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How AI is transforming conservation science

Part 1 of the TED Radio Hour episode Decoding nature's hidden patterns.

A new AI tool called Inquire is trained on millions of wildlife photos from citizen scientists worldwide. Researcher Sara Beery hopes it will supercharge ecosystem conservation.

About Sara Beery

Sara Beery is an assistant professor at MIT EECS' Faculty of AI and Decision Making and CSAIL. She previously worked as a visiting researcher for Google's Auto Arborist. Her area of focus is building computer vision methods that enable global-scale environmental and biodiversity monitoring across data modalities. From bird diets to salmon migration, these datasets are tackling real-world challenges. Beery received a Ph.D. in Computing and Mathematical Sciences at Caltech. She's been awarded the AI2050 Early Career Fellowship, an NSF CAREER Grant and a PIMCO Data Science Fellowship an Amazon AI4Science Fellowship.

This segment of the TED Radio Hour was produced by James Delahoussaye and edited by Sanaz Meshkinpour. You can follow us on Facebook @TEDRadioHour and email us at TEDRadioHour@npr.org.

Web Resources

Related TED Topic: Biodiversity

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Copyright 2025 NPR

Manoush Zomorodi
Manoush Zomorodi is the host of TED Radio Hour. She is a journalist, podcaster and media entrepreneur, and her work reflects her passion for investigating how technology and business are transforming humanity.
James Delahoussaye
[Copyright 2024 NPR]
Sanaz Meshkinpour
[Copyright 2024 NPR]
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