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  • Delivering Addresses (and Access) to the Navajo Nation

    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

    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

    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

    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

    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

    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

    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

    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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  • Road Salt Is Imperiling Aquatic Ecosystems. It Doesn't Have To.

    March 11, 2021 |

    Undark |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Lake George, New York

    An experiment in upstate New York showed how town officials could maintain clean and safe roads during the winter season and protect the environment. By using a salt brine before winter storms, they were able to plow the roads more efficiently and, at the same time, reduce the amount of salt going into waterways that could impact freshwater ecosystems. The effort, launched by the nonprofit FUND for Lake George, required “a culture shift within the towns’ maintenance departments,” but the communities were able to cut their salt usage in half over two years.

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  • How new technology is helping to identify human rights abuses in the seafood industry

    February 25, 2021 |

    The Counter |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: Ghana

    A growing number of governments, companies, and nonprofit organizations are working together with new technology and data to identify fishing vessels that are breaking laws and engaging in human rights violations. Using satellite imagery and tracking signals, for example, a philanthropic company and a nonprofit worked with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime to help the Ghanian navy arrest four vessels for illegal fishing practices. Technology by itself won’t stop forced labor and unregulated ships, but it can be helpful for cash-strapped governments looking to increase oversight of their fisheries.

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