Webinars
Upcoming Webinars
Valuing Marine Ecosystem Services for Better Decisions
Wednesday, April 8, 1 pm US EDT/10 am US PDT/5 pm UTC/6 pm BST. Presented by: Angela Fletcher and Glen Delaney of Earth Economics. Description: Marine and coastal ecosystems provide many ecosystem services that are essential to human communities, including food, recreational opportunities, and protection of infrastructure from natural disasters. These benefits are not often framed in economic terms, which can lead to them being overlooked in decision-making. Communicating ecosystem services in economic terms can support more holistic decision-making that accounts for the full range of benefits these systems provide. In this webinar, Angela Fletcher and Glen Delaney of Earth Economics will introduce the fundamentals of ecosystem service valuation and demonstrate how they have applied these methods in marine and coastal contexts. Earth Economics is a nonprofit economic consultancy with 26 years of experience applying valuation techniques in decision-making, policy, and project implementation. They will begin with a brief overview of ecosystem services and valuation basics, then walk through three real-world case studies that illustrate how valuation can inform conservation, restoration, and policy decisions: a valuation study of kelp forests along the California coast; the use of valuation to inform a National Marine Sanctuary application for the St. George Unangan Heritage site; and how valuation can support funding for salmon habitat restoration in the Duckabush Estuary in Washington State.
Coastal Marine Litter Observatory: Combining drones and AI for real-time beach and coastal monitoring
Thursday, April 16, 10 am US EDT/7 am US PDT/2 pm UTC/3 pm BST/4 CEST/5 pm EEST. Presented by: Kostas Topouzelis of Scidrones. Description: Marine litter is a significant environmental problem that can dramatically affect flora and fauna and have severe economic impacts on coastal communities, tourism, and fisheries. Currently, most mapping protocols for marine litter in the coastal environment rely on conventional on-site sampling, with limited ability to spatially display concentrations of coastal zone marine waste. To provide real-time, actionable data, Scidrones has created the Coastal Marine Litter Observatory (CMLO), an online platform that detects, maps, and monitors marine litter in the coastal zone using Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) and machine learning. UAS aerial images – collected using the Scidrones data acquisition protocol and uploaded to the CMLO platform – provide wide area coverage of actual litter, and machine learning algorithms are used to detect marine litter and categorize it (i.e., plastic, paper, metal, cloth, glass and ceramic, rubber, and wood). Marine debris in the coastal zone is then visualized through high-resolution density maps and spatiotemporal analytics, enabling scalable, operational monitoring and empowering stakeholders to take precise, data-driven action for cleaner beaches and coastlines. A free trial covering 1 km of coastline is available, allowing users to test and explore the platform’s capabilities.
Past Webinars
The Rapidly Changing Arctic
This webinar was presented by Fran Ulmer, Chair of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission. Hon. Fran Ulmer provided an overview of the rapid changes that are taking place in the Arctic..
La herramienta para Evaluación de Servicios Ecosistémicos a Escala de Sitio (TESSA)
Por Isadora Angarita de BirdLife International. La herramienta para Evaluación de Servicios Ecosistémicos a Escala de Sitio (TESSA por sus siglas en inglés), ofrece una ..
Ocean Prosperity Roadmap: Fisheries and Beyond
The Ocean Prosperity Roadmap: Fisheries and Beyond is a new collection of research designed to inform decision makers..
A Community-Based Tool for Designing TURF-Reserves
Small-scale coastal fisheries are central to the health of the ocean, livelihood, poverty alleviation and food security for millions around the world..
Toolkit for Ecosystem Services Site-based Assessment (TESSA)
The Toolkit for Ecosystem Services Site-based Assessment (TESSA) provides practical step-by-step guidance for conducting an ecosystem services assessment at the site scale.
Ocean Parks and the 2016 National Park Service Centennial
The National Park Service is entrusted with managing 86 ocean and Great Lakes parks across 22 states and four territories.
Land Cover Products for Understanding Water Quality Impacts
Land use and land cover have significant impacts on ecosystem health—with impervious surface runoff and natural areas that provide flood protection or pollutant filtering being obvious examples. ..
Monitoring Progress: The Biodiversity Indicators Dashboard
he Biodiversity Indicators Dashboard is a web-enabled, interactive dashboard that enables tracking of biodiversity and conservation performance data in a clear
Inspire Ocean and Climate Literacy and Conservation through MPAs
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Office of National Marine Sanctuaries serves as the trustee for a system of fourteen marine protected areas..
Mapping Ocean Wealth
Mapping Ocean Wealth is a new initiative to deliver scientifically rigorous information about ocean benefits in a way that helps decision-makers make choices about investments..