Partner Spotlight – Predict Ecology
About CEO Dan Keane and Predict Ecology
Daniel is a tropical ecologist, from the Wet Tropics region of Queensland, Australia. He is also the co-founder and managing director of Predict Ecology, an environmental and ecological consulting firm with a focus on rigorous science, real-world data, and predictive modelling. Daniel has worked with mining, infrastructure, and conservation, for local and multi-national companies.
Daniel has always felt a need for a consolidated, tamper proof, generator-owned, data repository. Big digital data is ubiquitous; however, its origin, validity, and accessibility are not.
This can be a problem when undertaking activities which require data to have five V’s: volume, velocity, variety, veracity, and value; activities such as predictive modelling, compliance monitoring, and machine learning.
Daniel sees blockchain technology as an opportunity to create a self-serve, generator rewarded, big data service, while achieving the five V’s.
As an ecologist modelling and monitoring biodiversity, the single biggest problem faced is access to volumes of high-quality data, that are verified and indexed.
Bitcoin could allow an incentive-based system for collection, verification, indexing, and dissemination of environmental and ecological data; such as the water quality of a river system, the weather of a region, or even the historical actions taken on a mine site that is now closing.
A blockchain-based, user pays, self-serve model of a data service, would allow environmental and ecological modelling and monitoring to blossom.
Modelling WeatherSV data.
WeatherSV collaborated with Predict Ecology last year to utilise the ledger stored data with scientific modelling software tools. These methods can be utilised to add value to data while creating incentives for the provision and application of such tools.
As part of these trials we created an animated heat map of last years European heat wave was created.
Click here for animated version
Blockchain, Biodiversity, Carbon Sequestration and Ecosystem Services
Predict Ecology is working on a method of capturing carbon using vegetation, using directly planted tree seeds followed by species enrichment using Australian native conifers and animal attracting species (i.e. native figs).
Under this methodology and in-accordance with international carbon accounting the planted conifers will be in-place and monitored for a minimum of 50 years, and thanks to the immutability of the blockchain, will be accessible as a time-series dataset for this period.
It is proposed the planting block be monitored yearly using UAV mounted multi-spectral sensors and modelled with Predict Ecology’s in-house AI engine for recording species level carbon sequestration and species diversity. Additionally, fauna biodiversity will be monitored utilising motion activated remote cameras, and sound recorders.
Predict Ecology will implement automated IoT water quality and volume sensors, to demonstrate the improved ecosystem services/function created by the restoration (for biodiversity and carbon sequestration). All recorded data will be validated and verified using traditional field survey techniques to ensure quality assurance.
The combined validated datasets will be loaded to the BSV ledger utilising the MetaStreme transaction processor, allowing the data to be indexed and retrieved in a self-serve “pay-per-view” framework, open to researchers and modellers world-wide.
Ultimately this data will represent a verifiable “on-chain” assets, enabling a tokenised market of these real-world assets including carbon, biodiversity, and ecosystems service tokens.
We at MetaStreme are extremely proud to partner with Predict Ecology in developing systems that will help deliver positive outcomes for the health and welfare of the environment, ecosystems and inhabitants of planet Earth.
