4. Dr. Martha Ledger, Earth Observation Scientist - The Biodiversity Impact Podcast

Recorded at Borneo’s Danum Valley field station, this episode features Dr. Martha Ledger, an Earth Observation Scientist and postdoctoral fellow at the University of Hong Kong. From a childhood fascination with maps to detecting penguin colonies from space, Martha shares her journey into remote sensing and why fieldwork is crucial for validating satellite data. We dive into the often-held view of Earth Observation data as the gold standard for business and government decision-making — but Martha is on a mission to ensure it’s always paired with ground-truthed, field-validated data to ensure responsible inferences.

Together, we explore how Earth Observation tackles urgent environmental and social issues, from monitoring carbon loss in tropical peatlands to mapping forced labor risks. Martha also discusses the role of AI in managing vast datasets, the environmental footprint of satellites, and her vision for a more open and connected future in science.