Hello world

Motivated by the timeline with which I participated in the fireside chat organized by the Turing Way the first entry of my blog is a reflection of what has been my journey in the last 11 years.

I will summarize my most relevant experiences in open environmental science and information technologies through a series of anecdotes. These anecdotes go beyond the technical aspect and include opportunities that I share for others identified with similar paths to take advantage of.

Let's get started!

Stage 0 _{^{beginnings, < 2011}}

Although I did not reflect it in my timeline, since my undergraduate studies in Agricultural Engineering I got my first interactions in spatial information technologies. I had the opportunity to study subjects related to spatial data and models as part of the Geomatics postgraduate program at my alma mater, the National University of Colombia. I also did an exchange with the University of São Paulo, Brazil, where I learnt a new culture and participated in research groups using geoprocessing technologies applied to environmental and agricultural studies. In this exchange I was trained in several satellite image processing tools, both closed license tools such as ERDAS and ENVI, and open license tools such as SPRING. Also, my GIS skills were mainly in ArcGIS, and a little in QGIS. Ya finalizando mis estudios, en el mes de Mayo de 2011 tuve la oportunidad de poner a prueba mis conocimientos con mi primera consultoría realizando una base de datos y cartografía para un catálogo de plantas medicinales en Colombia (ver detalles aquí).

Opportunity 1 - International mobility

Do you know that most undergraduate programs have exchange programs with international universities? For example, the Office of Interinstitutional Relations (ORI) at the National University of Colombia has a series of agreements with multiple universities worldwide. Thanks to these agreements, I was able to spend 6 months in Brazil, and also received support to participate in a conference at the XV Simposio de Sensoriamento Remoto de Brasil, in which I presented research results from one of the groups I was involved with (see the article here). If you are an undergraduate or graduate student, I invite you to take a look at these programs that often go unnoticed, but are very beneficial to learn about cultures and ways to apply science in other contexts.

Stage 1 _{^{open deforestation data, 2011-2014}}

As part of my undergraduate internship I joined the Terra-i project at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), now known as the Alliance of Bioversity-CIAT. This project had a very positive impact on my professional development. Terra-i is an initiative for the global monitoring of habitat loss by generating free and open deforestation alerts. Debido a la relevancia del proyecto con la agenda de la organización, participé en varios subproyectos que usaban los datos de la herramienta para cuantificar el estado de los ecosistemas en Latinoamérica y Caribe así como para pronosticar el impacto de proyectos de infraestructura vial en la región (ver detalles aquí).

As a proactive researcher I represented the project in several international events on conservation, forestry and geospatial technologies. I also extensively promoted the use of open data through case studies on the project blog (see for example ). I was the author and coordinator of a protocol for field validation of deforestation alerts in the Peruvian Amazon, which was later replicated in other regions. In terms of communities, I was a scholar of the Society for Conservation GIS (SCGIS), a program funded by ESRI and environmental organisations, which I personally recommend to improve knowledge in GIS tools and meet other researchers worldwide applying these technologies for conservation.

Opportunity 2 - GIS training programs

As I mentioned before, I had the opportunity to be a scholar of the SCGIS program. The application is open annually and selects professionals working in the conservation area to improve their knowledge in GIS tools, mainly ArcGIS (see details here). In addition, the program allows grantees to present their work at the ESRI user conference as well as the annual SCGIS conference. The process is very competitive but with good motivation, preparation and evidence of conservation work on the application form it is possible to be selected. It is important to point out that the program partially covers the costs, and therefore it is necessary to count on external support for certain expenses such as airline tickets and visa if needed. Other training programs or summer schools can be found on different topics in addition to conservation. My advice is to look for those where you have a greater affinity, and where they offer the possibility to stay connected with instructors and colleagues who are part of your cohort.

Stage 2 _{^{MSc. and PhD in Geography, 2014-2020}}

As part of the Terra-i project, I met Mark Mulligan, professor at King's College London with whom in collaboration with the Terra-i project we studied the causes of deforestation in the Amazon biome. It was a period where I trained and applied data science, artificial intelligence and cloud computing. De esta manera, en mi maestría analicé los patrones espaciales de la deforestación mediante el uso de minería de datos y análisis fractal (ver detalles aquí). From the use of two open data sources of deforestation, Terra-i and the Global Forest Change maps, my research was able to map the spatial distribution of spatial patterns associated with different agents of deforestation. En el doctorado tuve un abordaje más profundo con la aplicación de técnicas de análisis de las series de tiempo para extraer información de las coberturas y uso posterior a la deforestación a partir de imágenes satelitales (ver detalles aquí). In this research we innovated in the use of convolutional recurrent neural networks for time series classification using MODIS images. The models were trained using hardware resources from the Terra-i project as well as Google cloud computing credits.

Beyond the technical advances during my studies, I think the most exciting experience was collaboration and mobility (exchanges, internships, conferences and research groups). Por ejemplo, en mi maestría hice un intercambio en Global Canopy, una ONG ambiental con sede en Oxford, Reino Unido en la cual hice un análisis de la seguridad hídrica en el Amazonas (ver detalles aquí). In my PhD, I did exchanges in 2011 at HEIG-VD in Switzerland and later in 2019 at CIAT's Asia regional offices in Vietnam. At the first institution I received training in Python programming, Big Data and Deep Learning in the lab led by Professor Andres Perez-Uribe, and at the second I refined the analysis and modeling with my co-supervisor at CIAT, Dr Louis Reymondin. I would also like to highlight the summer 2018 internship held in Satellite Application Catapult at Harwell Science and Innovation Campus (UK) where I participated in the accelerator Frontier Development Lab (FDL). En esta aceleradora participé con otros investigadores afiliados en instituciones de Europa para el mapeo de asentamientos ilegales a partir de imágenes de resolución media como Sentinel 2 y muy alta como WorldView-4 (ver detalles aquí).

Opportunity 3 - Free research credits for cloud computing from Google and Microsoft

In addition to the hardware resources provided the Terra-i project, I had the initiative to explore cloud computing through the education/research programmes offered by Google and Microsoft. Google has a research credit program. On the other hand, Microsoft has the AI for Earth program which offers Azure platform credits for environment-related research. Unlike Google's generalized program, the AI for Earth go beyond providing the cloud service and aim to connect all researchers and initiatives by proposing methodologies based on data science and AI to make an impact on their environmental projects. I am not in favor of in a particular program as each has its advantages according to the needs of the research and preferred community. For both programs, you are required to complete an application form that asks a series of questions of the research and an estimate of the total credits required. To maximize the chances of being selected, my suggestion is to take advantage of the trial subscription of each cloud provider. In this way, you can make a better estimate of the credits required as well as additional services to be mentioned in the application.

Summary

In this first installment of Alejandro 101, I summarized my experiences from my undergraduate to doctoral studies. There were different people who inspired me and I was able to collaborate during all these years. It was a period full of many professional and personal achievements with some very valuable friendships that I still keep, as well as the satisfaction of being able to start the Coca Calderón family during the third year of my PhD.

In the next instalment I will continue with a second part of the timeline, from which I believe I am successfully building new foundations for leadership in open environmental science. I will also discuss opportunities and experiences that may be of interest!

For an inclusive and transparent science 🚀