Pushing the boundaries of UAV tech to protect marine life

The PhD student co-affiliated with the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) plans to develop technology that can help combat illegal fishing, lead to better understanding of megafauna movement and detect ghost nets – the ocean’s ‘silent killers’.

“Sometimes when I’m out at sea and I see the devastation caused by humans, I have to stop myself from just sitting down and crying,” she said. “But it’s what drives me to do what I do and to develop technology that can lead to real changes in conservation.”

Within the first five minutes of meeting Melissa Schiele at a small cafe on the Loughborough University campus, two things became perfectly apparent.

How drones and AI are protecting endangered wildlife

One, she has a fierce passion for protecting marine life and two, she’s not joined the University’s School of Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering to mess around.

She wants results.

More specifically, she wants to develop a waterproof, water-landing drone (or an ‘unoccupied aerial vehicle’ (UAV)) that can read registration plates on small illegal fishing vessels and spot discarded fishing nets in the ocean whilst flying at altitudes of around 80m, which is not far off the height of the Statue of Liberty.