Fortune Tellers of the Future: How Conservationists Can Chart the Future One Map at a Time

Climate change is happening at increased velocity and with increasing severity. Characterized as the 6th Mass Extinction, against these massive challenges, how do conservationists keep up? Maps have long held our imaginations; from Thar be dragons to shaping our understanding of foundational scientific concepts such as biogeography, plate tectonics, and more recently with visualizing the spread of a global pandemic in near real-time. Can geography captivate us once again to help us shape the future we want to see? What is the historical context of the challenges and opportunities we find our communities faced with? This talk explores the history of environmental policy and the ways in which conservationists are responding to familiar challenges and new opportunities, pushing the boundaries of GIS technology and revolutionizing how we approach and scale conservation efforts in these unprecedented times. The theme is one of hope and encouragement, as we examine how the conservation community applies the "science of where" to create digital twins of our fragile planet; facilitating greater understanding of the complex interactions of our social, economic and environmental systems to design a more resilient and sustainable future.