EXPERIENCE 259 | Confronting Livestock Predation with Wolf-Friendly Technology - Carolyn Johnson, Founder & CEO of GuardUs Innovations.
My guest on today’s podcast was Carolyn Johnson, Founder & CEO of GuardUs Innovations. A mechanical engineer with a background in biology and product development, Carolyn became fascinated by the wolf reintroduction in Colorado - and especially with the lack of success that livestock predation deterrents were having. The costs to the state of Colorado have grown well beyond projections already, and if the wolves are to grow in number the livestock encounters must become more rare or the project will be unsustainable to the state and to ranchers.
Enter GuardUs Innovations, Carolyn’s product and software start-up which uses collars on the animals - especially cattle and sheep - equipped with sensors, lights, and noises - and all AI-informed and networked - to keep the wolves away. GuardUs products also work on other predators such as big cats and bears and even ravens from choosing livestock as what’s for dinner.
Carolyn is in the thick of it, with beta product testing, fundraising, lobbying, and both hardware and software development in full swing. She’s also hyper smart, and if my eye for talent is correct, it won’t be long before you’re reading about how GuardUs technology saved the wolf re-introduction project in Colorado - and is now keeping herds safer and ranchers more informed about their stock than ever before. So tune in on the front end of this journey, and please enjoy, as I did, my conversation with Carolyn Johnson.
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Music By: A Brother's Fountain