Harnessing the full potential of drones for fieldwork.

This article examines the expanding role of drones—also known as unpiloted aircraft systems or unmanned aerial vehicles—in overcoming challenges in field-based biological research, including cost, accessibility, safety, and spatial coverage. While drones have primarily been used for high-resolution image collection, the article highlights their broader applications across the research lifecycle, such as site reconnaissance, diverse data and sample collection, ecological interventions, and long-term environmental monitoring. It emphasizes the need for innovations like specialized open-source software, miniaturized instrumentation, integration with AI-driven species identification tools, and enhanced community science engagement to fully realize drones’ potential. The article also discusses barriers to widespread adoption, including high costs, technical training requirements, regulatory restrictions, operational limitations, and public concerns, and suggests collaborative, interdisciplinary approaches to address these challenges.