be found at Disrupting Illicit Supply Networks.