Down To Earth: A podcast for Geoscientists by Geoscientist artwork

Down To Earth: A podcast for Geoscientists by Geoscientist

48 episodes - English - Latest episode: 4 months ago - ★★★★★ - 4 ratings

Welcome to “Down to Earth”, a 30-minute podcast about innovative geoscience and the incredible people behind it. Each week, we host a different guest to talk about science, careers, and passions. From stories about meeting their idols, to investigating their science superpowers, and all the fascinating research and engineering projects in between, Down to Earth is sure to become your quick and compelling catch-up on the people and the work in geoscience. This podcast is presented by the IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society.

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Episodes

S05E08 Down to Earth: Food Security

November 27, 2023 17:00 - 32 minutes - 29.8 MB

From its role in sustaining and nurturing our bodies to its cultural and social significance, food is a key component of human life. It’s also in serious jeopardy due to climate change. In this episode, we speak with Dr. Inbal Becker-Reshef about her work in the field of food security. Together, we delve into the critical role of geospatial technologies in monitoring agricultural systems, assessing crop health, and predicting yield fluctuations through programs including the GEOGLAM Crop Mon...

S05E07 Down to Earth: Water Resources

November 20, 2023 17:00 - 28 minutes - 26.2 MB

According to the UNU Institute for Water, Environment and Health, water-related disasters (WRDs), including floods and droughts, account for 90% of natural disasters. These disasters result in significant loss of life each year, not to mention the billions spent on managing and rebuilding afterwards. As the global water crisis continues to grow, so too does our need for tools, techniques, and policy that will help us more effectively predict, respond to, and prevent WRDs. In this episode, we...

S05E06 Down to Earth: Sea Ice

November 13, 2023 17:12 - 35 minutes - 37.5 MB

What’s the difference between glaciers and sea ice and why do we need to be studying sea ice to better understand climate change? In this episode, we speak to two experts who study sea ice in the arctic and antarctic respectively. Dr. Anja Frost and Dr. Sven Jacobsen share their concerns about the pressing issue of the Arctic’s vanishing sea ice, the need to understand the relationship between ocean waves and sea ice depletion, and how remote sensing techniques are improving our understandin...

S05E05 Down to Earth: Glaciers

November 06, 2023 17:00 - 36 minutes - 41.8 MB

As far back as 2014, Dr. Eric Rignot, specialist in glaciology, has been informing us that some of our glaciers are melting faster than we can save them. Yet, this knowledgeable and passionate scientist continues to advocate for hope. In this episode we’ll dive deep into the meltwater to not only understand glacier behaviour, but how we can proactively deal with the results.

S05E04 Down to Earth: Aerosols

October 30, 2023 16:00 - 32 minutes - 35.5 MB

Methane is a dangerous gas has more than 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide over a 20-year period. Methane is a major contributor to global warming. But the good news is, unlike CO2, methane has a very short atmospheric lifespan – around 10 years to be exact. In this episode, we speak with Dr. Ritesh Gautam who is an expert in atmospheric sciences, explores the impact of methane as a potent greenhouse gas and shares news of a new satellite mission that will help us cut methane emis...

S05E03 Down to Earth: Permafrost

October 23, 2023 16:00 - 35 minutes - 37.5 MB

Whenever we think of greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide is top of mind. But a more nefarious gas is gaining notoriety: Methane. Not just restricted to agricultural emissions, methane is also found in the Earth’s permafrost, which is melting at an increased rate due to climate change. It’s a vicious cycle that we seriously need to interrupt. So in this episode, we delve into the critical issue of permafrost thaw and its implications for methane release with Dr. Annett Bartsch. Dr. Bartsch, a le...

S5E02 Down to Earth: Wetlands

October 16, 2023 16:00 - 34 minutes - 39 MB

Wetlands are the Earth’s greatest natural carbon stores, however, since 1900, we have lost 64% of our wetlands due to both human activity and climate change. Coastal wetlands and deltas–wetlands that form as rivers–are particularly vulnerable due to their position at the land-sea interface and many are, in fact, sinking. In this episode, we speak to Dr. Marc Simard about the crucial role of wetlands in climate regulation and adaptation. We also dig into his Delta-X project to look at how he ...

S5E01 Down to Earth: Forest Ecosystems

October 10, 2023 08:01 - 34 minutes - 38.3 MB

The Global Carbon Cycle refers to the continuous flow of carbon from the land and water, through the atmosphere and living organisms. Within the cycle there are carbon sinks and carbon emitters. As one of the largest reservoirs of carbon on Earth, forests play a huge role in the global carbon cycle. But how do we know? In this episode, we speak to geoscientist Dr. Ralph Dubayah to explore the applications of GEDI and NISAR in assessing carbon capture in Earth's forests. Dr. Dubayah sheds lig...

Down to Earth: Season 5 Trailer

October 03, 2023 16:00 - 1 minute - 2.12 MB

In a world grappling with the pressing challenges of climate change, I bring you stories of optimism, resilience, and scientific insight: Welcome to Season five of Down to Earth: A podcast for geoscientists, by geoscientists! This season is being sponsored by The Remote Sensing Environment, Analysis and Climate Technologies technical committee of the I-Triple-E Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society. Together, we'll be speaking with some amazing geoscientists who have dedicated their lives t...

S4E10 Down to Earth: Training for culture change in Open Science

June 19, 2023 05:00 - 31 minutes - 34.1 MB

The open science movement is an experiment, but it’s an experiment that has a lot of merit when it comes to its vision of equitable transparency, accessibility and collaboration for better science, and a better world. So how do we begin to transition our own practices towards those of open science? In this episode, we speak with Julia Stewart Lowndes, Founding Director of Openscapes, and her collaborator, Erin Robinson, CEO and Co-Founder of Metadata Game Changers, about Openscapes, an organ...

S4E09 Down to Earth: Getting the Green for Open Science

June 05, 2023 05:00 - 33 minutes - 38 MB

Open science has been an almost exclusively voluntary endeavor for the past two decades, with passionate individuals piecing together collaboratives, nonprofits, grants, and donations to support their work of ensuring science is open and accessible. A relief to these dedicated individuals, as the concept of open science has gained in popularity, so too has new funding started to emerge. However, alongside the boon of no longer having to do open science as a side hustle, there are also unanti...

S4E08 Down to Earth: Demystifying the Scientific Process with Data Management, FAIR, and Science Communication

May 22, 2023 05:00 - 33 minutes - 37.6 MB

Part of the thinking behind the open science movement is that, if science is open, more people will trust the scientific process. But, as previous guests have pointed out, opening up science requires more than just the act of making it open. It also requires letting people know the science is out there, and ensuring it is findable, accessible, and reproducible! In today's episode, we speak with Professor Christopher Jackson, Director of Sustainable Geoscience at Jacobs, Visiting Professor of...

S4E07 Down to Earth: Artificial Intelligence: Boon or Bane for Open Science?

May 08, 2023 05:00 - 28 minutes - 30.5 MB

There’s a technological revolution happening right now that is having a massive impact on our interactions with each other, and the world around us. That revolution? Artificial Intelligence. Touted as a tool that will enable the average individual to generate groundbreaking developments for the betterment of humanity, AI is being seen as a panacea for many of our challenges in healthcare, education, agriculture, and transport. But as the saying goes, “With great power comes great responsibil...

S4E06 Down to Earth: Breaking Barriers with Open Education and Open Peer Review

April 24, 2023 05:00 - 34 minutes - 36.1 MB

It’s all well and good to have open source software, but if end-users have no clue how to operate it, open data becomes useless. That’s why Open Education is another important component of open science. In this episode, we speak with Dr. Leah Wasser, Executive Director of pyOpenSci, who developed a publicly accessible curriculum to teach python and R to anyone who wants to learn!

S4E05 Down to Earth: Making Open Source more Accessible: A GitHub Case Study

April 10, 2023 05:00 - 31 minutes - 35.4 MB

How can we ensure open source is open to everyone? In this episode we speak to Demetris Cheatham, Senior Director of Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging at GitHub, about how she’s building “open opportunities” and equity into a diversity, inclusion, and belonging strategy to ensure GitHub’s infrastructure is just.

S4E04 Down to Earth: Pirate or Proprietary? The Solution in Open Source

March 27, 2023 05:00 - 27 minutes - 34.1 MB

Open science and open data easily go hand-in-hand, but one area of open science that’s often forgotten is open source. What is open source and how does it allow us to actually use open data? In this episode, we speak to Yuvi Panda, Co-Founder of 2i2C – a nonprofit devoted to developing, operating, and supporting infrastructure for interactive computing – about how we can make tools work for the open science movement.

S4E03 Down to Earth: Navigating Data Sovereignty in Open Science

March 13, 2023 05:00 - 33 minutes - 38.5 MB

Every day 2.5 quintillion bytes of data is being created. This is an unfathomable number, but the reality is, we are constantly generating data with every app we use on or phone, every purchase we make, even every time we see a doctor. As the creators of data, what rights do we have to governing it? And with the push to make data more open, how we can ensure our science continues to uphold the values of ethics, justice, and equity? In this episode, we speak to Sativa Cruz, Applied Scientist ...

S4E02 Down to Earth: Dealing with Data: Infrastructures and Standards

February 27, 2023 06:00 - 31 minutes - 34.7 MB

Data is EVERYWHERE. In fact, there’s so much of it, we now have the term “Big Data” to describe the increased volume and velocity at which we’re accruing data. With such a large quantity and assortment of data available, it begs the question: How the heck are we going to organize it and make it open? In this episode, we bring this question to two open data experts: Dr. Monica Granados, Open Climate Campaign Manager at Creative Commons and Dr. Gracielle Higino, Open Science mentor and consult...

S4E01 Down to Earth: What is Open Science?

February 13, 2023 06:05 - 31 minutes - 36.7 MB

Climate change. Poverty. Inequality. Violence. These days, we are facing an unprecedented number of global challenges that require collaboration across countries to resolve. That’s why some scientists in particular are pushing for a move towards open science – namely, science that is more transparent, accessible and inclusive. But what exactly is open science, and what does it entail? In this episode, we speak with Yo Yehudi, Executive Director of Open Life Science to examine exactly what’s ...

Down to Earth: Season 4 ”Open Science” Trailer

February 08, 2023 09:00 - 40 seconds - 1.11 MB

Open science! It's a thing! Welcome back to “Down to Earth”, a 30-minute podcast about innovative geoscience and the incredible people behind it. For season 4, we’re collaborating with NASA and the IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society to dig deep into this fascinating frontier. Whether you're an active researcher or you just love science, join me, Stephanie Tumampos, and our guests as we explore the depth and gravity of all things open science! Our new season of Down To Earth: A po...

S3E08 Down to Earth: Culturally-relevant climate change solutions through innovation

December 04, 2022 09:53 - 24 minutes - 37.3 MB

As we continue to face unprecedented climate challenges that disrupt our ways of living, organizations like Space4Innovation and GEO Indigenous Alliance are turning to citizen science to design innovative climate change solutions that are culturally relevant. In this episode, we speak to Diana Mastracci Sanchez, founder of Space4Innovation and International Strategic Liaison of the GEO Indigenous Alliance, about her work seeking creative ways to maximize the impact of current technologies an...

S3E07 Down to Earth: Growing the next generation of climate scientists

November 20, 2022 09:50 - 26 minutes - 42.2 MB

While scientists are building new remote sensing networks in Costa Rica, others are merging networks to build capacity across Africa. Through her work as the Co-Founder of African Women in GIS, Geospatial Analyst Chidimma Umeogu Maduka is supporting other women in pursuing geoscience. At the same time, she’s also applying her geospatial knowledge to tackle the socio-economic barriers Nigerians are facing on the climate change front. From helping assess when and where to plant trees as part o...

S3E06 Down to Earth: Modelling a carbon neutral future through collaboration

November 06, 2022 09:01 - 31 minutes - 48.8 MB

With fires raging, permafrost thawing, urbanization increasing air pollution, and more, staying positive about the future of our planet can be challenging. But as the scientists in our previous episodes have demonstrated, there’s still hope yet. And in Costa Rica, a small country with a big dream of becoming the first carbon neutral country in the world, two researchers are pooling their collective knowledge and experience towards this goal. Dr. Alejandra Rojas González, associate professor ...

S3E06 Down to Earth: Mapping and Monitoring land Use Toward a Carbon Neutral Country

November 06, 2022 09:01 - 31 minutes - 48.8 MB

With fires raging, permafrost thawing, urbanization increasing air pollution, and more, staying positive about the future of our planet can be challenging. But as the scientists in our previous episodes have demonstrated, there’s still hope yet. And in Costa Rica, a small country with a big dream of becoming the first carbon neutral country in the world, two researchers are pooling their collective knowledge and experience towards this goal. Dr. Alejandra Rojas González, associate professor ...

S3E05 Down to Earth: Dousing Forest Fires in Australia and the Amazon through Geoscience

October 20, 2022 08:44 - 40 minutes - 68.2 MB

Similar to Arizona, Australia is no stranger to a hot, dry climate–one that sets a yearly stage for bushfire season. In 2019, Australia experienced one of its worst bushfire seasons to date, with fires consuming swaths of land, causing significant wildlife death, and even burning some of Australia’s remaining rainforest. That same year, on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, the Amazon rainforest experienced a longer dry season than normal. This resulted in a surge in fires that consumed ov...

S3E04 Down to Earth: Protecting Water Resources Amidst Drought

October 09, 2022 09:30 - 26 minutes - 43.9 MB

While arctic thaw is leading to soggier conditions up north, places like Arizona, USA are experiencing higher rates of drought. Due to a combination of human extractive activities alongside climate change, the Navajo Nation in particular has faced an increasing shortage of freshwater. In this episode, we speak with Ph.D student Nikki Tulley, also a member of the Navajo Nation, about her work using satellite data to study water quality, access, and drought in her home community, Blue Gap.

S3E03 Down to Earth: Tracking “human footprints” across the Arctic with Sentinel Data

September 25, 2022 08:30 - 32 minutes - 50.5 MB

While human-produced emissions may have decreased during COVID, the levels of methane and carbon dioxide released by permafrost thaw in the Arctic continues unabated. But thawing permafrost doesn’t just impact our atmosphere. It also destabilizes the ground, causing real problems for the 30million+ people living in the permafrost zone. In this episode, we speak with Dr. Annett Bartsch, Founder and Managing Director of b.geos, an Earth Observation consultancy based in Austria. Through her wor...

S3E02 Down To Earth: Clearing the Air: Pollution before and during a Pandemic

September 11, 2022 08:30 - 31 minutes - 45.6 MB

A major contributor to climate change that often increases with urbanization is air pollution. According to the World Health Organization, air pollution kills around seven million people every year. For us humans, it presents one of the most pressing public health problems in the world, and yet is one of the most neglected. Thankfully, the COVID-19 lockdowns helped spotlight this growing challenge by giving scientists like Dr. Shivangi S. Somvanshi an unprecedented opportunity to study the i...

S3E01 Down To Earth: Tackling the Earth’s Top Two Megatrends through Remote Sensing

August 28, 2022 09:30 - 31 minutes - 48.3 MB

By 2050, approximately 3 billion of the world’s population will live in cities, making urbanization – the population shift from rural to urban areas – the second-largest megatrend impacting life on our planet. What role does urbanization play in advancing climate change, and how does understanding urbanization trends help us mitigate climate change? In this episode, we speak to Dr. Tzu-Hsin Karen Chen, Postdoctoral Associate at Yale University's School of the Environment and one of the pione...

Down To Earth: Season 3 Trailer

August 24, 2022 09:30 - 3 minutes - 6.64 MB

Welcome back to “Down to Earth”, a 30-minute podcast about innovative geoscience and the incredible people behind it. In Season 3, we take a deep dive into the ways in which scientists across the globe are helping us understand and address climate change. In the process, we dig into inspirations that sparked their novel scientific approaches, and the ways in which their personal experiences led them to their current work in the first place. Overall, Down to Earth is sure to become your quick...

S2 (Ep9) Down to Earth : Back to Our Roots: The case for Open Science

August 04, 2022 10:17 - 21 minutes - 17.1 MB

A key component of the scientific method is replicability. But how do scientists replicate research findings unless they have access to the data, methods, and systems used to generate the initial results? Enter, the Open Science Movement -- a push to make science more accessible, not just to other researchers, but to the general public as well. In this Episode, we speak to Dr. Kevin Murphy, Chief Science Data Officer of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, to learn about the Open Science Move...

S2 (Ep8) Down to Earth: Looking to the stars for “New Space”

July 06, 2022 09:44 - 20 minutes - 17.2 MB

NewSpace is a term that has received a lot of attention recently, particularly with the launch of missions such as SpaceX. However, the term actually represents a movement that is less about billionaires and more about innovations to make space a more accessible frontier. In this episode, we speak with Rafal Modrzewski, CEO and Co-Founder of the microsatellite company, ICEYE, to demystify NewSpace and learn how companies like his are quietly advancing the space sector.

S2 (EP7) Down to Earth: Taking Imaging Spectroscopy to New Heights through International Collaboration

May 06, 2022 15:56 - 22 minutes - 20.3 MB

Similar to GNSS-R, spaceborne imaging spectroscopy is a fairly new field of remote sensing. Originating in aerospace, these pieces of equipment have now reached zero-G. But how did they get there? In this episode, we speak with Dr. Uta Heiden and Dr. Cindy Ong to explore how international collaboration has led to advancements in the field of spaceborne imaging spectroscopy.

S2 (Ep6) Down to Earth: In Venus VERITAS? Looking to Venus for truths about Earth In Venus VERITAS?

April 05, 2022 15:12 - 20 minutes - 20.7 MB

VERITAS, or truth, has been a recurring theme this season, particularly with respect to scientific integrity. But in this episode, it means something a little different. Standing for Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography, and Spectroscopy, VERITAS is actually the name of a new space mission that will map the surface of Venus. In this episode, we speak with Dr. Scott Hensley about this new mission, and what it means for enhancing our knowledge of Earth

S2 (Ep6) Down to Earth: In Venus VERITAS? Looking to Venus for truths about Earth In Venus VERITAS? Looking to Venus for truths about Earth

April 05, 2022 15:12 - 20 minutes - 20.7 MB

VERITAS, or truth, has been a recurring theme this season, particularly with respect to scientific integrity. But in this episode, it means something a little different. Standing for Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography, and Spectroscopy, VERITAS is actually the name of a new space mission that will map the surface of Venus. In this episode, we speak with Dr. Scott Hensley about this new mission, and what it means for enhancing our knowledge of Earth

S2(Ep5) Down to Earth: Something old for something new: The case of GNSS-R

March 15, 2022 05:01 - 19 minutes - 19.5 MB

Progress doesn't just come through the invention of new technologies. Finding innovative ways to use existing technologies also expands remote sensing! And this is exactly what one researcher is exploring. In this episode, we’ll cover all things GNSS-R with Dr. Davide Comite to understand how remote sensing scientists are using old technologies to generate new insights about our planet!

S2 (Ep4) Down to Earth: Mixed Signals on the Radio Spectrum

March 01, 2022 05:47 - 20 minutes - 15.7 MB

Access to the radio spectrum is essential for remote sensing research. However, the explosion of new wireless technologies in recent years has forced researchers to grapple with increased radio frequency interference that can jeopardize data collection integrity. How do we balance the scientific use of radio frequencies with our need to be perpetually connected? In this episode, we speak with Dr. Tobias Bollian about this very topic.

S2 (Ep2) Down to Earth: Combating Climate Change Through Data Presentation

November 24, 2021 10:30 - 24 minutes - 22.2 MB

"Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts". This is sustainable development goal 13, which is set to be realized nine years from now. How are remote sensing scientists addressing this goal, and how close are we to achieving it? We talk to Dr. Beth Tellman, to find out, and she gives us some surprising answers!

S2 (Ep3) Down to Earth: Scientific Integrity in the Era of “Fake News”

November 24, 2021 10:24 - 17 minutes - 16.4 MB

In the era of “fake news”, false and misleading information has become a disease, spreading rapidly through internet channels and leading to a decrease in the public’s trust in science. So what are scientists doing about it? In this episode, we speak with Dr. Manil Maskey to learn how stewardship of datasets and training models plays a key role in ensuring scientific integrity in the field of remote sensing. Using AI datasets and training models as an example, we look at who is responsible f...

S2 (Ep1) Down to Earth: A ”Time Series” of Machine Learning in Earth Observation

November 01, 2021 15:27 - 28 minutes - 28.8 MB

From its rudimentary emergence in the 50s, to the more recent development of deep learning, machine learning been an complete game changer when it comes to being able to quickly interpret and act on remote sensing data. In this episode, we speak with three scientists, Dr. Jón Atli Benediktsson, Dr. Paolo Gamba, and Dr. Naoto Yokoya, to trace the evolution of machine learning in earth observation and how it has permanently shifted the earth observation landscape!

Down to Earth: Mentorship in Geoscience

May 14, 2021 15:58 - 25 minutes - 29.6 MB

Throughout our episodes, the importance of mentorship and support has been a major recurring theme for guests’ success in the geosciences. In our final episode of Down to Earth, we speak with Dr. Qian Zhan and Dr. Josée Lévesque about their participation in the GRSS Women Mentoring Women program, and how it allowed both to grow in their careers, as well as their personal lives.

Down to Earth: Sharing SAR on Social Media

April 30, 2021 20:54 - 24 minutes - 30 MB

Supporting your fellow scientists comes in many forms. In this episode, Dr. Gopika Suresh tells us how she uses social media to promote the work of radar remote sensing specialists, and how an opportunity with the Twitter group “Sisters of SAR” led her to become an editor for a special section in the Journal of Remote Sensing.

Down to Earth: Intersectionality in Remote Sensing

April 17, 2021 15:57 - 27 minutes - 35.7 MB

For geoscientists who address issues such as food security and climate change, incorporating an intersectional approach is essential. That’s why Dr. Alyssa Whitcraft makes intersectionality a cornerstone of her research. In this episode, we discuss how concepts of justice and equity can be woven into geoscience work Content Warning: This episode includes mentions of depression and postpartum anxiety. Our guest shares some of her experiences in these areas while on her journey in geoscience....

Down to Earth: The Power of Travel

April 02, 2021 19:07 - 22 minutes - 27.2 MB

They say parents have a huge impact on their children. In this episode, we learn how one person in Dr. Chayma Chaâbani’s life inspired her to become an avid traveler, which has since led to a career in natural disaster remote sensing.

Down to Earth: Generational Change in Remote Sensing

March 18, 2021 16:46 - 24 minutes - 31.5 MB

Dr. Chris Schmullius has been a geoscientist since the 80s. From work in industry, to a professorship in academia, she’s seen a lot over her 40+ year career! In this episode, she shares some of the changes that she’s seen, both in forest mapping (her main scientific focus), as well as for geoscientists in general.

Down to Earth: Entrepreneurship in the Geosciences

March 02, 2021 04:39 - 25 minutes - 34.1 MB

What happens when you decide to jump into the field of remote sensing late in your career? You carve your own path to success of course! In this episode, we follow Dr. Nkeiruka N. Onyia’s journey from complete novice to successful geoscience entrepreneur and researcher!

Down to Earth: All Things SAR

February 15, 2021 18:06 - 25 minutes - 32.5 MB

Inspired by the beauty and diversity of the Guatemalan ecosystems surrounding her hometown, Africa I. Flores-Anderson has been passionate about protecting the environment since she was a child. Wearing her passion as a shield, she has overcome both economic and gendered barriers to become a geoscientist. In this episode, we learn about her journey, and the incredible work she has since completed using Synthetic-aperture radar (SAR).

Down To Earth: Remote Sensing and Forest Fires

January 14, 2021 19:03 - 20 minutes - 26.6 MB

In this episode, we speak to Morgan Crowley, a PhD candidate who specializes in mapping forest fires with free satellite software. We discuss her switch from the Arts to Science, and how her past experiences prepared her for solving ecological challenges.