The University of Plymouth and Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML) have been awarded funding through the Bezos Earth Fund's AI for Climate and Nature Grand Challenge.
The $2million two-year initiative will use AI to greatly accelerate mapping of vulnerable marine ecosystems (VME) such as cold-water coral reefs and sponge fields in the deep Atlantic.
It will apply AI models to analyse thousands of images to generate the largest ever, high-quality dataset describing the spatial distribution of VME indicator species.
Combined with in-situ environmental data, this will enable the research team to understand the conditions each species requires and develop models that can predict where they occur based on environmental conditions.
This data will also generate the evidence needed to support legal protections for these ecosystems and create AI tools to enable upscaling, ultimately to the entire global ocean.
The project is being led by
[STAFFMEMBER]
"> Professor Kerry Howell, Professor of Deep-Sea Ecology at the University of Plymouth and PML, and a project team that includes former PhD researcher and BSc (Hons) [COURSE]
Marine Biology - BSc (Hons) - C161 - (P)
"> Marine Biology graduate Dr Giulia La Bianca.
It aligns with the Grand Challenge's ambition to "scale artificial intelligence solutions that address the world's most pressing environmental challenges - from biodiversity loss and food insecurity to climate change".
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