AnimalHack 2026

We are back!Following AnimalHack2025,2024, and2023, we are excited to welcome you to this year's edition: AnimalHack 2026.Website:https://animalhack.org/Discord:https://discord.gg/ZBbTxuxND2Email:animalhack1@gmail.comInstagram:https://www.instagram.com/animal.hackLinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/groups/18105021/AnimalHack is a student-led, international hackathon for anyone interested in animals, animal welfare, or human-animal relationships. Projects may focus on pets, service and assistance animals, farm animals, wildlife, or the environments in which animals live.AnimalHack invites you to identify animal-related needs and challenges and develop a creative, technology-based solution.AnimalHack is supported by Binnovative, a nonprofit organization in Massachusetts.Event OverviewFormat:Fully onlineEntry fee:FreeParticipation:Individuals and teamsEligibility:Open to participants of all ages and technical backgrounds. No previous hackathon experience is required.Project period:Participants may work on their projects at any time before the submission deadline.Project submission deadline:12pm on September 12 (Sat), 2026, ESTPresentation registration deadline:12pm on September 12 (Sat), 2026, ESTOnline project presentations:September 13 (Sun), 2026, ESTAwards:15+ awards recognize projects across a wide range of categories.Publication opportunity:Selected participants will be invited to publish book chapters about their projects in theBinnovative Innovation Book series.Merchandise:Celebrate your AnimalHack experience withofficial merch! Purchases help support future AnimalHack events.Expected Project TopicsExpected project topics include, but are not limited to:* Improving animal welfare and quality of life* Supporting pet owners, caregivers, veterinarians, and animal-service professionals* Supporting animal behavior, enrichment, training, and human-animal communication* Supporting animal shelters, rescues, and foster programs* Improving animal adoption, matching, outreach, and post-adoption support* Reuniting lost pets with their families and preventing animals from becoming lost* Monitoring and improving the environments in which animals live* Supporting responsible animal agriculture, husbandry, and aquaculture* Advancing humane and sustainable food-system innovation* Monitoring, tracking, conserving, and protecting wildlife* Promoting safe and humane coexistence between people and wildlife* Preventing animal abuse, cruelty, poaching, and wildlife trafficking* Improving accessibility and support involving service or assistance animals* Educating the public about animals, ecosystems, and responsible animal careSolutions can take many forms, including apps, games, social platforms, web sites/services, devices, sensors, robots, computer vision, data analysis, predictive models, visualization, data collection and management, educational resources, and 3D modeling/printing.Book PublicationWe plan to publish a book that features selected projects presented at AnimalHack 2026. Award recipients and other selected participants will be invited to extend their project abstracts and publish them as book chapters through Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing. For your reference, see the books published in the prior editions of AnimalHack:AnimalHack 2023 bookAnimalHack 2024 bookAnimalHack 2025 bookOrganizers Naomi McCreary* Hanna Suzuki (Co-chair)* Alyssa Yasuhara (Co-chair)* Rimi Yoshikawa