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SAS is partnering with the UNC Center for Galapagos Studies to apply crowd-driven artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to help protect endangered sea turtles.
Through an app called ConserVision, citizen scientists are invited to match images of turtles’ facial markings to help train a SAS computer vision model. Once the model can accurately identify turtles individually, researchers will have valuable information more quickly to better track each turtle’s health and migratory patterns over periods of time. The goal is that in the future the model can perform facial recognition on any sea turtle image, whether it comes from a conservation group or a vacationing tourist.
In addition to sea turtle facial recognition, SAS will partner with the center on two other projects: identifying hammerhead shark patterns and predicting phytoplankton populations change over time.
“For over 10 years, the Galapagos Science Center has hosted exceptional scientists doing innovative research that increases our understanding of the environment and results in positive real-world outcomes,” explained UNC-Chapel Hill Interim Vice Chancellor for Research Penny Gordon-Larsen. “This innovative public-private partnership with SAS will enhance the center’s capacity for analyzing data that will positively impact both the environment and the people who inhabit these magnificent islands.”
“As our challenges as a global community get increasingly more complex, we need dynamic ways to access and use information to ramp up conservation efforts,” said Sarah Hiser, principal technical architect at SAS. “By using technology like analytics, AI and machine learning to quantify the natural world, we gain knowledge to help protect ecosystems and tackle climate change.”
A generous gift from the Girman Family Foundation will support research in substance use disorder treatment, under the direction of Stacey Daughters in the UNC department of psychology and neuroscience in the College of Arts and Sciences and Flavio Frohlich in the UNC department of psychiatry in the UNC School of Medicine.
The funding will advance the development of combined brain stimulation and cognitive behavioral treatments for opiate use disorder. The Girmans lost their son, Alexander (Alec) V. Girman, in October 2021 due to substance use, and they recognize that escalating use and misuse of opioids is a crisis in this country. They are hoping that the research will expedite the dissemination of brain stimulation technology to individuals suffering from substance use disorder who need it the most.
“We are grateful to the Girman family for this meaningful gift to support innovative research approaches to this vitally important area,” said Regina Carelli, chair of the department of psychology and neuroscience and the Stephen B. Baxter Distinguished Professor. “Dr. Stacey Daughters is an internationally known researcher conducting critically important research in substance use treatment and this is an exciting collaboration with Dr. Flavio Frohlich.”
Cindy Girman ’81, DrPH. ’94, is founder and president of CERobs Consulting, which provides services to the drug and device industry on study design and outcomes that make product development and review of observational evidence more efficient. CERobs mentors about eight to 10 graduate research assistants and post-doctoral fellows at any given time, and collaborates with about 20 experts in epidemiology, biostatistics, outcomes research, real world evidence and patient-centered outcomes. Tom Girman is general manager of the firm, handling contracting, invoicing and business development."
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