Reimagining the Future for Historic Land
What was just an abandoned farm in Simsbury a few years ago will now be a cherished park connecting people with the rich agricultural and natural history of the Connecticut River Valley. Landscape Architecture students worked on plans to best preserve and honor the site, called Meadowood, and its interconnected ecological and historical legacy.
Climate Adaptation
Remote sensing researcher, Chandi Witharana
AI to Track Permafrost Thaw
Real-time tracking for a really big challenge
As the Arctic warms at nearly four times the global rate, permafrost — ground that has remained below 0° C for at least two consecutive years — that underlies much of the region is thawing rapidly. Thawing of the permafrost causes widespread ground collapse and infrastructure damage, threatens Arctic communities, and releases carbon into the atmosphere.
A $5 million grant from Google.org’s Impact Challenge on Climate Innovation to an international research team including UConn remote sensing expert Chandi Witharana is supporting the development of a new, open-access resource using satellite data and artificial intelligence (AI) technology to make it possible to track Arctic permafrost thaw in near real-time for the first time.
To-date, real-time analysis of permafrost thaw has been out of reach due to the limitations of remote sensing and satellite imagery analysis. This new resource — an expansion of the Permafrost Discovery Gateway (PDG) — will use AI to streamline the data analysis process and make it easier to rapidly identify patterns and trends in permafrost thaw datasets that will be essential to informing climate mitigation and adaptation strategies.
Cattle and Climate
More milk has always meant more money for dairy farmers. That simple fact has helped farmers decide which cows to breed and which to put out to pasture.
Urban Forestry Meets Justice
The work of Cynnamon Dobbs, assistant professor of natural resources and the environment, and Mayra Rodríguez González, assistant UConn Extension educator in urban and community forestry, focuses on urban forestry and environmental justice, specifically working with Connecticut’s Hispanic and Latino communities.