Freshwater

NASA Earth Observatory image modified by SkyTruth

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Drilling Detection with Machine Learning Part 1: Getting to Know The Training Data

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Intern Sasha Bylsma explains the first steps in teaching computers how to detect oil and gas well pads from satellite imagery.

This blog post is the first in a three-part series describing SkyTruth’s effort to automate the detection of oil and gas well pads around the world using machine learning. This tool will allow local communities, conservationists, researchers, policymakers, and journalists to see for themselves the growth of drilling in the areas they care about.

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SkyTruth Visualization and App of Drilling Near Chaco Canyon Available to Activists and Others

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The Bureau of Land Management has permitted intensive oil and gas drilling around Chaco Culture National Historical Park, threatening a landscape that supports one of the most important cultural sites in the world.

Many tribal groups have voiced concerns about the spiritual, cultural, physical and health impacts from drilling in the area. To illustrate the extent of drilling in recent years, SkyTruth created an animation of wells surrounding Chaco Culture National Historical Park to inform the debate around drilling in the area.

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Brendan Jarrell: Mentor for SkyTruth Interns and So Much More

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Being a SkyTruth intern was intimidating at first, but Brendan found support and outstanding opportunities to grow at SkyTruth. Now he helps others find their way.

Brendan Jarrell sounds a bit like a proud papa when he talks about SkyTruth interns. Brendan coordinates SkyTruth’s intern program, but once upon a time he was an intern himself. If you’re thinking about a SkyTruth internship, read Brendan’s story about how he gained confidence and is now a SkyTruth staff member.

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Alice Foster’s Internship Triggered New Excitement About Her Career Possibilities

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Before her internship, Alice felt burnt out at school. After applying new skills and technologies to environmental projects at SkyTruth, she’s looking forward to her remaining classes and a fulfilling career.

As Alice wraps up her four-month internship at SkyTruth, she shares some highlights and takeaways from her experience. During her internship she explored the field of geospatial technology for the first time. She learned about global environmental issues that she hadn’t known existed. And she got to work with — as she puts it — a kind, dedicated, creative group of people.

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SkyTruth Board Member Mary Anne Hitt: Activist Extraordinaire

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Mary Anne Hitt has led Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign to extraordinary national success. But she honed her skills in Appalachia, with a little help from SkyTruth.

You might say Mary Anne Hitt has Appalachian activism in her blood. When she was growing up in Gatlinburg, Tennessee her father was Chief Scientist at Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Back then, acid rain was decimating high elevation forests in the East, fueled by pollution from coal-fired power plants. Her father watched as iconic places in the park turned into forests of skeleton trees. Today, Mary Anne is National Director of Campaigns for the Sierra Club; and she also serves on SkyTruth’s board of directors.

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