Seminar by Associate Professor Dalia Conde Ovando
Associate Professor Dalia Conde Ovando and her colleague Asst Professor Fernando Colchero of SDU (University of Southern Denmark) will be visiting us on Tuesday 17th January. Dalia Conde Ovando will give a talk on her work at 10am. The location is Kommunehospital CSS22-0-19 (auditorium next to the labs), easiest entrance from Bartolinsgade/Nansensgade.
Dalia A. Conde is an Associate Professor at the department of Biology in SDU and Director of Science at Species360, a data-driven NGO, in which she launched and leads the Conservation Science Alliace. Fernando Colchero is an Associate Professor at the department of Mathematics and Computer Science (IMADA) at SDU, and he is the Principal Statistical Analyst at Species360. Please find the title and abstract of her talk below.
Title: Harnessing the data revolution to help slow down the extinction rates: from basic science towards influencing global policies
Abstract:
The escalating power of machine learning, big data and exascale computing provides biologists and conservation practitioners with essential tools to address one of humanity’s greatest challenges as identified by the World Economic Forum 2022: biodiversity loss. The design and implementation of species conservation strategies directly rely on accessing a high variety and volumes of information on species’ genetics, habitat, threats and human use. Despite promising advances in digital infrastructure and open data, we are still struggling to provide essential analytics for effective decision-making. In this talk, we will show examples of the results of a global initiative aiming to map, quantify and disseminate species open information to conservation policymakers globally. Furthermore, we will show examples on how these efforts heavily rely on the development of basic science in collaboration with an extensive network of collaborators addressing key evolutionary demography questions across species.