Event: AI-powered Bioacoustics with BirdNET

How can computers learn to recognise birds from sounds? The Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the Chemnitz University of Technology are trying to find an answer to this question.

Their research has led to the development and evolution of BirdNET - an artificial neural network that has learned to detect and classify avian sounds through machine learning.

This webinar provides an introduction to BirdNET, how it works and and how the use of BirdNET can be scaled to generate huge biodiversity datasets.

This ecoTECH webinar will feature 2 presentations followed by speaker Q&As.

The presentations will be recorded and shared with those who booked alongside Q&A transcripts and lists of useful links via a website article following the event.

BirdNET: Advancing Conservation with AI-Powered Sound ID

Dr Stefan Kahl (Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Chemnitz University)

Learn about how BirdNET was built with Dr Stefan Kahl. He'll cover some basics about AI for sound ID, present a few case studies that have used BirdNET at scale and then conclude with some thoughts on the future of AI in bioacoustics.

Dr Stefan Kahl is a computer science post-doc at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Chemnitz University in Germany, working on AI algorithms for animal sound ID. He is lead of the BirdNET team, where they develop state-of-the-art tools for anyone interested in large-scale acoustic monitoring.

A Scalable Platform for Ecological Monitoring

Lorenzo Trojan (Wilder Sensing)

How can we measure the impact of wildlife restoration, assess biodiversity loss, and evaluate the effectiveness of environmental policies? Passive bioacoustic monitoring offers a powerful solution, enabling continuous, large-scale coverage of ecosystems. To fully harness its potential, we need a scalable, robust software platform capable of handling vast audio datasets, detecting key biological sounds using AI, and extracting ecological insights such as species richness and assemblage trends.

This presentation explores the challenges of biodiversity monitoring with passive audio recorders, the processing and analysis of large-scale acoustic data, and the technologies that make this approach viable and impactful. We’ll also showcase how the Wilder Sensing Platform is purpose-built to meet these demands—providing researchers, conservationists, and policymakers with an intuitive, scalable, and efficient tool for biodiversity monitoring and ecological surveys.

Dr Lorenzo Trojan is a technologist with a PhD in Astrophysics and over a decade of leadership experience in high-growth tech startups. His expertise spans remote sensing, cloud computing, DevOps, and AI. As CTO of Wilder Sensing, he leads the development of a scalable platform for ecological monitoring, driven by a commitment to innovation, inclusivity, and impact.