AI-based tools designed by the Bennett Lab in partnership with the Nature Conservancy of Canada and Environment and Climate Change Canada have contributed significantly to biodiversity conservation.
Their ensuing collaboration — an approximately $2-million project funded by the NCC, Environment and Climate Change Canada and an NSERC Alliance grant — has spawned a new digital tool, Sites, that uses artificial intelligence software and prioritization algorithms to take some of the guesswork out of the complex conservation process.
“The challenges we face are so big and daunting, we need to be as efficient as possible when we try to protect natural spaces and biodiversity,” says Carleton environmental scientist Joe Bennett, the lab’s principal investigator.