Natural History Museum & AWS: Biodiversity Data Technology

Since construction began in 1873, The Natural History Museum (NHM) has had the initiative to provide protection and education when it comes to nature.

Alongside booming wildlife, NHM’s gardens are now teeming with a network of sensors, collecting data about the environment thanks to Amazon Web Services (AWS) – following a landmark switch-on moment in the museum's pond.

Since opening the transformed gardens in 2024, the museum has seen more than five million visitors as well as daily interactions from NHM’s scientists and colleagues.

A collaboration with AWS

With millions of visitors and a central London location, AWS’s collaborations with the NHM offers a unique opportunity to study the dynamic relationship between people and nature.

Data collected from AWS’s sensors feed into NHM’s data ecosystem, a powerful platform built using AWS cloud technologies and developed in collaboration with AWS.

AWS’s system allows scientists to collect, analyse and share the available biodiversity and environmental data efficiently across the rewilded urban space.

The data is deemed as vital in order to understand how urban nature is advancing and evolving and what actions can support its needed recovery.

“We’re incredibly excited about the switch-on of our new environmental sensor network,” says Ed Baker, Acoustic Biology Researcher at the Natural History Museum.

“This marks a major milestone in transforming our gardens into a living laboratory, helping us better understand how urban nature is changing in real time. 

“With the support of Amazon Web Services, we’re now able to collect and share data at an unprecedented scale, deepening our understanding of biodiversity and drive forward science-led nature recovery in the UK’s urban spaces.” 

To date, ASW’s technology has allowed for the Data Ecosystem to scale with a 200% increase in the last 15 months.

Sustainable community science

Including the data collected in NHM’s gardens, all data collected via the museums community science programmes can directly feed into the Data Ecosystem, including:

• BioBlitzes 
• Nature Overheard
• The Big Seaweed Search.

At the NHM, community science projects involve scientists collaborating with communities and individuals to carry out scientific research in relation to the local area.

Recorded observations and wildlife activities allow for the contribution to better comprehend the biodiversity surrounding individuals, as well as providing evidence on what is needed to accelerate nature's recovery.

“We are delighted to support the Natural History Museum to transform and accelerate its scientific research and community science capabilities with the cloud,” says Hilary Tam, Sustainability Leader, Europe Middle East & Africa at Amazon Web Services.

“By building the Data Ecosystem using cloud technology the Museum’s scientists can securely store and process data from the gardens for the first time. 

“This allows the Museum to turn this data into actional insights to support the UK’s urban nature recovery. 

“The scientists can continue deepening their understanding of the UK’s urban diversity by using  the cloud to scale-up the Data Ecosystem as more data from the gardens is collected over time.” 

To date, more than 96,000 people recently engaged via the Nature Overheard Community Science Programme, studying how noise pollution affects insects. 

Along with new data, vast volumes of historical visual wildlife observations from the museum’s gardens collected from 1995 to the present day, along with environmental DNA data, has been uploaded to the Data Ecosystem.

The future of the NHM

The Museum welcomed its Patron, Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales, and His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales to explore the newly developed gardens and learn more about the work of scientists in the space.   

According to Ed Baker, Co-Author of Catalysts for change: museum gardens in a planetary emergency, redeveloping gardens and museum grounds allows for the use of living plants to connect outdoor spaces with indoor exhibits.

The book highlights the importance of natural gardens: “Space for nature, and for people and nature to interact, is at a premium in urban settings and there remains a large-scale inequity in access to the services that it provides.”  

NHM’s gardens are the first step in the NHM150 campaign which aims to transform its South Kensington site in time for its 150th anniversary in 2031.

The transformation is set to see the revitalisation of four existing galleries, the opening of two new galleries and the incoming of more than one million visitors a year.