1st MC meeting and workshops of the Insect AI COST Action

The Cyprus Institute in collaboration with the Enalia Physis Environmental Research Centre and the Joint Services Health Unit are delighted to host the first Management and Working Group meeting in Cyprus, at the Akrotiri Environmental Education Centre from the 26-28 of June 2024. On the morning of Wednesday, the 26th of June, entomologists, ecologists and computer scientists from Cyprus are invited to visit the Akrotiri Environmental Education Centre to meet with InsectAI COST experts, learn about the project, and see first-hand the set of tools and technologies in place.

The workshop will address fundamental questions including ‘How do we analyse the data collected by these systems?’, ‘What are the pressing environmental questions that these technologies can help answer?’ and ‘How do we make sure that the data these technologies generate are easy to share and reuse? This will set the foundation for the next four years of work to realise the potential of these new tools for researchers and insect conservation.

“I am sure that the meeting will trigger a lot of interest and create opportunities for networking and many international collaborations for Cypriot researchers in the field of Insect AI,” says the local organiser and host Dr Kelly Martinou from The Cyprus Institute, Enalia Physis and JSHU

The InsectAI COST Action aims to investigate how image-based and AI-assisted tools can be developed and applied for insect monitoring and conservation. Over 200 members, including engineers, computer scientists, ecologists, taxonomists, museum curators, statisticians and citizen scientists, from 40 countries, will work together to understand and combat widespread insect declines.