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Getting 'plugged in'? Any open source tech projects for conservation??

bpitt

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Joined
Oct 1, 2018
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126
Location
Hattiesburg, MS
I work in the I.T. realm. With that being said, it's constantly changing, and I'm being forced to constantly learn new stuff (that's a good thing). Lately, I've been having to learn some web development and some scripting (Python). My question is, does anyone know of any 'open source' conservation projects going on that utilize 'volunteer' I.T. people? Whether software development, database work, etc? If I'm going to learn this for work, I may as well utilize it for my passions (outdoors, hunting, fishing, etc.) on the side. I don't mind helping out, just need someone to point me in the right direction. I know some conservation groups and some state agencies do things like, monitor bird sounds or frog calls, and need database's setup or cleaned up for the recordings, or image recognition for trail camera's etc. It can be GIS, database, image recognition, website, etc, I don't mind, I'll learn it.
 
Though I am not an expert in this subject, I have some experience.

I have volunteered my moderate GIS skills toward numerous nonprofits, conservation orgs, community groups. In fact I have more requests for volunteer work than I have time to engage in them.It's tough to say no to stuff you care about.

I didn't really seek any of these opportunities out, they come to me.

Some random thoughts:

-Join local conservation groups. There's likely some "Friends of", or "Working Group" or "Watershed Group", or chapter of some national organization in your neck of the woods. Join and interact with them. Your IT-minded brain may identify potential projects.

-Reach out to the groups you care about and just ask them if there is anything you can do. It is amazing how stuck in the past and desperate so many groups are for modernization.

-This one is the most important IMO. If you think to yourself, "There oughta be database for X" or "A way to search for y". Make em! Chuck the results up on here, share the results on social media groups, and then move on to the next thing. The majority of the work that I have done that ended up being utilized by others was the result of questions I asked myself, that I answered myself.

I have more ideas than time. Start chucking things to the wall. Some will stick, most won't, but you will get better at answering the questions you ask yourself, which is one of life's great pleasures.
 
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