Lunch & Learn: Animal Migrations Seen from Space

The ‘satellite era’ has revolutionized science in the last four decades. For example, the Global Position System made it possible to track movements globally at minimal cost. In the environmental sciences, earth-orbiting sensors confirm in situ observations of global warming, and are providing unprecedented views of global biogeochemical dynamics. As a growing array of satellite-derived data become freely available, opportunities to use it in novel ways across scientific disciplines open up. Dr. Beck will show the fascinating patterns that emerge when satellite images and animal movement data are combined, and how they help us understand the drivers of Earth’s great animal migrations, as well as their vulnerability to human interference and environmental change.

Pieter Beck The ‘satellite era’ has revolutionized science in the last four decades. For example, the Global Position System made it possible to track movements globally at minimal cost. In the environmental sciences, earth-orbiting sensors confirm in situ observations of global warming, and are providing unprecedented views of global biogeochemical dynamics. As a growing array of satellite-derived data become freely available, opportunities to use it in novel ways across scientific disciplines open up. Dr. Beck will show the fascinating patterns that emerge when satellite images and animal movement data are combined, and how they help us understand the drivers of Earth’s great animal migrations, as well as their vulnerability to human interference and environmental change.

For updated information, see the ENVS Lunch and Learn website.