Near, Far, Wherever Your Data Are

What are the most vital parts of the planet that we need to protect, restore, and more sustainably manage? How effective can nature be in sustaining us now and in the future? This talk will reveal the important role that in situ monitoring plays in guiding decision making and climate change adaptation. Mark will be taking us through his field adventures in the tropical forest canopies of the Andes and the Amazon, all the way to the glamorous ditches of LIDL in Shoeburyness, and you'll even get a chance to play with some kit!

Satellites orbiting the earth offer valuable data to help us understand patterns of forests and fires – where they are and how big. But we also need to know what human factors are influencing these patterns. This talk will be out of this world as we zoom out to discover the advancements that have been made in our mapping ability using satellite data, but bring us quickly back down to earth as we find out what additional sources of information we need to properly understand the human impacts on forests and fires.

“Lack of data”; “Poor data quality”; “Not enough data points”; “Gaps in data” are excuses often used to delay environmental action. Has data become the linchpin that makes us take, or not take, action? The mountains of Environmental, Sustainability and Governance data within the green finance industry is a case in point. As disclosure approaches have become the norm to drive sustainability commitments, data providers – often enrolling environmental scientists, are now reigning supreme. Unpacking the notion of “data”, this talk will prompt us to think about whose concerns and interests are served by different data discourses and uses.