Project Noah

Project Noah
Name	Project Noah
Founded	2010
Founders	Evan Ratliff; Yasser Ansari
Type	Nonprofit / Citizen science platform
Location	New York City, United States
Focus	Biodiversity monitoring, species identification, mobile applications

Project Noah

Project Noah was a mobile application and online platform for documenting wildlife, coordinating field observations, and enabling citizen scientists to contribute to biodiversity research. The initiative connected amateur naturalists, professional biologists, conservation organizations, and academic institutions through a photo-based reporting system that supported species identification, georeferenced records, and community-curated datasets. Its tools intersected with efforts in conservation biology, biogeography, ecology, and museum curation.

Overview

Project Noah operated as a nexus linking users to networks including the Smithsonian Institution, National Geographic Society, World Wildlife Fund, Nature Conservancy, and regional natural history museums. The platform facilitated contributions from users participating in initiatives like the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, iNaturalist, eBird, Biodiversity Heritage Library, and regional atlases associated with universities such as University of California, Berkeley, Harvard University, and University of Oxford. The service supported mobile operating systems including iOS and Android, and integrated with mapping services like Google Maps and data standards promoted by the Atlas of Living Australia and the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

History and Development

Project Noah launched in 2010, following trends in crowdsourced science exemplified by projects such as Galaxy Zoo, Foldit, and SETI@home. Founders had previously worked on initiatives connected to the startup ecosystem surrounding New York University and ventures in digital media linked to organizations like Wired Magazine and The New York Times. Early collaborations involved researchers from institutions including the American Museum of Natural History, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. The project evolved alongside policy discussions at forums including the Convention on Biological Diversity and events like the TED Conference, and its timeline intersected with funding milestones from entities related to the MacArthur Foundation and tech accelerators such as Y Combinator.

Technology and Architecture

Technically, Project Noah combined mobile client applications with a backend built using web technologies and geospatial services from providers like OpenStreetMap and Mapbox. Image recognition workflows drew upon algorithms and frameworks comparable to those used in TensorFlow and machine learning research from academic groups at Stanford University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The platform stored occurrence records in data schemas compatible with standards advocated by the Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG) and exported datasets ingestible by repositories such as the Global Biodiversity Information Facility and national collections like the United States Geological Survey and the Natural History Museum, London. Integration points included APIs similar to those provided by Flickr, Facebook, and Twitter for social sharing, and authentication patterns paralleling OAuth implementations.

Community and Citizen Science Contributions

Project Noah fostered communities of contributors that resembled networks formed around projects at the Royal Society and volunteer monitoring programs coordinated by the National Audubon Society. Contributors ranged from hobbyists connected to clubs like the American Birding Association to students in coursework at institutions including University of California, Los Angeles and University of Toronto. The platform supported field campaigns comparable to organized efforts by World Wide Fund for Nature and regional bio-blitz events modeled on initiatives by the Bioblitz program. Data collected were used by researchers publishing in journals such as Science, Nature Communications, and PLOS ONE, and by conservation assessments aligned with the IUCN Red List process.

Funding and Partnerships

Funding sources and partnerships involved philanthropic organizations and corporate supporters analogous to grants awarded by the National Science Foundation, sponsorship from technology firms like Google, and collaborations with nonprofit partners such as the Rainforest Trust and Conservation International. The project engaged with educational partners including the Smithsonian Institution's education programs and K–12 outreach aligned with standards from the National Science Teachers Association. Strategic partnerships connected Project Noah to biodiversity informatics efforts at institutions like Natural Resources Canada and platforms operated by the European Environment Agency.

Impact and Reception

The platform received attention from outlets including Wired Magazine, The New York Times, BBC News, Fast Company, and Nature. Ecologists and conservationists cited data submitted through the service in studies on species distribution, phenology, and urban biodiversity, complementing traditional specimen-based collections at institutions such as the Field Museum and Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Civic technologists compared its outreach model to campaigns by the OpenStreetMap community and civic science initiatives supported by the Knight Foundation. Critiques focused on data quality and verification practices common to citizen science projects, prompting methodological work by researchers at University of Cambridge and Imperial College London on validation protocols.

Category:Citizen science Category:Biodiversity databases Category:Mobile applications