Electronic eyes in the wild
New tracking technologies developed by Rolex Laureates are proving a powerful weapon in the race to save endangered species.
Introduction by Lucas Joppa
New tracking technologies developed by Rolex Laureates are proving a powerful weapon in the race to save endangered species. Tracking animals was once one of mankind’s most fundamental skills. Learning where animals ate, slept, and moved between the days and seasons was information critical in the fight for survival.
Industrial and technological advances have reduced the importance of such information for most people. Outside certain communities in Africa and Asia, the hunter-gatherer lifestyle has been abandoned — and with it the tracking skills so prized.
Yet understanding where animals go, and what they do along the way, is now as important as ever. Tracking provides clues to how the natural world will respond to changing climates.
Technology may have obviated the need for people to retain their tracking skills, but it provides modern solutions to understanding the lives of animals at scales previously unimagined. With it, far-sighted, pioneering individuals are developing highly sophisticated tracking hardware and software. The ingenuity of these individuals, many of them Laureates of the Rolex Awards, is critical. Their dedication peels back our veil of ignorance about the variety of life on earth. I’m looking forward to their next discovery.
Lucas Joppa is a conservation scientist and head of Technology for Nature at Microsoft Research.
New tracking technologies developed by Rolex Laureates are proving a powerful weapon in the race to save endangered species. Tracking animals was once one of mankind’s most fundamental skills. Learning where animals ate, slept, and moved between the days and seasons was information critical in the fight for survival.
Industrial and technological advances have reduced the importance of such information for most people. Outside certain communities in Africa and Asia, the hunter-gatherer lifestyle has been abandoned — and with it the tracking skills so prized.
Yet understanding where animals go, and what they do along the way, is now as important as ever. Tracking provides clues to how the natural world will respond to changing climates.
Technology may have obviated the need for people to retain their tracking skills, but it provides modern solutions to understanding the lives of animals at scales previously unimagined. With it, far-sighted, pioneering individuals are developing highly sophisticated tracking hardware and software. The ingenuity of these individuals, many of them Laureates of the Rolex Awards, is critical. Their dedication peels back our veil of ignorance about the variety of life on earth. I’m looking forward to their next discovery.
Lucas Joppa is a conservation scientist and head of Technology for Nature at Microsoft Research.
Laureates’ Galapagos collaboration
Rory Wilson, 2006 Laureate
Brad Norman, 2006 Laureate
When two Rolex Laureates combine their skills, they double the chances of unravelling the mysterious life of the world’s biggest fish, the whale shark.
Calming the roar in the ocean
Michel André, 2002 Laureate
Man-made noise is roaring through the oceans. Rolex Laureate Michel André is measuring the devastating effects of noise pollution on marine fauna and informing governments and industry how to reduce the damage.
Mystery of snow leopard's return to Everest
Rodney Jackson, 1981 Laureate
The elusive snow leopard has returned to its ancient habitat around Mt Everest. Conservation and Rolex Laureate Rodney Jackson looks at the survival prospects of this charismatic species.
