Meetings Other Relevant Events
Harnessing Artificial Intelligence to Monitor Coral Reefs
Coral reefs exist in more than 100 countries and territories underpinning Earth’s vast and interconnected web of marine biodiversity. They provide ecosystem services valued up to USD $9.9 trillion and support the livelihoods, well-being, and cultures of close to one billion people worldwide (~13% of the global population). They are vital to the security, resilience, and climate adaptation of many of the world’s most vulnerable island and coastal nations, yet the survival of coral reefs is threatened by increasing local human-pressures, compounded by the escalating climate crisis. The need for urgent action is clear.
Advances in science and technology are opening new pathways to protect, manage, and restore coral reefs – offering hope for their recovery and the communities that depend on them. Cutting-edge technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) are emerging as powerful tools #ForCoral. AI can process vast amounts of data – from satellite imagery to underwater sensors – to predict reef health trends, optimise restoration site selection, and improve marine spatial planning.
This 90 minute webinar on AI aims to showcase innovative AI applications in coral reef monitoring, bridging technology and marine science for actionable insights.
Objectives:
- Introduce participants to the fundamentals of AI and its application in monitoring coral reef ecosystems.
- Showcase real-world examples of AI-driven monitoring tools that support reef health assessments and data collection.
- Highlight how AI enhances the scale, speed, and accuracy of reef monitoring compared to traditional methods.
- Discuss opportunities, limitations, and challenges of using AI in marine monitoring, especially in diverse and remote environments.
English
Should you have any questions or need more information, do not hesitate to contact the ICRI Secretariat
Thursday 2nd October 2025
Agenda
Welcome to the webinar, overview of ICRI, agenda and housekeeping
Margaux Monfared, ICRI Secretariat
Introduction from the co-host
Tim Dodwell, DigiLab
Presentation 1
Emma Kennedy, ReefCloud
Presentation 2
Ben Williams, Zoological Society of London
Presentation 3
Emily Darling, MERMAID
Decoding Corals: Digital Twins of the World’s Reefs
Sergei Nozdrenkov, Wildflow
Question and Answer
Moderator: Margaux Monfared, ICRI Secretariat
Closing
Margaux Monfared
International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) Secretariat
Margaux Monfared works on Global Engagement and Ocean Policy for Blue Pangolin Consulting and serves as the International Policy and Advocacy Director for the International Coral Reef Initiative. An experienced marine biologist and policy specialist, her career spans hands-on coral reef restoration to global advocacy for reef protection. She holds an MSc in Applied Aquatic Biology and has led research and education programmes in the Maldives, Cambodia, and Honduras before transitioning to international policy roles. With several years of field experience, Margaux has focused on enhancing coral reef resilience to climate change through collaborative research, community outreach, and cross-disciplinary teamwork – yielding valuable insights into effective, science-based conservation practices. She is also a member of Leading Women for the Ocean, a global network that empowers women’s voices in ocean conservation, and the CBD Women’s Caucus. Through these and other platforms, she actively contributes to advancing more inclusive and effective ocean governance.
Emma Kennedy
Australian Institute of Marine Science
Dr Emma Kennedy is a coral reef ecologist with expertise in benthic monitoring and the use of real-world field data to understand spatial and temporal patterns in coral reef communities. With over a decade of research experience, she has led or contributed to more than 50 field campaigns across diverse reef systems, combining tools from ecology, genetics, geoscience, and machine learning to advance reef monitoring from fine-scale surveys to global assessments. Emma is currently the science lead for ReefCloud at the Australian Institute of Marine Science, where she works within a team to transform how reef data is collected, analysed, and shared for conservation impact.
Sergei Nozdrenkov
Wildflow
Sergei Nozdrenkov is running the early-stage startup wildflow.ai, focused on building foundation models for biodiversity to protect and restore coral reef ecosystems. Previously, he spent 6 years at Google. He was the founding engineer of the biodiversity AI moonshot at Google X, tackling the biodiversity crisis of insects – focusing on pollinators (helping the bees) and pest management (reducing pesticide use). Before that, he worked on monetization in Ads and was stitching satellite data in Google Maps. He dreams of freediving with humpback whales in Tonga one day.
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