Landscape and Ecosystems Thematic Lead Interview -- Africa Flores
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Name/Title
Africa Flores, Land Cover Land Use & Ecosystems Theme Lead
NASA SERVIR Science Coordination Office
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What is your educational background?
I graduated in 2006 with a Bachelor of Engineering in Agronomy Engineering from the University of San Carlos in Guatemala (my home country), and a Master of Science in Earth System Science from the University of Alabama in Huntsville in 2013.
What do you do in your current position? What are you working on now?
I lead the SERVIR Global Land Cover Land Use & Ecosystems Service area. In this capacity, I collaborate with SERVIR hubs, SERVIR Applied Sciences Teams, and other partners, such as SilvaCarbon and the Global Forest Observations Initiative (GFOI), to ensure that science and technology meet the needs identified by SERVIR hubs. I also coordinate activities across the SERVIR network to ensure the proper transfer of knowledge and to create spaces for sharing lessons learned and needs across the hubs.
One of the main activities I’m leading is capacity building on Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) for forest monitoring and biomass estimation.
What are the biggest landscape/ecosystem challenges? How can GIS and remote sensing technologies help address these problems?
Overall, I think that the biggest challenge across regions is reconciling economic development with natural resource conservation initiatives to achieve true sustainable development, particularly in the tropics. One can see how the rate of change in land cover and land use has increased over the years, for example, the transition of natural landscapes (mainly natural forests) into cropland and/or grassland for livestock.
Another notable trend is the shifting nature of deforestation. Although deforestation may have been controlled in one country, it can sometimes shift to another. Satellite remote sensing and GIS allows for these global trends to be more easily identified by accessing large catalogues of Earth observations. In addition, Earth observations allow us to quantify the natural capital of these landscapes, by providing information on their extent, state, and quality. When Earth observations are used in combination with modeling and additional datasets, one can project the future state of landscapes.
What specific tools and technologies are you using to solve these problems?
SERVIR uses an integrated approach with big data analytics, open source solutions, and a strong capacity building component. This approach promotes success by empowering communities to improve the management of forests and other landscapes by tailoring Earth observations and geospatial technology to user needs.
Regarding specific tools, we use a combination of open source solutions, such as Python, and R. We are also using cloud platforms such as Amazon Cloud and Google Earth Engine for big data analytics. All code and scripts generated are shared with the public.
What do you find unique about your work with SERVIR?
Something unique about SERVIR and the work we do in this thematic area is that we generate open source solutions, and we share the final outputs and methodologies with the public. There is a lot of relevance to co-development, which ensures that everything that we develop is generated hand-in-hand with the users of the product, those who are extremely knowledgeable of the ground conditions and the needs for a particular service.
How will SERVIR and the wider GIS community benefit from the new services and applications you are developing?
Our main objective is to empower the remote sensing and GIS community to improve the management of forests and other landscapes by tailoring Earth observations and geospatial technology to user needs. We achieve this by:
- Generating open source solutions: scripts and code are shared with the public.
- Making our products available to the public. All the maps and monitoring systems can be accessed and used by different groups to further their own applications.
- Co-developing services
- Advocating for a strong capacity building component
What are some of the main achievements of your work so far in this thematic area?
For me, being able to generate applied knowledge in Earth observations that otherwise would not exist, is very rewarding, and I think that the work we’re doing with SilvaCarbon encompasses this. We’re working with top notch Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) experts to generate a unique handbook on the applied use of SAR for forest monitoring and biomass estimation.
Another extremely rewarding part of my job is to create opportunities for the SERVIR network to grow and become leaders in Earth observation applications for land cover, land use change (LCLUC). Working with SERVIR hubs to meet and understand their needs is extremely exciting and fulfilling, and my role is to find the right combination of resources and technology that meet their requirements and achieve their goals.
Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers?
SERVIR is about the people, and I’m very blessed to be surrounded by a group of outstanding colleagues who are extremely knowledgeable. Even though we come from different countries and cultural backgrounds, we share the same passion and goals.
This interview was conducted by Kathleen Cutting at SERVIR’s Science Coordination Office and has been lightly edited for style and length.