MIDAS Seminar Series Fall 2021
Large-scale Mapping of Corals to Guide Reef Conservation
Coral reefs are changing at unprecedented rates, and the majority of reefs are undergoing widespread losses in live coral cover. Management and policy development efforts focused on conserving and restoring coral reefs are hampered by a lack of geographically consistent and actionable high-resolution information on the location, extent and changing condition of coral reefs. Here I present new methods and findings on coral reefs at two scales. First, based on a new operational airborne mapping technique using ASU's Global Airborne Observatory (GAO), I will demonstrate the unique perspective provided in mapping living corals throughout the eight Main Hawaiian Islands to identify coral refugia as well as reefs for coral restoration. Second, we are developing and deploying a new satellite-based coral reef mapping capability, called the Allen Coral Atlas (named after the late Microsoft co-founder, Paul G. Allen), which for the first time defines global coral reef extent, composition and condition. As complementary programs, the GAO and Allen Coral Atlas inform management actions and demonstrate the tactical role that coral reef mapping can play to support decision-making at large ecological scales.
Greg Asner is Director of the Center for Global Discovery and Conservation Science at Arizona State University. He is a Professor in ASU's School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning and n the School of Earth and Space Exploration. He also serves as an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Earth System Science at Stanford University. Asner graduated with a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the University of Colorado, Boulder in 1991, followed by service in the U.S. Navy. He earned masters and doctorate degrees in geography and biology, respectively, from the University of Colorado in 1997. He then worked as a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University until he returned to Colorado as a professor in the geological sciences department. In 2001, he became a staff scientist at the Carnegie Institution for Science, which was followed by his move in 2019 to start the Center for Global Discovery and Conservation Science. Asner has served in numerous national and international posts including the NASA Senior Review Committee, U.S. Carbon Cycle Science Steering Group, U.N. Diversitas Program, NASA-Brazil LBA Steering Committee, and as a Senior Fellow for the U.S. State Department. Asner is a recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award, NASA Career and Group Achievement awards, Fellow of the American Geophysical Union, and the Heinz Award for the Environment.