Saving our planet’s biodiversity with AI, the academic job market – Sara Beery, PhD Caltech

Bio:

Sara Beery has always been passionate about the natural world, and she saw a need for technology-based approaches to conservation and sustainability challenges. This led her to pursue a PhD at Caltech, where her research focuses on computer vision for global-scale biodiversity monitoring. She works closely with Microsoft AI for Earth and Google Research to translate her work into usable tools. Sara’s prior experience as a professional ballerina and a nontraditional student has taught her the value of unique and diverse perspectives in the research community. She’s passionate about increasing diversity and inclusion in STEM through mentorship and outreach. 

Abstract:

Biodiversity is declining globally at unprecedented rates. Sara will show us how AI can help in solving this problem.

Topics:

00:00 Talk

24:15 Risk of deploying those AI models in the real world

27:15 Distribution generalization problem and causal techniques

30:08 Day in the life of Sara and traveling around the world

31:19 Detection and anti-poaching

33:43 Extraction of interaction data from camera trap on multi-objects

35:17 Previous experience before starting the Ph.D. as a professional ballet and research during the bachelor

37:42 Tips for doing research in AI for Conservation 

38:20 Environmental DNA is a possibility to monitor biodiversity?

41:17 Advice for people entering the academic job market

46:55 Increasing diversity and inclusion in STEM through mentorship, teaching, and outreach

Riccardo De Santi, Antonio Terpin, Giulia Guidi, Gabriele Corso, Erick Turricelli