Imag(in)ing Change: Exploring the Role of Earth Observation in Achieving Just Land Systems

GES Seminar Series

Dr. Laura A. Sauls
Assistant Professor
Global Affairs Program
George Mason University

Imag(in)ing Change: Exploring the Role of Earth Observation in Achieving Just Land Systems

As geospatial data and technologies have gone from the provenance of government science agencies and university labs to broad availability around the world, different interest groups have been able to use satellite-based and near-earth observation to collect and produce their own data and maps capturing landscape features and change.

The increasing accessibility of spatial data and data collection technologies allows user groups historically seen as non-experts to produce their own geospatial products and make techno-scientific appeals to governments, donors, and the public.

In some cases, especially related to sites prized for biodiversity conservation and perceived as under threat from deforestation, different interest groups may use geospatial data as the basis for maps that represent drastically divergent visions of the nature, degree, and urgency of threats.

Far from objective representations of reality, these data and spatial representations signify different imaginaries of what is and could be in a given landscape, as well as who and what belong in it.

Through three case studies across rural Central America, this talk will examine the ways in which Earth observation is changing political, social, and ecological trajectories, with specific attention to the possibilities for more just land systems.

Questions? Contact David Lansing at dlansing@umbc.edu.