Supporting Wildlife with Technology

I have recently embarked on a journey through Africa working with the Pan-African Sanctuary Alliance to incorporate ODK, a data collection application, into the daily record keeping routines of our member wildlife rescue centers (22 in 13 different countries). The Jane Goodall Institute U.S.A. supplied 25 Google tablets to this project that I distributed to the wildlife center directors at the PASA Strategic Development Conference in Nairobi last month. I have been sent to the field to not only train the staff on how to use the technology, but also assess each center's data needs, and help set up a form base that works for them.


In addition to data collection, I furthered the work of Children of Conservation (CofC). Children of Conservation  provides scholarships to children of African wildlife center staff members who would otherwise not be able to afford sending their kids to school.  I met with the directors of wildlife rescue centers that are not currently part of the program to assess the unique educational needs in their areas, educated managers and staff about the scholarships that are available, and taught them how to use the ODK app for the application process (which makes it easier for them to apply and simplifies the processing for CofC).


I also had the opportunity to meet with workers and kids who are currently receiving CofC scholarships to assess how the program is working, celebrate their accomplishments and reinforce the role that conservation plays in the program.


My first trip to Colobus Conservation, Ngamba Island, Sweetwaters, Chimfunshi, Lilongwe and Chimp Eden made possible through financial and administrative support of donors like you, Children of Conservation and the Pan African Sanctuaries Alliance. Though I have been able to visit 6 wildlife rescue centers in 5 countries over the course of two months there are still 16 other PASA sanctuaries eager to be included in the data project and scholarship program. Upon my return home I will be applying for grants, and working to raise money to fund the rest of the project. I don’t expect to fund the whole project through this fundraiser, but any donations would certainly help to start planning for the future. Donations will go towards:

·         Visa fees
·         Travel expenses
·         Accommodations
·         Equipment
·         Children of Conservation transportation/activities


I love what I do. I am so incredibly fortunate to be able to use my education, skills and talents in a way that makes a meaningful difference for these wildlife rescue centers. It is a lot of work, but as I’ve seen the impact of what I’m doing, my passion only drives me to do more and work harder. With your help we can provide a crucial service to their future success.


For additional information on ODK and its impact, please visit https://opendatakit.org/ or continue reading below: 

Open Data Kit is a form based application in which one can create unique forms to make data collection more efficient. When the forms are completed they can be sent to a secure server from which the data can then be published into an individual Google drive in the format of a fusion table (much like an Excel spreadsheet).

Many of the centers have been working with hand filled out forms since their establishment. Often the data from hand filled out forms can be hard to decipher. Entering the data electronically for future analysis can also be extremely time consuming. The entry of this data into a secure electronic database takes man power that many of these centers can't spare, and the staff may find themselves in a predicament if hand filled out forms are damaged or misplaced. ODK can turn three tasks into one, and make data collection and analysis not only more efficient, but in some cases a real possibility for the first time.