Graduating with a degree in Mass Communications in 2020, Caitlin McKeown realized this wasn’t her calling.
Growing up on the WA coast, Caitlin has always had a deep-rooted connection with the marine environment and has always been passionate about conserving the precious sea life that surrounded her every day.
In 2021, she decided to switch career paths and follow her passion, pursuing a degree in Environmental Science & Coastal Marine Science at Curtin, and the rest is history.
Now, Caitlin is the Co-Founder and Director of We Spot Turtles! which is an innovative mobile application that uses crowd-sourced data to help conserve endangered sea turtles and preserve our marine ecosystems.
Tell us about the evolution of We Spot Turtles!?
After finishing my Mass Communications degree at Curtin in 2020, I decided that although I enjoyed studying for the degree, this wasn’t the career path for me.
Growing up on the beautiful, pristine coast of WA, I’ve always had a connection and passion for protecting the marine environment. So, I decided to pursue a degree in Environmental Science and Coastal Marine Science at Curtin. As soon as I started the degree, I knew straight away that this was exactly what I wanted to do!
From there, I signed up to do some volunteer sea turtle monitoring with the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation, and Attractions which only reaffirmed that this is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.
However, the more research I conducted, the more I discovered the crucial need for data to better understand and conserve these beautiful creatures.
Motivated to make a difference, I came up with the idea of We Spot Turtles! which is an innovative app designed to educate the public on respectful and non-intrusive ways to observe sea turtles and encourage users to actively contribute to conservation efforts.
Why is We Spot Turtles! so important?
We Spot Turtles! is a citizen science app that engages the community in sea turtle conservation in a non-invasive manner through machine learning and geolocation technology.
Essentially, anyone can upload their images of sea turtles they’ve spotted in the wild onto the We Are Turtles! app. For example, if you see a sea turtle nesting on the beach, you can upload the photo and the app recognizes the turtle on a species and individual level, and then a trail of movement is collected as the sea turtle is spotted around the world.
The facial recognition technology allows us to monitor sea turtles without using current monitoring methods like pit tags or flipper tags, which can often be quite invasive.
It’s a win-win, encouraging the community to get closer to the environment using innovative technology in a positive and accessible way, which in turn enables us to identify conservation priorities and implement targeted initiatives to safeguard and preserve these beautiful creatures.
In the future, we hope to scale the app to monitor other endangered animals, including whale sharks.
What are your top three tips for aspiring entrepreneurs or innovators?
1. Don’t be scared, just go for it. Don’t second guess yourself, just commit and then see where it takes you because you can do anything you put your mind to. That sounds so cliche, but I truly believe it!
2. Put yourself in places where you will cop criticism. For me, that’s been a big learning curve. Being involved in programs like Curtin Ignition not only helped me elevate my business idea but I grew so much as a person, as this experience taught me how to cop the feedback and criticism. In these moments you learn the ins and outs of your business and whether you’ve got a solid business idea.
3. Believe in yourself. If someone tells you that your idea won’t work but you know it will, don’t listen to them, just go for it! I’ve had a lot of people tell me that my idea wouldn’t work, even professionals in the industry. Fast forward to now, this year we have received an Innovation Booster Grant from the WA Government and we were featured on Google’s new #WeArePlayAustralia edition!
Caitlin took us on a day in her life visiting a turtle sanctuary in the south of France during a recent work trip. Watch the video here.
Caitlin McKeown, Co-Founder & Director of We Spot Turtles!
Graduating from the Curtin with a Bachelor of Arts in 2020, Caitlin realized this wasn’t her calling and decided to switch careers to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science & Coastal Marine Science. Currently, Caitlin is the Co-Founder and Director of We Spot Turtles! which is a citizen-science project that uses innovative technology to help safeguard sea turtles and preserve our marine ecosystems.