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'Precision ag' promised a farming revolution. It's coming, just slowly

Eric Schmid

June 13, 2024 |

St. Louis Public Radio |

Radio |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: United States, St. Louis, Illinois

A St. Louis-based company, Impossible Sensing, is creating sensors that can be attached to the back of a planter to help farmers understand factors like nutrient level and soil health. It’s a form of precision agriculture, which essentially follows the notion that having more precise data leads to more efficient and sustainable farms.

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Inside New Zealand's Quest to Save Its Rotund, Flightless Parrots

Rina Diane Caballar

December 26, 2023 |

Smithsonian |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: New Zealand

The New Zealand’s Department of Conservation and the Ngāi Tahu, the Māori tribe whose people are the traditional guardians of the critically endangered kākāpō bird, are slowly relocating the birds to predator-free sanctuary to give them a chance to thrive.

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Delivering Addresses (and Access) to the Navajo Nation

Peter Yeung

August 25, 2023 |

Yes! Magazine |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Navajo Mountain, Utah

The Rural Utah Project is working to connect rural, off-the-grid residents in Navajo Mountain with fundamental services like mail, emergency medical care and voter access that they were often denied due to lacking a formally recognized address. Google’s Plus Code tool is allowing simple 10-digit codes to be generated anywhere in the world and instantly located on Google Maps. The codes can easily be looked up and doubles as a formal address in most cases.

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Virtual fences can benefit both ranchers and wildlife

Ruth Kamnitzer

July 19, 2023 |

Mongabay |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Washington

Cattle ranchers are switching from barbed wire to virtual fences to cut down on costs, easily practice rotational grazing to improve pasture health, and benefit the local environment and wildlife. The virtual fence software uses GPS and radio towers, so boundaries can be drawn with a computer or phone. And the cows wear tracking collars that will administer a warning beep when a boundary is close and a small shock when a boundary is crossed to encourage the cow to turn around.

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Mapping for Better Coverage: How GIS Microplanning is Revolutionising Immunisation Campaigns in Kano State

Misbahu el-Hamza

February 27, 2023 |

Nigeria Health Watch |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Nigeria, Kano

Geospatial Information Systems technology (GIS) maps out locations in need of vaccines, as well as how many people are vaccinated in each area. This method has increased vaccination rates for conditions like polio and has also allowed vaccination teams to update their practices instead of continuing to use paper maps.

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ShakeAlert's big test in Santa Rosa earthquake

Lisa M. Krieger

September 14, 2022 |

The Mercury News |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

The ShakeAlert system uses buried sensors to detect initial earthquake waves and warn residents of the West Coast of the United States to seek cover through cellphone apps.

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A New Project Is Bringing the Gay ‘Green Book' Online

Marianne Dhenin

June 29, 2021 |

Next City |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

In 1965 a traveling salesman published a series of travel guides with gay or gay-friendly businesses across the U.S. that became survival guides for the LGBTQ community. “Mapping the Gay Guides” has digitized those collections, allowing users to explore the original descriptions and added historical content written by graduate students. Reasons for why locations appear and disappear from year-to-year are provided, which sometimes intersect with LGBTQ hate crimes. A $350,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities will allow them to continue to preserve and make the forgotten history accessible.

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The Return of the Polish Wolf

Krzysztof Story

April 08, 2021 |

Tygodnik Powszechny |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: Poland

Scientists, NGOs, conservationists, and the government worked together to bring the Polish wolf back from the brink of extinction. Methods like GPS tracking and genetic sampling have helped politicians made decisions about how to reduce human-animal conflict and ensure human development didn’t interfere with their habitats. As a result, over the last 50 years the wolf population in Poland has increased 50-fold.

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How satellite images are helping one country hand out cash

Richard Kenny Hannah Gelbart

March 24, 2021 |

BBC |

Broadcast TV News |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: Togo

"Poverty maps" that combine satellite imagery and survey data enabled the Togolese government to target emergency pandemic charitable aid to the people in greatest need. Togo officials relied on the expertise of University of California-Berkeley researchers whose system interprets aerial images showing such factors as the density and condition of housing. Initially, 35,000 people received $13-$15 per month for five months to make up for the loss of jobs and small-business income during pandemic shutdowns. Applications were sought from targeted areas through advertising, and money was sent via mobile phones.

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Using satellite photos to help distribute cash

Hannah Gelbart

March 16, 2021 |

BBC |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: Togo

Togo distributed money to people in need, including informal sector workers, by identifying them using machine learning. Algorithms search satellite photos for clues of poverty, using measures like building density, and individuals within those areas are found using mobile phone data as a proxy of their wealth. Media campaigns also encourage people to apply for assistance. Once eligibility is confirmed, the first of five monthly payments is instantly sent to their phone and can be collected at local pick-up points. People without mobile phones can use an inexpensive SIM card in a borrowed phone.

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