Earth Species Project

What is the Earth Species Project?

The Earth Species Project is a non-profit organization working to decode non-human communication using artificial intelligence. Its core goal is to understand the languages of other species and, in doing so, change how humans relate to the natural world. The team applies AI to interpret animal communications in ways that directly support conservation efforts.

The project draws inspiration from ethologists and researchers, with a focus on bioacoustics and animal communication. It operates with a long-term, public-resource vision comparable to organizations like the Internet Archive or Mozilla. The team combines expertise from mathematics, neuroscience, deep learning, and natural language processing, giving the work a broad, multidisciplinary foundation.

Who created the Earth Species Project?

The Earth Species Project was founded by Britt Selvitelle, Aza Raskin, and Katie Zacarian. Britt was part of the founding team at Twitter, Aza helped launch Mozilla Labs, and Katie was an early member at Facebook, where she worked on technology addressing conservation challenges. The founders established the project in 2018 to pursue bioacoustics research and the study of animal communication.

How can you engage with the Earth Species Project?

• Visit the website at earthspecies.org for an overview of the organization’s work.
• Explore their research in the “Projects” section, which includes ongoing work such as the “Crow Vocal Repertoire” project led by their senior AI research scientists.
• Read project details to learn about each project’s goals, methods, and findings — for example, the vocal patterns of different crow species and their conservation status.
• Learn about the mission, which centers on bioacoustics research, animal communication, and conservation challenges.
• Meet the team of researchers, scientists, and conservationists behind the project.
• Stay informed via the website, where the project shares new publications, collaborations, and funding opportunities — all potential ways to contribute to the research.