image: Jeff Lemm, conservation program specialist at SDZWA, radio-tracked a red diamond rattlesnake in a project with SDSU biology professor Rulon Clark. (Photo: SDZWA)
Credit: San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance
Using artificial intelligence to detect images of African leopards and rattlesnakes and freezing samples of endangered marine organisms far below zero degrees Fahrenheit are just some of the ways that new technologies can help protect biodiversity and threatened ecosystems. San Diego State University and San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance (SDZWA) announced a partnership to increase the impact of such innovations developed through SDZWA’s research, conservation, and wildlife care initiatives.
Innovation leaders from SDSU will help SDZWA build capacity to identify high potential innovations and advance them to the market where they can benefit society and wildlife populations consistent with SDZWA’s mission.
“This new partnership between SDZWA and SDSU has the potential to transform the impact of SDZWA’s innovative work while further enhancing the growing innovation output of the powerhouse San Diego region,” said Tommy Martindale, director of technology transfer in SDSU’s Division of Research and Innovation. “San Diego is home to the best Zoo in the world and this Zoo in particular approaches conservation through an impressive internal scientific enterprise, which generates significant innovation.”
SDSU recently expanded its own capacity to translate innovation into real world solutions and added specialized expertise on SDSU’s licensing team to include conservation biology, making this a uniquely well suited partnership.
“San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance is excited to partner with SDSU and take a proactive approach with our research, science, and technology innovations, ensuring our valuable work delivers meaningful impact,” said Scott Hollestelle, vice president and head of business development at SDZWA. “SDSU’s experience in technology transfer, paired with SDZWA’s biotech and conservation expertise provides an opportunity to extend innovation from the lab into the world.”
This is the latest in a series of fruitful collaborations between SDSU and SDZWA and aligns with recent SDSU efforts to prioritize economic impact as part of its R1-designated research enterprise.
SDZWA has sponsored design capstone projects in SDSU’s College of Engineering for the past three years. Senior engineering students have designed tamper-proof anklets and collars for elephants and solar-powered cameras for monitoring rhinos.
Faculty and graduate students from SDSU have previously worked hand-in-hand with San Diego Zoo and San Diego Zoo Safari Park staff to identify contaminants threatening condors, analyze specimens in the Wildlife Biodiversity Bank’s Frozen Zoo and track rattlesnake movements.
SDZWA is also a founding partner of Snapdragon Stadium at SDSU Mission Valley with their named club space located on the west side of the stadium.
“San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance is such an important institution for San Diego, and for conservation globally,” said Hala Madanat, vice president for research and innovation at San Diego State University. “We are grateful that SDSU has benefitted from a close working relationship with them for so many years and we are excited for how we can better advance promising technologies for biodiversity and conservation in the region and beyond.”
Under Madanat’s leadership, SDSU’s Division of Research and Innovation has prioritized research commercialization that benefits San Diego as a whole. For example, SDSU launched the Pilot Innovation Fund in 2021, investing over $500,000 into developing SDSU technologies to meet market needs. SDSU also recently announced a partnership with local venture studio Launch Factory, which will support new ventures built on SDSU research. SDSU’s growing resources can be leveraged to support the innovation at SDZWA for the region’s benefit.
“Enhancing the SDSU-SDZWA relationship to support innovation has a strong prospect of generating collaboration opportunities for student and faculty researchers as well as the world-renowned conservation, wildlife care, and species protection efforts that SDZWA leads,” Martindale said.