Data Science and Its Contribution to Ecology
Tags: Environment, Data, Ecology, Google, Data Science

By: Anna Kornilovich and Margarita Kozyreva

How to find a solution to any problem?

Right, you need Data. In most situations, it is highly important to have a variety of data from both the past and the present and the right tools to analyze it in order to solve the problem. And if when choosing which kind of chocolate to buy all you need is the price, the taste and opinions of your friends, when solving worldwide problems you need a huge amount of data and special tools to work with that. In that case, you start working with Big Data.

Today, to predict or prevent environmental problems, scientists, companies and governments turn to Big Data for help. If the information we have gathered is used wisely, it can help save the Earth from the threat of destruction. Some Data Scientists (real superheroes) are already implementing incredible projects to do so. For example:

The Global Tagging of Pelagic Predators (GTOPP) program, which will allow users to view and interact with animal tracking data. By combining data from a diverse number of highly migratory species, and overlaying them with oceanographic data, it is possible to glimpse the processes that influence how open ocean ecosystems work. The objective is to understand the factors that influence animal behavior in the blue ocean and to build the tools required for protecting their future. Google Earth Engine allows observation of dynamic changes in agriculture, natural resources, and climate using geospatial data from the Landsat satellite program, which passes over the same places on the Earth every sixteen days. The Google Earth Engine provides a data catalog along with computers for analysis; this allows scientists to collaborate using data, algorithms, and visualizations. The platform uses Python and Javascript application programming interfaces for making requests to the servers. Global Forest Power is an online platform that allows anyone to access near real-time information about where and how forests are changing around the world. GFW has far-reaching implications across industries. Financial institutions can better evaluate if the companies they invest in adequately assess forest-related risks. Buyers of major commodities such as palm oil, soy, timber, and beef can better monitor compliance with laws, sustainability commitments, and standards. And suppliers can credibly demonstrate that their products are “deforestation-free” and legally produced.

We have listed only three projects, but even by their brief description, one can understand how important Big Data is in learning and understanding all the processes on our planet. The most important thing here is to implement the knowledge gathered from those projects to solve environmental problems. In fact, there is still a lot of work to develop and improve.

Now, most ecological Data scientists are already working on creating perfect Big Data repositories in which information will be automatically systematized and presented in a common way. The perfect example is ourworldindata.org, where you basically can find not only environmental-related information but also discover everything about the changes that have been happening with our planet.

Ecology is a complex science, which in the last decade has increasingly turned to Big Data for help. No ecologists are slowly, with some resistance, becoming more computer-savvy. More and more know R, MySQL, or Python before graduate school, and ArcGIS has become necessary for spatial ecologists. Over time, the Data Science and Environmental Science alliance will only strengthen, creating new spaces for human activity in a deeper knowledge, not only what impact does a person has on the environment, but how each of us can change today’s worsening situation for the better.

Credit: 56th issue of ESTIEM Magazine (2019)

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