Smart Forests Radio

Ed Cooper: Nature-Based Solutions in West Berkshire, UK

In this episode, we speak to Ed Cooper, founder of BioCap. Ed discusses developing a spatial plan and regional network to support nature-based solutions in West Berkshire, including local carbon offsetting schemes and habitat restoration, and the need for more granular data in digital mapping.
Interviewers: Jennifer Gabrys and Danilo Urzedo
Producer: Harry Murdoch
Head to the Smart Forests Atlas to find out more about Biocap.
Image source: BioCap, https://www.biocap.org.uk

Carlos Souza: Remote Sensing in the Amazon

In this episode, we speak to Dr Carlos Souza, a researcher at Imazon, the Amazon Institute of People and the Environment. Carlos discusses developing remote sensing tools to map and monitor but also predict deforestation and environmental change. He also reflects on collaborating with big tech companies, and asymmetry of access to information and digital technologies in the Amazon.
Interviewers: Danilo Urzedo, Jennifer Gabrys, and Michelle Westerlaken
Producer: Harry Murdoch
Head to the Smart Forests Atlas to learn more about projects Carlos is involved in: MapBiomas and PrevisIA.
Image source: PrevisIA, https://previsia.org/

Nadina Galle: Internet of Nature

In this episode, we talk to Dr Nadina Galle, ecological engineer and founder of the Internet of Nature concept and podcast. Nadina describes ways that technology can facilitate interactions between humans and nature in urban environments, from monitoring soil and tree health, to quantifying and incentivising public health impacts of spending time outside, to communicating about and across ecosystems.
Interviewers: Michelle Westerlaken and Jennifer Gabrys
Producer: Harry Murdoch
Find out more about the Internet of Nature on the Smart Forests Atlas, and read Nadina's post about her recent work with soil sensors and a tweeting tree, Bowie the Birch.
Image source: Nadina Galle, https://www.nadinagalle.com/ion.

Marcello and Eduardo Guimarães: Reforestation Machines in Brazil

In this radio episode, we talk to Marcello and Eduardo Guimarães, founders of tree planting companies Mahogany Roraima and iPlantForest and designers of the Forest Bot, and Nicolas Guimarães, who is involved with developing the technologies of the machines. We discuss techniques for automating precision reforestation, relationships between private and socio-environmental projects, and using NFTs for financing and tracing reforestation.
Interviewers: Danilo Urzedo and Jennifer Gabrys
Producer: Pedro Augusto
Language note: This interview takes place in Portuguese and English.
Read more about Mahogany Roraima, iPlantForest, and other digital tree-planting operations on the Smart Forests Atlas.
Image source: Mahogany Roraima, https://mahoganyroraima.com.br/real-carbon-capture-machine/

Larissa Souza: Human-Wildlife Coexistence in Gorongosa, Mozambique

In this episode, we speak to Larissa Souza, a member of the communications team at Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique. We discuss how monitoring technologies support conservation in the park, the dynamics of human-animal conflict and coexistence, and programmes working with local communities around sustainable agriculture, girls' education, and health.
Interviewers: Danilo Urzedo and Trishant Simlai
Producer: Harry Murdoch
Read more about Gorongosa on the Smart Forests Atlas.
Image source: Gorongosa National Park, https://gorongosa.org/human-wildlife-coexistence/

Thomas Crowther: Global Tree Restoration Potential

In this radio episode, we speak to Professor Thomas Crowther, an ecologist who leads the Crowther Lab at ETH Zürich and initiated the Restor platform. We discuss the data behind calculating and evaluating global tree cover and restoration potential, building restoration networks through online platforms, and the risks of scaling between the local and the global using AI.
Interviewers: Jennifer Gabrys and Michelle Westerlaken
Producer: Harry Murdoch
Find out more about the Crowther Lab and Restor on the Smart Forests Atlas.
Image source: Restor, https://beta.restor.eco/map

Claudia Araújo: Community Seed Networks in Brazil

In this radio episode, we speak to Claudia Araújo, a forest engineer who co-manages the Xingu Seed Network (Rede de Sementes do Xingu), a seed distribution network led primarily by women and Indigenous and traditional peoples. Claudia talks with us about community mobilisations against deforestation, muvuca direct seeding approaches and communication networks, and the political challenges of doing socio-environmental work in Brazil at this time.
Interviewers: Danilo Urzedo and Michelle Westerlaken
Producer: Pedro Augusto
Language note: This interview takes place in Portuguese.
Find out more about Brazil's seed networks on the Smart Forests Atlas.
Image source: Tui Anandi, https://atlasofthefuture.org/project/xingu-seed-network/

Daniela Hedwig: The Elephant Listening Project in Central Africa

We speak to Dr Daniela Hedwig, Director of the Elephant Listening Project in the K. Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. We discuss the capacities of acoustic monitoring for detecting and intervening in poaching activity, building an 'elephant dictionary' based on acoustic and visual data, and data ethics in relationships between conservation projects and local communities.
Interviewers: Trishant Simlai and Max Ritts
Producer: Harry Murdoch
You can find further information and perspectives on the Elephant Listening Project on the Smart Forests Atlas.
Image source: Elephant Listening Project, https://elephantlisteningproject.org/infrasound/

Letícia Leite: Indigenous Podcasts in Brazil

We speak to Letícia Leite, journalist and founder of Vem de Áudio, which supports the production of community-led podcasts by and for Indigenous and traditional peoples in the Brazilian Amazon. Letícia discusses how Indigenous media and communication networks operate as tools for knowledge-sharing and socio-political mobilizations, the challenges of unequal access to information, and the role of Indigenous women in climate and political movements for socio-environmental transformation.
Interviewers: Danilo Urzedo and Max Ritts
Producer: Pedro Augusto
Language: This interview takes place in Portuguese.
Read more about Indigenous podcasts produced by Vem de Áudio on the Smart Forests Atlas.
Image source: Copiô, Parente! podcast, https://www.ufrgs.br/humanista/2021/01/27/podcast-para-povos-da-floresta-e-tema-do-terceiro-episodio-da-serie-radio-e-inclusao/

Andrea Botero: Open Forests in Hyytiälä, Finland

In this episode, Smart Forests researchers speak to Dr Andrea Botero, Associate Professor in the Department of Design at Aalto University in Finland. The conversation touches on Andrea's research with Open Forest at Hyytiälä Forestry Field Station, interdisciplinary practice, relationships between sensor data and stories, Finnish forest management and environmental change.
Interviewers: Michelle Westerlaken and Jennifer Gabrys
Producer: Harry Murdoch
You can learn more about Andrea's work with Open Forest on the Smart Forests Atlas:
Hybrid Walking and (Un)Sensing the Forest: a collaborative story about a hybrid walk hosted by Andrea, Markéta Dolejšová, and Jaz Hee-jeong Cho in Hyytiälä
Open Forest: Data, Stories and Walking-With: an audio recording of Andrea's paper for the Forest Multiple symposium at the University of Cambridge in October 2022.
Image source: Andrea Botero, https://creatures-eu.org/productions/open-forest/