Smart Forests Radio

Hana Raza: Camera Traps and Persian Leopards in Iraqi Kurdistan

In this radio episode, we speak to Hana Raza, a wildlife conservationist from Iraqi Kurdistan and founder of the newly-formed NGO Leopards Beyond Borders. While working with Nature Iraq, Raza and her team found evidence of the Persian leopard, which was presumed locally extinct in Iraqi Kurdistan. Leopards Beyond Borders aims to protect this important species and, more widely, to establish protected areas for wildlife in Iraqi Kurdistan. In this conversation, Hana discusses the importance of camera trap images for influencing policymakers and international conservation communities, and the risks of doing wildlife conservation work in places where war and border conflicts have long-term and ongoing impacts.
Interviewers: Michelle Westerlaken and Trishant Simlai
Producer: Harry Murdoch
Visit the Smart Forests Atlas for more discussion around the Persian leopard and Hana's work.
Image source: Nature Iraq, https://osme.org/2016/01/funding-conservation-projects-a-voice-for-biodiversity-in-iraq/

Mitch Aide: Acoustic Monitoring and Remote Sensing in Tropical Ecology

In this radio episode, we speak to T. Mitchell Aide, a tropical ecologist and former Professor of Biology at University of Puerto Rico-Río Piedras. In this conversation, Mitch discusses the development of ARBIMON (Automated Remote Biodiversity Monitoring Network), an important early platform for storing and analysing eco-acoustic data, the different challenges of remote sensing and acoustics for studying tropical forests, and whether there should be a shift in focus from collecting increasing amounts of data.
Interviewer: Max Ritts
Producer: Harry Murdoch
Head to the Smart Forests Atlas for more perspectives on ARBIMON.
Image source: ARBIMON / RCFx, https://arbimon.rfcx.org/project/rfcx-temb-brazil-project/visualizer/rec/28434613

ARISE Project: Digital Biodiversity Infrastructure in the Netherlands

In this episode, we speak to five people who have contributed to the ARISE project, a digital infrastructure that aims to identify and monitor all species in the Netherlands. These conversations took place at the ARISE day held at the Naturalis Biodiversity Center in March 2022. We hear from:
Elaine van Ommen Kloeke, ARISE's programme manager
Jacob Kamminga, a computer science researcher specialising in sensor networks and machine learning
Chantal Huijbers, senior project manager developing the underlying infrastructure of ARISE
Rosalie Kross, an interaction designer whose graduate project involved shaping the ARISE platform
Stephan Peterse, owner of Faunabit, a company that builds the DIOPSIS insect camera traps used by ARISE.
These discussions touch on the challenges of bringing multiple different kinds of data together in an ambitious long-term project, the hardware needed for taking pictures of insects, and the development of algorithms for automated species identification.
Interviewer: Michelle Westerlaken
Producer: Harry Murdoch
Visit the Smart Forests Atlas for more perspectives on ARISE.
Image: DIOPSIS insect camera used in the ARISE project. Image source: Michelle Westerlaken.

Pratyush Mallick: DIY Devices for Forest Monitoring in India

In this episode, we speak to Pratyush Mallick, developer of Forest Guardian, a DIY, open source device used to detect illegal logging in forest spaces. Pratyush discusses the potential of the DIY/hacking community for building technologies to address environmental change, and the politics of implementing these technologies on the ground in Indian forests.
Interviewers: Michelle Westerlaken and Trishant Simlai
Producer: Harry Murdoch
Find out more about Pratyush's work and the Forest Guardian device on the Smart Forests Atlas.
Image source: https://www.hackster.io/phatta/forest-guardian-267cb7

Andrea Leiter: Blockchain, Cryptocurrency and Self-Governing Nature

In this radio episode, we speak to Dr Andrea Leiter, Assistant Professor at the Amsterdam Center for International Law and Director of Research at the nonprofit Sovereign Nature Initiative. Andrea discusses how emerging cryptocurrency and blockchain technologies can offer different ways of understanding, valuing, and governing nature, along with some of the dangers of the fast-paced, growing world of green financing.
Interviewers: Michelle Westerlaken and Danilo Urzedo
Producer: Harry Murdoch
Head to the Smart Forests Atlas for further discussion of blockchain and cryptocurrencies in digital forest technologies.
Image source: https://sovereignnature.com/

Sarab Sethi: Soundscape Monitoring in Malaysian Borneo

In this radio episode, we speak to Dr Sarab Sethi, Herchel Smith Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Cambridge Conservation Initiative at the University of Cambridge. Sarab discusses building hardware for acoustic soundscape monitoring in the SAFE project in Malaysian Borneo, and the challenges of interdisciplinary work between ecology and computer science.
Interviewers: Jennifer Gabrys, Max Ritts, and Trishant Simlai
Producer: Harry Murdoch
Note: This radio episode includes sounds from the SAFE Acoustics Project. For more information (and sounds), visit their website at: http://acoustics.safeproject.net/
Head to the Smart Forests Atlas for more information about the SAFE project, and for other projects using acoustics to monitor biodiversity.
Image source: http://acoustics.safeproject.net/06:00/4/32847.

Shashank Srinivasan: Conservation Technologies in India

In this episode, we speak to Shashank Srinivasan, founder of Technology for Wildlife Foundation based in Goa, India. Shashank discusses tools and technologies including drones, satellites, and geospatial mapping to amplify conservation work, while also remaining critical of the potential negative social and environmental impacts of technology.
Interviewer: Trishant Simlai
Producer: Harry Murdoch
Head to the Smart Forests Atlas to find out more about Technology for Wildlife Foundation.
For further perspectives on topics discussed in this episode, read Trishant Simlai's story on Digital Technologies and Conservation Surveillance. 
Image source: https://www.techforwildlife.com/spatial-intelligence

Alex Rogers: Acoustic Devices for Biodiversity Monitoring

In this episode, we speak to Alex Rogers, Professor of Computer Science at the University of Oxford. We discuss how Alex's research team developed the acoustic recording device AudioMoth, how low-cost technologies can democratise biodiversity monitoring, and how sensing technologies can lead to certain species and environments being monitored more than others.
Interviewers: Max Ritts and Michelle Westerlaken
Producer: Harry Murdoch
Head to the Smart Forests Atlas to find out more about AudioMoth, and check out other Smart Forests Radio episodes on acoustic monitoring.
Image source: https://www.openacousticdevices.info/

Sophie Nitoslawski: Smart Urban Forestry in Canada

In this radio episode, we speak to Sophie Nitoslawski, PhD candidate in urban forestry at the University of British Columbia (UBC). Sophie talks about the ecological and social importance of urban forests, public and private sector collaborations, and the need to think across multiple scales when designing and implementing smart forest technologies.
Interviewers: Jennifer Gabrys and Max Ritts
Producer: Harry Murdoch
Find out more about Sophie's work on the Smart Forests Atlas.
Image source: Sophie Nitoslawski, https://urbandatalab.io/blog/using-existing-data-to-tackle-big-urban-forest-questions-introducing-sophie/

Lindsey Rustad: Real-Time Monitoring in the Northeastern US

In this radio episode, we speak to Dr Lindsey Rustad, Director of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Northeast Climate Hub and Team Leader for the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in New Hampshire. Lindsey discusses setting up the USDA Smart Forests network, different types of sensors used for real-time environmental monitoring, and the role of forest ecosystems in addressing climate change.
Interviewers: Jennifer Gabrys and Michelle Westerlaken
Producer: Harry Murdoch
Head to the Smart Forests Atlas to find out more about the USDA Smart Forests network.
Image source: WaterViz, https://waterviz.org/