Affiliate researchers from the University of Georgia Charles van Rees and Matt Chambers attended the Missouri River Natural Resources Committee 2024 Conference in Nebraska City, Nebraska. They were joined by EWN Practice Lead Dave Crane and University of South Dakota professor Mark Dixon. The group led a 4-part plenary around their NASA-funded project that will leverage satellite imagery, artificial intelligence and automated recording units to produce predictive models that can estimate the biodiversity benefits of floodplain restorations along the Mississippi-Missouri river system.
The project, funded by a Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Science (ROSES) Ecological Conservation grant, addresses a need for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to better understand biodiversity and ecosystem services in its decision-making on levee setbacks—a kind of natural infrastructure or nature-based solution that reconnects rivers with their floodplains. Read more about this exciting work from our partners at UGA’s Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems here.
The group also worked together in a Missouri River trivia contest and won third place, with a “sweet prize” (pictured below). Great job, team!
Featured image (top): David Crane, USACE-EWN, presenting at the IRIS affiliates lead plenary at Missouri River Natural Resources Committee 2024 Conference. Photos provided by Charles van Rees.
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