Camera Trapping for Wildlife Research & Conservation

Discover how camera traps help researchers study wildlife, monitor species, and support conservation efforts. Explore the research process beyond camera setup, from designing camera-trap studies and organizing photographs into usable research data to identifying species and examining emerging AI technologies. Gain practical exposure to research workflows, explore career pathways, and identify the skills you can develop next.

Why This Workshop Is Worth Your Time

Understand the science behind camera trapping: Learn how researchers define project aims, plan surveys, choose camera locations, minimize sampling bias, and recognize the strengths and limitations of camera-trap studies.
Explore practical research tasks: Plan camera placement for a realistic landscape, organize a sample dataset, examine blurry or ambiguous images, and create a species-identification log using camera-trap photographs.
Discover emerging technologies: Explore AI-enabled cameras and image-classification tools, and examine where AI can help and where automated identification can fail.
Connect field data with conservation research: Understand how site information, metadata, and photographs are organized and how they connect to questions about species occurrence, activity patterns, and populations.
Plan your next steps in wildlife research: Explore skills associated with entry-level, intermediate, and advanced work, including pathways related to research assistance, fieldwork, and wildlife data analysis.

Who Can Attend?

This workshop is open to students, wildlife enthusiasts, biology and ecology learners, aspiring conservation researchers, and early-career professionals. Whether you are new to camera trapping or already have field experience and want to explore data handling and emerging technologies, this workshop offers an introduction to methods and skills used in wildlife research.

No prior camera-trapping experience required.

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Rutuja Digaskar

About the Teacher

Professional Associations

Field Associate, Kudrat Foundation
Outdoor Educator, collaborating with travel organisations
Alumna, Interdisciplinary Conservation Network (ICN) 2025, organised by the Interdisciplinary Centre for Conservation Science (ICCS), University of Oxford

Rutuja Digaskar is a Field Associate at Kudrat Foundation, where she leads field operations for a camera-trapping and surveillance project in Similipal Tiger Reserve and other protected areas across India. Her work also involves contributing to the design and development of conservation-focused technologies, linking field operations with technology development.

She holds a Master’s degree in Biodiversity, Wildlife Conservation and Management. Her previous research experience spans the Sikkim Himalayas and the Western Ghats, with a primary focus on mammalian ecology in heterogeneous landscapes. She also works as an Outdoor Educator with travel organisations, facilitating experiential learning in ecology, wildlife, and conservation.

Rutuja is an alumna of the Interdisciplinary Conservation Network (ICN) 2025, organised by the Interdisciplinary Centre for Conservation Science (ICCS), University of Oxford.

Her Key Achievements

Field Associate, Kudrat Foundation
Leads field operations for a camera-trapping and surveillance project in Similipal Tiger Reserve and other protected areas across India
Contributor to the design and development of conservation-focused technologies
Master’s degree in Biodiversity, Wildlife Conservation and Management
Research experience in mammalian ecology across the Sikkim Himalayas and the Western Ghats
Outdoor Educator facilitating experiential learning in ecology, wildlife, and conservation
Alumna, Interdisciplinary Conservation Network (ICN) 2025, University of Oxford

Linkedin - www.linkedin.com/in/rutuja-digaskar-88442b204

By the End of This Workshop, You’ll Have

Thought Like a Field Researcher: Practised evaluating trails, waterholes, and habitat features to choose camera locations and defend your decisions.
Turned Raw Photographs into Usable Data: Organised a sample dataset with consistent station IDs and timestamps, and explored how to handle noise data.
Practised Species Identification: Worked with real camera-trap images, including blurry and partial ones, and created your own species-identification log.
Understood How AI Fits into Camera Trapping: Seen AI-enabled cameras in a sample demonstration and examined where AI can help and where it can fail.
Mapped Your Next Steps: Explored how camera-trapping skills connect to wildlife research and conservation roles and identified learning opportunities suited to your current experience.

Additional Benefits

Direct Access to the Resource Person: Join a dedicated WhatsApp group with Ms. Rutuja, where you can ask questions and discuss your queries directly.
Lifetime Access to Recorded Sessions: Revisit the sessions and explanations whenever you need a refresher, at your own pace.
E-Certificate for Every Participant: Receive a digital certificate of participation to add to your resume, LinkedIn profile, or application portfolio.

COURSE SYLLABUS

Camera Trapping as a Research Tool & Study Design

1. Camera Trapping as a Research Tool

What is a camera trap? Basic overview of the technology & its development over the years
What is the purpose of camera traps, and what can they actually answer—species occurrence, activity patterns, population research, and human–wildlife conflict studies
Strengths, limitations, and common sources of bias in camera-trap studies

2. Designing a Camera-Trap Study

Designing project aims and objectives
Reading a landscape: trails, waterholes, habitat features, and target-species behavior
How researchers decide where to place cameras and why
Sampling methods in camera trapping (cluster-based, grid-based, random sampling)
Sampling effort and avoiding data bias
Exercise: Given a realistic landscape scenario, choose camera locations and defend your decisions

Field Data Collection, Photograph Management & Species Identification

3. Data collection pre, during, and post-deployment

Site selection
Environmental data
Site data

4. From Thousands of Photographs to Usable Data

Organizing raw camera-trap photographs the way field researchers do
Metadata: timestamps, station IDs, and consistent naming
Separating usable observations from noise—a recurring field problem
What do we do with noise data?
Exercise: Organize a curated sample dataset into a structured, analysis-ready format

5. Species Identification From Camera-Trap Images

Identifying species from real camera-trap photographs
Handling partial, blurred, or ambiguous images—an important research skill
How data is stored for further analysis purposes
Exercise: Build your own species-identification log from real images

Emerging Technology, AI & Career Pathways
6. Current technological advancements in camera traps
Basic to up-and-coming technology
Choosing the right technology based on project requirements
7. AI in Camera-Trap Research
Species classification vs. individual identification — two different computer-vision problems
Sample demonstration: TerraEdge cameras - by Kudrat Foundation
Multiple applications of AI-enabled cameras.
Recently developed models/technology
Where AI can help, where it can fail, and why dataset and geographic context matter
8. Your Next Steps in Wildlife Research
A practical skill map: entry-level → intermediate → advanced, based on skills used in wildlife research and monitoring
What to learn next if you're a beginner
What to develop next if you're already doing fieldwork and want to move toward data analysis
How camera-trapping experience connects with pathways such as research assistant, field technician, and wildlife data/analysis roles

Course Details

Dates: 15th, 16th & 17th January 2027 (3 Days)
Time: 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM (IST)
Platform: Zoom (Online)
Level: Beginner to Intermediate

Course Fees

Original Price : ₹999/-
First early Bird : ₹799/- (Till 30-Nov-2026)
Second early Bird : ₹849/- (Till 30-Dec-2026)
Group Discount : ₹749 /-Per Head (Minimum 3 individuals)
Organization Discount: ₹699/- Per Head (Minimum 5 individuals)
Ex interns TNE : ₹699/-
Ex Participant : ₹775/- (Till 30-Dec-2026)

If you fall in the discount category (Group discounts/Organizational Discounts/ Present/ Ex Interns), you can pay the discounted amount directly to the bank account below.

Bank details

Account type-current

Account name- Wildlifearc

AC no.: 3346750332

IFSC. :KKBK0002040

UPI ID: Wildlifearc@kotak

Steps for discount payments (Only Applicable for discount payments)

After the payment, please send a screenshot or the payment along with the full name, email addresses, WhatsApp numbers of the participants and course name (also, ID provided by institution in case of organizational discount) via WhatsApp to Ms. Shamna Fathima at +91 7356337157

GROUP DISCOUNTS
GROUP DISCOUNTS ARE TO BE PAID TOGETHER AS A GROUP TO OUR UPI ID (eg. for 3 members, kindly pay ₹749* 3 = ₹2247 together & not separately)

ORGANIZATION DISCOUNTS

ORGANIZATION DISCOUNTS ARE TO BE PAID TOGETHER AS A GROUP TO OUR UPI ID (eg. For 5 members, kindly pay ₹699* 5 = ₹3495 together & not separately)

For Queries contact us:

WhatsApp : +91 99324 69074 / 90672 27829

Email ID : thenatureseyeevents@gmail.com