The Use of Drones in Wildlife Ecology: Future Challenges
and Opportunities
Abstract
The presentation will provide an overview of the variety of applications and issues on the use of drones in wildlife research, conservation, and management. It summarizes important points raised within each presentation and then provides a brief discussion of several current and future challenges and opportunities with the use of drones in wildlife ecology. These challenges and opportunities can be broken down into essentially two groups: those related to the technical and hardware-related issues with the drone platform itself and those related to public perception of drones, drone regulations, data collection, and best practices to avoid and minimize impacts to the target wildlife species from drone operations. In addition, the communication among wildlife biologists and the sharing of information and lessons learned from the use of drones is paramount to the successful use of drones in wildlife ecology. Invaluable communication and sharing of success and lessons learned occurs through peer-reviewed scientific journals, professional societies, and conferences like DAUS 2025. Professional societies such as The Wildlife Society and the Drone Working Group foster communication between wildlife biologists in academic, government, and private sectors as well as drone vendors. This communication improves drone operations not only for better data collection and management, but also fosters changes and advances in drone design and sensor capabilities to facilitate efficient and less intrusive use of drones in wildlife ecology to avoid and minimize adverse impacts to wildlife. In addition, and most importantly, communication provides valuable dialogue to increase awareness of drones for conducting wildlife management and survey activities and to promote their safe and ethical use by users in universities, federal and state governments, and the private sector, including non-governmental organizations.
Short Biography
Mr. Spaulding is a Senior Wildlife Biologist/Project Manager with 30 years of experience in conducting wildlife surveys. He is an FAA Part 107 certified drone pilot and has employed drones to conduct wildlife and habitat surveys. Rick founded and is past Chair of The Wildlife Society (TWS) Drone Working Group. He has organized drone symposia at the annual TWS conferences in 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2024 and co-organized the 2023 Wildlife Conservation Drones & Technologies Summit. Rick is co-editor of A Manual for Drone Applications in Wildlife Research, Management, and Conservation to be published in late 2025.
