TYPE OF SUPPORT
Research Background
Researchers and land managers across Australia are increasingly using camera traps to monitor native and invasive species.
However, they face significant challenges managing large volumes of unstructured image data stored across disconnected systems. Metadata is often inconsistent or missing, making it difficult to process, analyse or share data effectively.
These limitations reduce the value of camera trap data for long-term ecological monitoring, conservation decision-making, and national environmental reporting. There was a clear need for digital infrastructure to streamline data handling and support the growing demand for efficient, scalable wildlife image processing.
The Wildlife Observatory of Australia (WildObs) is a national initiative responding to this need by supporting the collection, processing and analysis of camera trap data to inform biodiversity monitoring and conservation.
WildObs received co-investment from ARDC (doi.org/10.3565/bvg2-b035) and TERN, which are both enabled by the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS).
QCIF Role
QCIF’s Sustainable Futures team is leading the development of a scalable, cloud-native platform that automates image ingestion, metadata harmonisation, and species detection using machine learning. The team is embedding expertise to develop robust pipelines and workflows, ensuring the platform meets the needs of researchers and aligns with national data standards.
The project is also working closely with NCRIS capabilities, including the Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC), the Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN) and the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA), to improve data integration and enable open, collaborative science.
WildObs is a co-investment partnership with the Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC) through the Planet Research Data Commons (DOI: doi.org/10.3565/bvg2-b035) and TERN, both enabled by the Australian Government’s National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS).
Research Outcome & Impact
WildObs is currently in development and will deliver Australia’s first national database for wildlife camera trap data—breaking down data silos and enabling the largest mobilisation of camera trap imagery in the country to date.
The platform is being designed with researchers in mind, offering reproducible, repeatable and transparent workflows for image processing and analysis. By leveraging cloud computing, WildObs removes technical barriers often faced in large-scale ecological research, allowing users to process and analyse data without needing local infrastructure or advanced coding skills.
WildObs will also include custom-built computer vision models tailored to Australian landscapes and species, significantly improving detection accuracy for both native and invasive fauna.
Once launched, WildObs will support national-scale biodiversity monitoring, enhance data discoverability and reuse, and empower researchers to generate high-quality, policy-relevant ecological insights.
Camera traps generate vast amounts of high-quality data, but their full potential remains untapped without standardised national research infrastructure. That’s what makes WildObs such a critical initiative.
Dr Zach Amir, Principal Data Scientist, Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN)
%20Singh_edited.png)
Collaborating Organisations
ARDC | TERN | UQ | ALA | Bush Heritage | QLD Museum
