Conservation Technology & Applied AI Often in conservation, technologies are made available as build instructions, research papers or as software provided as code needing many steps before it can be used. I co-founded Social Environment with Rory Matheson and Clémentine Fuchs to make cutting-edge technologies available to conservation projects around...
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Dr Joshua C Taylor
Applied Scientist & Systems Engineer
I provide independent technical consulting to startups, researchers, and global organisations.
I supply custom sensor systems, run workshops to independently validate AI with local experts, and analyse large datasets to provide quantifiable insights.
Field Sensors and Lab Equipment
Need to capture precision metrics in harsh environments?
I engineer specialised sensing hardware which works even in the toughest conditions:
- Rainforests sound (grit, humidity, temperature swings)
- Underwater motion
- Ultrasound
- Air quality
- And many more
To calibrate the sensors, I can design and build reference systems. I’ve used motion platforms to position microphones, force sensors, checking that olympic sailors perform on-water and in labs when training.
AI Analysis & Independent Audits
Inaccurate AI has a real impact in production. An independent audit reveals your true model accuracy. Knowing what you have lets you use your model appropriately and decide where to allocate budget to improve your pipelines.
My audits provide a rigorous statistical study to determine the real-world uncertainty and confidence intervals backed by gold standard ground truth from panels of experts explicitly curated for your project.
For example: If your system is using bioacoustics to count rare or indicator species, this audit tells you how many detections are statistically correct and estimates data you are likely missing.
Technical Storytelling
Once you have your results, how do you communicate them to stakeholders?
I can transform the figures and text into videos with clean motion graphics and voiceovers in any language.
I have experience in :
- Scientific documentaries
- Short videos
- Technical content creation
- Technology explainers
Turtle Tracking
I was approached to design GPS sensors to monitor terrapin turtles. My clients project was to assist marine biologists in tracking very small Terapin Turtles when they come to nest. Due to the size of terrapin turtles (on average only 13 cm long) the trackers needed to be very small indeed....
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Safely Levitating Couscous at the University of Bristol
This was an ambitious multi-disciplinary project. Professor Mike Fraser’s acoustic printing group first employed me as a post-doctoral research associate to look into commercialisation routes for an acoustic printing device. The group had been developing tools based on ultrasound for bioprinting and particle sorting applications. To support its development, I...
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Building Instruments
How could you improve how a city sounds?
Read MoreAbout me
I am an applied scientist and systems engineer specialising in data validation, custom field instrumentation, and technical communication. My background spans several engineering disciplines, starting with Marine Technology at Newcastle University and leading to a PhD from the University of Southampton.
For six years, I worked with the British Olympic Sailing Team, where I developed their first pose-capture tools and built pneumatic motion platforms they still use today to train their atheletes.
Getting sensor systems work in saltwater environments turned out to be useful marine and rainforest conservation. Today, most of my work sits at the intersection of wildlife conservation, acoustics, and sustainable practise.
I am a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA) and genuinely enjoy multidisciplinary projects that connect environmental science with culture and art.
If you have an idea which needs developing but not sure where to start, please get in touch to collaborate.
Dr Joshua C Taylor FRSA BEng