CEES researchers share results of NASA-funded research with key scientific collaborators in Madre de Dios, Peru

For over a decade, CEES-affiliated researchers have had a strong presence in Peru’s Madre de Dios region, an extremely biodiverse tropical forest landscape in the southeast region of the country. Madre de Dios is home to the Centro de Innovación Científica Amazónica (CINCIA), known in English as the Center for Amazonian Scientific Innovation, established by Wake Forest University conservation biologist and CEES founding director, Miles Silman, in 2016.

More recently, Silman, along with computer science professors Paul Pauca and Sarrah Alqahtani, and CEES fellow David Lutz (‘04; currently a research assistant professor at Dartmouth University and former CEES postdoctoral fellow), have been awarded a grant by NASA for a project using satellite imagery and other remotely-sensed data to monitor rapid forest and aquatic change from gold mining and development in Madre de Dios.

“Many of the best places left on the planet are at the ends of the Earth,” Silman says. “But, the gold rush on the tropical frontier in Madre de Dios is an opportunity for development and an epic environmental and social crisis.” The group’s project aims to provide scientific evidence for the effectiveness of land-use and other policies to mitigate environmental harms from these industries.

Earlier this month, Pauca and Lutz traveled to Madre de Dios to meet local project partners, share their latest research findings, and get their priorities for future community-based research. The pair are also developing new degree programs with the National University of Madre de Dios (Universidad Nacional Amazónica de Madre de Dios; UNAMAD) and helping them shape a new drone certificate program. “Our trip fostered extensive collaboration with CINCIA, the University of Madre de Dios, and will lead to important monitoring of mining-affected areas,” says Lutz.

While in Madre de Dios, Pauca and Lutz also traveled to mining zones to see the changing landscape. “As a computer scientist who only knew the alluvial gold mining problem through satellite imagery, observing the mining zones first-hand was transformational,” Pauca states. Their experience will not only strengthen their science, but it also draws Wake Forest, CINCIA, and the people living and working in Madre de Dios closer together. “The impact made by Wake Forest in Madre de Dios was immediately palpable. People across the region know of the top-notch scientific work being done at CINCIA and of its desire to be a part of the community.”

Pauca and Lutz, along with NASA postdoctoral researcher Evan Dethier gave presentations on their research for UNAMAD students and the public. Pauca spoke about the application of deep learning – a type of machine learning – for analyzing forest change caused by gold mining. Lutz spoke about the use of remotely-sensed data for analyzing environmental change, and Dethier on methods to analyze the recovery of altered landscapes. Lutz and Dethier also spoke together about the use of satellite imagery to monitor deforestation, mining, and river health in Madre de Dios as part of CINCIA’s Science Friday series.

While the pair have now returned from Peru, the team’s work will continue to inforn environmental and land use policy in Madre de Dios. Says Silman: “There is so much to like about this project– it is using advanced computation to turn vast amounts of data into knowledge and then use that knowledge to help manage and govern landscapes in a sustainable way, all hand in glove with Peruvian institutions.”