FAQ

On our website (which is different from our platform). You can access the website here: https://www.wiseancestors.org/

You can find our contact form on this page: https://www.wiseancestors.org/contact

Sure, this video was recorded to walk you through the platform : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11bjCcQg-PA

Hopefully it answers all of your questions, otherwise, reach out to us!

A phase is the term used by Wise Ancestors to describe a step in the Conservation Challenge. A Conservation Challenge is often a large project that can be broken down into several steps. We categorized them into 6 phase types : Sampling, Sample preparation, Sequencing, Bioinformatic analysis, Biobanking and Benefit-Sharing. Each phase (or step) can be performed by a different collaborator, and our mission is to coordinate the work between the different collaborators within a challenge to optimize the work and increase the speed of biodiversity conservation.

When you identify a Conservation Challenge that you would like to fund, you can directly donate to it from the Wise Ancestors’ platform landing page.

It is also described in this video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11bjCcQg-PA&t=78s

Donations made through the Wise Ancestors platform will be tagged with the Conservation Challenge that you chose to make the donation through. This will tell us which Challenge to use the funds for. Your donation will also be added to the total funds raised that is displayed on the platform. To split a donation among more than one Challenge, you would enter each donation separately on each of the Conservation Challenges you are interested in supporting.

To donate to the organization’s core costs and the most pressing needs, donate through our main website instead of the platform: https://www.wiseancestors.org/donation.

That money won’t be lost! Any funding raised in excess of the target amount will be split between the benefit-sharing component for that Conservation Challenge, and core costs.

Wise Ancestors is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation based in the US, EIN: 88-1628390. Donations are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law. When you donate, you will receive an emailed receipt that includes all of the information that may be requested by the IRS. If you are a foreign donor, please review your national and local tax exemption laws.

“Collaborator” is the term used by the Wise Ancestors team to designate people and organizations outside of Wise Ancestors who can actively participate in the Conservation Challenges by carrying out one or more of the Phases. Some examples include:

A local scientist or a community member who has access to the samples needed to perform the Conservation Challenge.

An academic laboratory (a.k.a. Research lab, core facility, etc) that could perform some of the technical work such as DNA extraction or sequencing.

A private company that could perform some of the technical work (such as sequencing).

This is a non-exhaustive list. If you are unsure, you can always register (it is free and does not commit you to anything) or contact us!

To become a collaborator, you have to register on the platform and fill in some information (identification, organization, type of technical work that you can perform, etc). Then, the Wise Ancestors core team will review your application, and if it indicates that you are capable of performing the type of work found in any of the Conservation Challenges Phases, we will provide you with access to the platform as a collaborator.

You can also check this video for the application process: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11bjCcQg-PA&t=107s

We do ask for a lot of information (that you can update at any time if your labs’ capacity or equipment changes). This information allows us to assess your capacity to perform some aspect of the Challenges. It will also allow us to reach out to you when a Conservation Challenge is a good fit for you. We don’t want to spam you everytime a Conservation Challenge is published, but we don’t want you to miss out on Challenges that would be relevant to you!

It means that collaborators can apply to do the work defined in the phase (="I can and want to do this work, so I apply for it").

A platform administrator must review your registration before you can apply to any phase on the platform. You can follow the progress on your profile. If it says “Waiting for approval”, it means that we haven’t yet reviewed your application.

If your status hasn't changed within 5 working days following your application, feel free to reach out to us.

Once you are registered and logged in as a collaborator on the platform, you can apply for a phase. First, you need to identify a phase that is a good fit for you. For example, if you are a member of a sequencing facility, a sequencing phase would likely be a good fit. Once you find that perfect match, click on the ‘Apply” button, and fill in some technical information so that the admin team can review your application.

You can also watch this video to find out how to apply to a phase: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11bjCcQg-PA&t=276s

No, we did receive your application. However, phase applications remain open for a long time to ensure that several collaborators have the time to apply. Once the admin has received several applications, they will be able to select the best one. We will first focus on the technicalities (availability of the correct sequencing machine or extraction kit), but we will also consider other parameters such as the outreach that a team does to their local IPs & LCs, the price, or the turnaround time.

For some phases, we will set a maximum dollar amount, meaning we won’t select a collaborator if their requested price exceeds that threshold. However, this does not mean you should charge us the maximum amount. As mentioned above, the price requested by the collaborator is one of the factors used to assign phases. In other words, if two labs with the same technical capacity apply, we will select the less expensive one.

Indeed, within a Conservation Challenge, a lot of phases have to happen in a defined order (for example Sampling → Sample preparation → Sequencing → Bioinformatic analysis) and the different phases can be performed by different collaborators.

It is Wise Ancestors role to coordinate between the different collaborators and ensure that you will receive the DNA if you are assigned the sequencing phase, or that you will receive the data if you are assigned the bioinformatic phase.

We will contact you by email to coordinate the work.

Once you perform the technical work, you will be able to fill in a report table and upload documents or files to the platform to share the results with us. We may have some back and forth emails or a video call to discuss any potential technical issues encountered or surprising results obtained. Then, it will trigger payment.

You can find the steps detailed in this video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11bjCcQg-PA&t=585s