How can we use data to improve environmental human rights? This is the mission of the Better Planet Laboratory, a group of data scientists and creatives working to apply data and analytics to sustainable development and human rights. Zia Mehrabi and Naia Ormaza Zulueta will present together on the Better Planet Lab at the Institute of Behavioral Science Speaker Series April 7.
- Who: Zia Mehrabi, Assistant Professor of Environmental Science at CU Boulder and Better Planet Laboratory Founder; Naia Ormaza Zulueta, PhD Student in Environmental Studies at CU Boulder
- When: Monday, April 7 from 12 – 1 p.m. MT
- Where: Richard Jessor Building, Room 155 or via Zoom (email ibs-contact@colorado.edu for passcode)
- Field: Environmental Studies, Data Science, Human Rights, Human Geography
For their talk, Mehrabi and Zulueta will present the Better Planet Laboratory’s recent work. The lab mapped waterways across the world using satellite data. They used these waterway maps to improve rural accessibility to healthcare, schools, and markets. The talk will also demonstrate other Lab work mapping the agricultural workforce at high resolution alongside safe working conditions under a changing climate.
“If time allows, we will open out some key directions on where researchers at the Institute of Behavioral Science and elsewhere can work to fill knowledge gaps to support and improve decision making around environmental human rights in their own work,” says Zia Mehrabi.
The IBS Speaker Series is open to all CU Boulder faculty, staff, and students as well as the public. This talk is hosted by the CU Population Center and the Population Program at the Institute of Behavioral Science.
This talk is specifically of interest for people who:
- Are concerned about human rights in a changing climate.
- Are curious how data can be used to solve environmental and human rights issues and what insights arise from using data in this way.
- Are interested in data science, environmental studies, social justice, international affairs, and sustainability.
About the Speakers:
Zia Mehrabi is an assistant professor of environmental studies at CU Boulder. He is also founder of the Better Planet Laboratory, a group of data scientists and creatives who build data products and services to solve problems in development for a better and fairer planet. Zia’s research interests include food security, climate change, biodiversity, human health, welfare, infrastructure, and technology. He received his BA in Biological Sciences in 2011 and PhD in Philosophy in 2016, both from the University of Oxford.
Naia Ormaza Zulueta is a PhD student in environmental studies at CU Boulder. She is a current postgraduate “la Caixa” fellow, has collaborated with the UN Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights, and holds a double B.Sc. in Physics and Electronic Engineering and an M.Res. in Methods and Models of Quantitative Economics. Naia’s current research quantitatively analyzes the number of people whose right to a healthy environment has been violated both presently and in the future.
