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Conference Agenda

The EA Congress is a two-day summit to address the state of Amazon mapping and to help organize the initial EA Amazon scan.

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Day One will focus on understanding the current state of Amazon mapping along with outlining the contributions that Earth Archive data can make in improving current understandings of Amazonian socio-natural systems. We will explore technological issues in Amazon mapping, and will present regionally specific reports on work from the nine countries that encompass the Amazon Basin.

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Day Two will focus on the broader contributions that an open source Amazon scan can make to an array of sciences, policy making, and other related fields. We will cover how geospatial data can help build social resilience, conservation issues, empowering indigenous communities, support ecosystem services and ecological resilience.

Agenda at a Glance
(click image to enlarge)

To view archive videos, click on the View Archive Video link in any presentation below in the Detailed Agenda

Detailed Agenda

Detailed Agenda

Tuesday, June 15
(All times PST)

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11:30 AM - 12:00 PM (Track 2)

Environment and Landscapes of Latin America’s Past

Presenters: Vernon Scarborough, Professor in Anthropology, University of Cincinnati
Eduardo Neves, Professor of Archaeology, University of São Paulo

What is the role of archaeology in assessing the human ecological future of the planet? Can examining the engineered landscape of the past, perhaps especially in the New World prior to Western entradas, generate insights that map out alternative pathways toward modeling our futures globally? What can be gleaned from past understandings of and interactions with the material world? The eclectic field of investigation and practice currently emerging at the intersection of historical ecology and applied archaeology demonstrates the capacity of the historical and anthropological sciences to detail long-term human-environmental processes. In particular, past case studies of both different and analogous approaches to the world in which we live can help contextualize and inform on present conditions, providing models for human-environment interactions that can speak to issues of adaptation and sustainability.

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01:00 PM - 03:00 PM (Track 2)

Ecuador Country Report

Presenters: 

Francisco Valdez, Principal Investigator, IRD/Instituto Frances de Estudios Andinos

Estanislao Pazmino, Ph.D. Candidate, Yale University

Catherine Lara, Principal Investigator, IRD/Instituto Frances de Estudios Andinos

Ferran Cabrero, Professor. Universidad Estatal de Amazonia

Juan Jijon, Director, Cerros Hojas-Jaboncillo Research Center, Instituto Nacional de Patrimonio Cultural--Ecuador

Florencio Delgado, Professor, Universidad San Francisco de Quito

Corey Hermann, Ph.D. Candidate, Yale University

Juan Jose Ortiz Aguilú, Professor, Universidad Tecnica de Manabi

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03:00 PM - 03:30 PM (Track 2)

Storage/Dissemination of Big Data: Two Example Cases

Presenters: Shrideep Pallickara, Professor of Computer Science, Colorado State University

Sangmi Pallickara, Associate Professor, Colorado State University

Sustain: A Cyberinfrastructure for Urban Systems and Resilience

The United States is highly urbanized with more than 80% of the population residing in cities. Cities draw from and impact natural resources and ecosystems while utilizing vast, expensive infrastructures to meet economic, social, and environmental needs. Voluminous datasets are also made available by governmental agencies and NGOs in domains such as climate, ecology, health, and census. The Sustain project (https://urban-sustain.org) is an NSF-funded cyberinfrastructure for exploring spatiotemporal phenomena that impact urban systems. The Sustain project facilitates data explorations, expressive queries, visual analytics, and modeling capabilities over diverse datasets that impact urban systems. These capabilities are deeply aligned with the urban sustainability community’s needs, and they address challenges that preclude effective research. By significantly alleviating data-induced inefficiencies, Sustain facilitates and accelerates discovery.

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08:30 AM - 09:00 AM

Introduction to the Earth Archive Congress

Moderator: Dr. Chris Fisher, Founder, Earth Archive Initiative

The Earth Archive is an emerging conservation initiative that is revolutionizing the fight against the impacts of the climate crisis. By scanning the planet’s land surface with very high resolution lidar, the Earth Archive will create a true three-dimensional digital twin of our world — an open source, digital record of the Earth that will reflect the landscape exactly as it was at the time of scanning and preserve this information for future generations before it is lost to impacts from the climate crisis. In this introductory discussion Chris Fisher will introduce both the Earth Archive initiative and lay out the framework for the inaugural Earth Archive Congress.

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09:00 AM - 09:10 AM

Earth Archive Lifetime Achievement Award (Palimpsest Award)

Presenter: William Maxfield Denevan, Professor Emeritus of Geography, University of Wisconsin-Madison

William Maxfield Denevan is Professor Emeritus of Geography at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a prominent member of the Berkeley School of cultural-historical geography. He also worked in the Latin American Center and the Institute for Environmental Studies at the same university. His research interests are in the historical ecology of the Western Hemisphere, especially Amazonia and the Ande.

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09:10 AM - 09:50 AM

The Lost City of the Monkey God

Presenter: Douglas Preston, Best Selling Author, Earth Archive Board Member

Join award winning author and journalist, Douglas Preston, as he discusses The Earth Archives inspiration in creating a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling novel "The Lost City of the Monkey God".

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09:50 AM - 10:20 AM

Context of a Global 3DEP

Presenter: Jason Stoker, Physical Scientist, US Geological Survey & American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing

The goal of the 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) is to acquire the first-ever national baseline of consistent high-resolution three-dimensional (3D) data in the United States—including bare earth elevations and 3D point clouds— in less than a decade. 3DEP, by design, is a cooperative program that meets the needs of a broad range of stakeholders and depends on substantial data investments and contributions through Federal, State, Tribal, and private sector partnerships. This talk will highlight components of 3DEP that may be useful for The Earth Archive, including partnerships, specifications, data management and collaboration.

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10:20 AM - 11:10 AM

Thought Leadership Panel: Bringing Industrial Growth and Sustainability Together

Panelists: Vijay Krishnan, General Manager, Intel Geospatial
Keith Peterson, Product Manager, Trimble
Patrick Cozzi, CEO, Cesium
David Gadsden, Director of Conservation Solutions, Esri

 

The ecosystem of industrial technology spans all continents and helps each of us to be part of the economy. We live in a world where we aspire to not only achieve higher levels of excellence- optimizing operations, increasing profitability, maintaining growth. But we also have the ability, and duty, to do so in a sustainable manner.


 

Leaders of today will chart the course how we balance these aspirations and secure the holistic future for the human race and planet. Some key components of technology which can help us facilitate this are Cloud-based, or AI-enabled while others are, using visualization and insights, smart-solutions and robust platforms, which can help us collaboratively solve the challenges and achieve the growth goals using geolocation data and tools.


 

As they say, closed ideas die in darkness, so let us welcome our Industry panel of leaders and share our ideas together with the forum.

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11:10 AM - 11:30 AM

Voxelizing the Earth: Planet-Scale Visualization and Data Storage for the Earth Archive

Presenter: Peter Atalla, CEO, Voxelmaps Inc.

Mapping and modeling the entire Planet to centimeter resolution using LiDAR data is a huge challenge, not just for the collection of the data itself, but also in how to store, visualize and analyze it. Peter will talk about a unique technology using “Multi-Resolution, Voxel Occupancy Grids” (MRVOGs), to power the Earth Archive and enable Planet-Scale analysis. The presentation will discuss the benefit of using Voxels over Points and Meshes, and then show how 3D & 4D Artificial Intelligence (AI) Engines can process the data to provide tremendous insights, quicker and more accurately than ever before.

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11:30 AM - 12:00 PM

Integrating LiDAR w/Satellite Data Cubes to Benefit Society

Presenter: Brian Killough, Head of the CEOS Systems Engineering Office, NASA

Integrating free and open satellite data with high resolution LiDAR data can provide a unique opportunity to advance the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and address global issues such as carbon mapping, water extent, and urbanization. NASA's Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) Systems Engineering Office (SEO) has championed the use of satellite Data Cubes to address global initiatives. Connecting this satellite data to 3D LiDAR VoxelMaps will take advantage of advanced computing technologies (Open Data Cube, Cloud Computing, Data Analytics) further enabling open science to benefit society.

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12:00 PM - 12:40 PM

LiDAR Technology and the Earth Archive: A Panel Discussion

Moderator: Gavin Schrock, GoGeomatics
Panelists: Michael Sitar, Division Manager - Airborne Laser Scanning, RIEGL
Katie Fitzsimmons, Business Development Manager, Hexagon

The two pivotal technologies supporting the EA initiative to scan the Amazon (and then the world) are LiDAR and GNSS. What LiDAR approaches, or mix thereof, and best practices should be used on a project of this scale? What are the strengths of linear and single-photon LiDAR and how might each most effectively utilized to capture the bio-diverse geography of the region? What are the challenges in processing and managing these massive data sets?

and other attendees

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12:40 PM - 01:00 PM

The Earth Archive Amazon Scan Project - Intro to AOI's

Presenters: Dr. Chris Fisher, Founder, Earth Archive Initiative
Stephen Leisz, Co-Director, Earth Archive Initiative
Grace Ellis, Graduate Student Researcher, Colorado State University

While our scope is the entire planet, we’ve tasked ourselves with first scanning areas that are not only most susceptible to change, but also valuable for understanding our past. The 2021 inaugural Earth Archive Congress is centered on our initial campaign to scan the entire Amazon Basin. The Amazon rainforest plays a monumental role in the Earth’s climate, has an incredibly rich Indigenous history, and boasts a remarkable level of ecological diversity — but is vanishing before our eyes. With the ability to digitally preserve landscapes at any moment in time, very high resolution lidar can enhance archaeological, anthropological, and conservation studies and provide needed information to help advance sustainable development, as well as provide us with more groundbreaking revelations of the Amazon’s astounding past. In this introductory session Earth Archive team members will introduce potential areas of interest (AOI’s) for the initial scans.

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01:00 PM - 01:30 PM

Brazil Country Report

Presenters: Eduardo Neves, Professor, University of São Paulo
Jean Ometto, Researcher, National Institute for Space Research

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01:30 PM - 02:00 PM 

Venezuela Country Report 

Moderator: Rafael Gasson, Assistant Professor, Universidad del Norte
Panelists: Natalia Lozada Mendieta, Assistant Professor, Universidad de Los Andes
Jose Oliver, Reader Latin American Archaelogy, Institute of Archeology, University College London

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02:00 PM - 03:00 PM

Guyana/French Guyana/Suriname Country Reports

Moderator: Cheryl White, Senior Lecturer, Anton de Kom University of Suriname
Panelists: 

Irene Meulenberg, Policy Advisor, Archaeological Service Suriname

Santosh Singh, Independent Researcher, Affiliated with Govt of Suriname Archeological Services

Louisa Daggers, Researcher, Archaeologist, University of Guyana

Mark Plew, Professor, Archaeologist, Boise State University

Michelle Hamblin, French Ministry of Culture, Archeology Service of French Guyana

Stéphen Rostain, Research Senior, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

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03:00 PM - 03:30 PM

Lidar Technical Challenges and Alternatives for Mapping the Amazon

Presenters: Ron Chapple, CEO, GEO1

Juan Carlos Fernandez Diaz, Research Assistant Professor, University of Houston

Having conducted lidar mapping of over 14,000 km2 at high density in Mesoamerica employing traditional means (linear mode lidar and piloted aircraft), and having faced the challenges and dangers of such activity; it is clear that mapping and area of much larger extent that spans multiple countries will require advanced technical solutions at scales not seen before. This presentation will explore a few of these alternatives.

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03:30 PM - 04:00 PM

GPS/GNSS and The Earth Archive

Moderator: Gavin Schrock, GoGeomatics
Panelists: 

Larry Fox, VP Marketing and Business Development, Bad Elf LLC

Brant Howard, Founder & CEO, Compass Data

The two pivotal technologies supporting the EA initiative to scan the Amazon (and then the world) are LiDAR and GNSS. What GNSS augmentation approaches can be employed to provide high precision on ground control points (GCP)? What are the strengths, limitations, and practicability in the Amazon for RTK, Network RTK, Precise Point Positioning, PPK, and post processed static campaigns? How will the large datasets of GCP be QC’d and managed?

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04:00 PM - 04:30 PM

The State of the Amazon

Presenter: Thomas E. Lovejoy, President, Amazon Biodiversity Center

Thomas E. Lovejoy, "the Godfather of Biodiversity" will address "The State of the Amazon". An ecologist and conservation biologist who has worked in the Amazon on science and conservation since 1965, Lovejoy was the first to use the term biological diversity and to project global extinctions (both 1980). He is the Founder and President of the Amazon Biodiversity Center. He has worked on biodiversity and climate change and co-edited three books on the subject (1992, 2005 and 2019). He originated the concept of debt-for-nature swaps (1984). Lovejoy is a Senior Fellow at the United Nations Foundation and Explorer at Large at the National Geographic.

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04:30 PM - 05:00 PM

Day 1 Wrap-up

Presenter: Chris Fisher, Co-Director, The Earth Archive, Professor, Colorado State University

The Earth Archive's Dr. Chris Fisher will wrap up Day 1 presentations.

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01:00 PM - 02:00 PM (Track 3)

Bolivia Country Report

Moderator: Carla Jaimes Betancourt, Lecturer, Institute for Archaeology and Cultural Anthropology, Department of Ancient American Studies, Universitat Bonn
 

Panelists:

Clark Erickson, Professor of Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania

John Walker, Associate Professor, UCF Department of Anthropology

Umberto Lombardo, Physical Geographer, Bern University

Sonia Alconini, David A. Harrison III Professor of Archaeology, University of Virginia

José Iriarte, Professor of Archaeology, University of Exeter

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02:00 PM - 02:30 PM (Track 3)

Peru Country Report

Presenter: Aldo Bolaños, Director, Observatorio Andino del Paisaje

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02:30 PM - 03:00 PM (Track 3)

Columbia Country Report

Panelist: Francisco Forero Bonell

Founder and Director, Fundación Ecoplanet

Wednesday, June 16
(All times PST)

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11:30 AM - 12:30 PM (Track 2)

Socio Ecosystem Services and Ecological Resilience

Presenters: Kathy Galvin, Senior Research Scientist and Professor, Colorado State University
Andre Franco, Research Associate/Agronomist/Soil Scientist, Colorado State University
Michael Barton, Professor of Anthropology, Arizona State University

Galvin:

Human well-being and environmental sustainability are integrally linked and dependent on each other. Transformation of humankind’s relationship with nature is fundamental to social-ecological resilience. Society needs to include natural capital in decision-making, eliminate environmentally harmful subsidies and invest in the transition to a sustainable future. Africa’s extraordinary richness in biodiversity and ecosystem services, and wealth of indigenous and local knowledge, comprises a strategic asset for sustainable development in the region. Yet, like other regions on the planet, Africa is under pressure through loss of biodiversity, climate change, rapid population growth and urbanization that diminish the loss of nature’s contributions to people. LiDAR, by providing a 3-dimensional record can provide baseline data from which to understand and conserve our world, including Africa.

Franco:

Amazonia rainforests are considered the most biodiverse ecosystems on Earth. Yet aboveground species diversity and forested area are declining rapidly with intensive land-use changes (LUC). Our understanding of the implications of these pressures for Amazonian belowground biodiversity is still developing compared to aboveground biodiversity. Yet, soil organisms represent about a quarter of the described biodiversity and contribute to the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems. This talk will present results from a data-synthesis of 274 pairwise comparisons of soil biodiversity in Amazonian primary forests and sites under different stages of deforestation and LUC. We will also present preliminary results of a study in progress that focuses on soil microbes and their potential functions as affected by LUC in contrasting soil types. Together, the information presented here supports the consideration of soil biodiversity when assessing the impact of Amazonian deforestation and LUC.

Barton:

A critical contribution of archaeology for the modern world is providing unique knowledge about the long term dynamics of human societies and interactions between societies and their environments. In order for archaeologists to generate reliable, testable, and applicable insights about the processes that drove those dynamics, they must integrate knowledge beyond individual case studies provided by excavation of a portion of a single archaeological site. This can only be accomplished if archaeologists publish their data as well as analysis results in ways that are accessible and useful for others. I review examples of insights about past social-ecological systems dynamics that could only be generated through integrating multiple archaeological and environmental data sets. I close with overviews of the open science initiative in archaeology and the open code efforts of CoMSES.net.

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01:30 PM - 02:00 PM (Track 2)

3 Decades of Land Use Change in Brazil and the Amazon

Presenter: Tasso Azevedo, General Coordinator, MapBiomas and SEEG

Join Tasso Azevedo for a discussion of direction in Amazonian conservation. 

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02:00 PM - 03:00 PM (Track 2)

LiDAR Use in Central Mexico Region : Archaeology Panel Discussion

Moderator: Stephen Leisz

Co-Director, The Earth Archive

Professor at Colorado State University


Panelists:

Kathryn Reese-Taylor, Associate Professor, University of Calgary

Rodrigo Solinis-Casparius, Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Illinois at Chicago

José Luis Punzo-Díaz, Archaeologist, National Institute of Anthropology and History, INAH

This panel’s participants introduce and discuss case studies that make use of airborne LiDAR in locations in Central Mexico to explore the pre-contact history of this understudied region.

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08:30 AM - 09:15 AM

Takeaways and Setting the Stage for Day 2

Moderator: Dr. Stephen Liesz, Professor, Colorado State University, Director of the Earth Archive

Dr. Stephen Leisz will summarize the key takeaways from Day 1 of the Earth Archive Virtual Congress, and set the stage for Day 2 discussions, which will focus on Social Issues and Climate.

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09:15 AM - 10:00 AM

The Lost City of the Monkey God (REPRISE due to presenter illness)

Presenter: Douglas Preston, Journalist/Best Selling Author, Earth Archive Board Member

Join award winning author and journalist, Douglas Preston, as he discusses The Earth Archives inspiration in creating a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling novel "The Lost City of the Monkey God".

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10:00 AM - 10:45 AM

Amazonia and the Last Unfinished Page of Genesis

Presenter: Susanna Hecht, Professor of Urban Planning, Political Ecologist, UCLA

This short presentation discusses the dynamics of forest loss in Amazonia under the current political and economy dynamics and their larger consequences.

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10:45 AM - 11:30 AM

Fireside Chat: How Public and Private Partnerships Can Help Us Become More Sustainable

Moderator: Dr Este Geraghty - Chief Medical Officer of Health Solutions, ESRI
Panelists: Barbara Ryan, Executive Director WGIC
Nadine Alameh, CEO, OGC
Steven Ramage, Head of External Affairs, Group on Earth Observations (GEO)

Earth has been our home and playground for well over 200,000 years. As advanced societies, we today wield much power over not only our choices, but the trajectory of the place we call Home, both collectively, and individually.


 

The advancement in our lives has come at a great cost to the ecology that feeds us air, water and nutrition. As responsible global citizens, we must come together and address the challenges that face us and future generations. As we progress towards technological advancements, let us also bring the conservation of planet Earth into the gamut of the Industry Leaders, who are enabling this growth, and make it sustainable.


 

Open Geospatial Consortium brings together the global geospatial community around data, following FAIR- Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable as their guiding principle. Over 500 entities- Gov agencies, Industry leaders, tech companies and Research organizations rely on OGC to help bring Geolocation data and open standards to the forefront.


 

World Geospatial Industry Council (WGIC) is non-profit trade organization that brings commercial geospatial companies and their ecosystem together to enhance the strength of Geospatial data into world economy.


 

GEO is an intergovernmental partnership of over 100 countries comprising of research institutions, scholars, engineers, businesses and scientists to promote open data and earth observations across the globe.

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11:30 AM - 12:00 PM

Energy Water Food Nexus Stress and Innovation

Presenter: Will Sarni, Founder and CEO, Water Foundry
 

The presentation will provide an overview of the connection between water, energy, and food (nexus) along with the impacts from climate change that result in stress and scarcity. This nexus also creates an opportunity for innovation to increase resiliency and sustainability. A key trend and opportunity in nexus innovation is the application of digital technologies which include; satellite data acquisition and analytics, remote sensing, artificial intelligence applications and smart devices for agriculture, home, communities, cities and manufacturing.

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12:00 PM - 12:30 PM

Scanning Samara: Geospatial Data for Environmental Grassroots Activism

Presenter: Martin Isenburg, The LAStools Guy, rapidlasso

For environmental activism I privately organized multiple LiDAR and imagery scans by drone and helicopter in beautiful Samara on Costa Rica's Pacific coast. I have already used the imagery to initiate legal proceedings against the local municipality for their failure to uphold the constitutional maritime zone laws that protect our fragile coastal environment. However, to use my new LiDAR data to detect illegal filling of wetlands and unpermitted resculpting of mountain tops I need older data to be able to detect changes. Fortunately the area where I currently reside had been scanned after a big Earthquake in 2012. I was able to get my hands on this (closed) data through personal connections. Now I will also be able to detect illegal clearing of vegetation areas as well as the felling of individual mature trees. Unencumbered access to open geospatial baseline data, especially in areas under environmental duress, is important to enable similar activism at the community level elsewhere.

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12:30 PM - 01:30 PM

The Amazon: What Everyone Needs to Know

Presenter: Mark Plotkin, President, Amazon Conservation Team

The Amazon Conservation Team has closely collaborated with over 80 indigenous groups to protect both land and culture, an approach known as "biocultural conservation." This presentation details to origin of this approach and its role in a changing Amazon.

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01:30 PM - 02:00 PM

The Marriage of Earth and Sky: Grounding LiDAR in indigenous knowledge

Presenter: Carlos Fausto, Professor of Anthropology, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro

This presentation provides examples of mapping based on indigenous knowledge of their territory in two areas of Amazonia: the Upper Xingu and the Upper Rio Negro. It further suggests how this knowledge can be combined with LiDAR data, and how these data can serve the interests of indigenous communities throughout Amazonia.

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02:00 PM - 03:00 PM

LiDAR Use in the Maya Region : Archaeology Panel Discussion

Moderator: Dr. Chris Fisher, Earth Archive Initiative
Panelists:
Adrian Chase, Graduate Student, Arizona State University
Arlen Chase, Professor of Anthropology, Pomona College
Jose Luis Punzo-Diaz, Archaeologist, National Institute of Anthropology and History, INAH

Diane Chase, Vice President for Academic Innovation, Student Success, and Strategic Initiatives, Claremont Graduate University

Takeshi Inomata, Professor of Anthropology, University of Arizona

Keith Prufer, Professor of Anthropology, University of New Mexico

Gary Feinman, MacArthur Curator / Adjunct Professor, Field Museum / University of Illinois at Chicago

Amy Thompson, Postdoctoral Fellow / Assistant Professor of Geography and the Environment, Field Museum / University of Texas at Austin

Airborne LiDAR has revolutionized archaeology, especially in the Maya region of Mesoamerica. Here participants draw on regionally-based case studies using LiDAR data to yield new insights into the prehistory of this critical region.

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03:00 PM - 03:15 PM

Technology Enablers and the Collectors of LiDAR Data for the Earth

Presenter: Robert Hanson, SVP, Geospatial, WGI
President Elect, MAPPS

On behalf of MAPPS and its members, Bob Hanson will address "Technology Enablers and the Collectors of LiDAR Data for the Earth". MAPPS is pleased to be a supporting partner for the Earth Archive. MAPPS represents the community of our member firms, all recognized as thought leaders in mapping, surveying, photogrammetry, satellite and airborne remote sensing, and aerial photography professional services. Our members also produce innovative LiDAR sensors and imaging technologies and software solutions delivered world-wide to government agencies and the commercial sectors.


 

The Earth Archive has an ambitious goal to LiDAR scan the entire surface of the Earth. Our MAPPS members have affinity to such a goal as we have been successfully mapping the entire USA with LiDAR for our federal and state and local government partners. The Earth Archive’s efforts may start with the Amazon Basin but will extend everywhere. We surely relate to such a bold LiDAR mapping effort as the Amazon Basin is approximately the size of our 48 contiguous states recently mapped by our MAPPS members.


 

MAPPS is excited to offer its support for the Earth Archive, especially during these times when our world leaders and our communities are focused on balancing our economic investments for improving quality of life and protecting human existence, sustaining natural places, and doing this with a stable global climate. Humankinds’ history is recorded in our maps. The Earth Archive is championing a daunting task for all of us that will eventually provide “record serving critical baseline geoscience data for today and in perpetuity.” MAPPS what to be part of this important effort and the goals of the Earth Archive.

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03:15 PM - 03:30 PM

Use-cases: Intro to potential uses of EA data

Presenter: Stephen Liesz, Co-Director, The Earth Archive, Professor, Colorado State University

The goal of the Earth Archive is to both collect very high-resolution LiDAR point clouds and make them available as open access resources for researchers and communities to use, and also to encourage other groups who are collecting LiDAR to provide these data as open access resources. This presentation will overview the many uses of very high resolution LiDAR data that range from archaeological applications, to use in carbon budgeting, ecological and environmental monitoring, hydrological modeling, to local and regional development planning.

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03:30 PM - 04:00 PM

Compelling Science Communication in a World of Disinformation

Presenter: Helena Bowen, Speaker Coach, Speechwriter, Communications Specialist, TED/TEDx

Why do bad ideas spread easily online while scientific research goes unnoticed? TED Speaker Coach & Speechwriter Helena Bowen gives her top tips for improving your communication with the public while maintaining your integrity (and sanity!).

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04:00 PM - 04:50 PM

Closing Keynote: Geospatial Intelligence and The Future of our Planet

Presenter: Keith Masback, CEO, United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF) 2008-2018 Principal Consultant, Plum Run LLC

Geospatial Intelligence is a term that was made up by the US national security community in 2003. It is roughly defined as the combination of: remote sensing, geospatial data & information, data analytics, and data visualization. The concept - and term - spread rapidly among US allies and eventually seeped into a far broader lexicon. Geospatial Intelligence is a critical enabler of chronicling and mitigating threats to our planet's continued ability to sustain life.

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05:00 PM - 06:00 PM

Happy Hour Networking

ConnectMii Events

Join today's presenters and sponsors in their networking lounges to ask questions, network, and wind down after the day's presentations.

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