UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — “How many different species of animals do you think there are?” Tanya Berger-Wolf, professor of computer science engineering; of electrical and computer engineering; and of evolution, ecology and organismal biology at Ohio State University asked the attendees of her talk on Friday, April 24, in the Forest Resources Building at University Park. Titled “AI for Nature: From Science to Action,” it was presented by the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences as part of the Distinguished Lectures in Life Sciences series.
There are probably around 8 million animal species on the planet, according to Berger-Wolf. Of those, fewer than two million have been scientifically described. But of those that have been, over a million can be reliably identified by BioCLIP, an artificial intelligence (AI) tool Berger-Wolf and her collaborators have trained on taxonomic data. It works not only to help identify species, but also allows researchers to gain insights by generalizing and clustering related species by similar or shared traits in a field she calls “imageomics.”
"Tanya Berger-Wolf has defined a new field of AI for nature, to help monitor, map and conserve biodiversity," said Christina Grozinger, Publius Vergilius Maro Professor of Entomology and director of the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences. Grozinger introduced Berger-Wolf’s talk to attendees, describing herself as a longtime admirer.
In addition to her academic appointment, Berger-Wolf serves as the director of the Translational Data Analytics Institute at Ohio State. A pioneer in artificial intelligence for ecology, biodiversity, and conservation, she leads the NSF-funded Imageomics Institute and the US-Canada co-funded AI and Biodiversity Change (ABC) Global Center.
Berger-Wolf serves as a scientific adviser and board member for many organizations, including the U.S. National Academies Board on Life Sciences, U.S. National Committee for the International Union of Biological Sciences, the Global Partnership on AI/OECD, National Ecological Observatory Network and The Nature Conservancy. She co-founded the AI for conservation non-profit Wild Me, which is now part of Conservation X Labs, which created Wildbook, recognized by UNESCO for advancing the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Her contributions have earned numerous honors, including recognition as the AI 100 Global Thought Leaders by H20.ai and the OSU College of Engineering Lumley Interdisciplinary Research Award. She is an elected fellow of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence.