NZCBI leads the Smithsonian’s global efforts to save species, better understand ecosystems and train future generations of conservationists, with researchers working at field sites in more than 40 countries.
WILDLABS and NZCBI already share a long track record of collaboration. Together, they led the launch of Move BON, the Animal Movement Biodiversity Observation Network under GEO BON, which works to bring movement data into biodiversity policy and monitoring. Both groups also serve in an advisory capacity to the Convention on Biological Diversity’s Technical and Scientific Cooperation (TSC) Mechanism, helping connect countries and institutions with the expertise, technologies and capacity needed to achieve global biodiversity goals. Working with partners, they have also helped advance open data solutions for biodiversity monitoring, including developing tools like Wild Moves and Wild Album that make animal tracking and camera trap data accessible to biodiversity scientists and decision-makers.
“For more than a century, the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute has worked to turn scientific knowledge into conservation action,” said Peter Leimgruber, director of conservation and science at NZCBI. “WILDLABS brings together a global community of practitioners, technologists and researchers who share that same commitment. By joining the partnership, we see an opportunity to accelerate the exchange of knowledge, strengthen conservation capacity around the world and help equip the next generation of conservation scientists with the tools, skills and networks needed to address biodiversity loss in a rapidly changing world.”
