On October 4–5, 2026, United Squirrels Co-Founder and President Elsa Ding and Director of Partnerships Dean Ding met with Professor Yiming Feng of Virginia Tech’s Department of Biological Systems Engineering to discuss potential applications of AI-assisted robotics in wildlife research.
Professor Feng described the heavy workloads, physical demands, and labor shortages facing the seafood industry, and how his research on AI-assisted robotic systems seeks to address these challenges in seafood processing.
Elsa and Dean introduced United Squirrels’ research on how squirrels respond to human activity. The discussion explored whether robotic systems could simulate aspects of human–squirrel interactions while reducing direct human involvement in field experiments. Such an approach could help researchers collect more consistent behavioral data.
We thank Professor Feng for sharing his expertise and for an engaging discussion about possible connections between robotics and wildlife research.
