Data Science Applications for Analyzing Mangrove Response to Climate Change

Details

Mission and objectives

Morobe Development Foundation Inc. is a leading Internationally recognised NGO based in Lae Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea who has the vision to help young people reach their full potential by utilizing their hidden talents in community development initiatives so they can realize their potential and become a role model in the community. MDF was established to address a broader and more diverse range of objectives and work through the use of dance, music and drama, MDF’s primary aim is to ensure that women participate equally in decision making in any project undertaken, including projects related to Ending Violence against Women, and promoting Human Rights with a aim to support the Government and UN their Development Goals. MDF, in collaboration with Online Volunteers engaged through the UNV's Unified Volunteer Platform (UVP), has also undertaken various scientific research studies related to the environment - forest cover loss, land use land cover change, the influence of various parameters on surface waters, and coastal shoreline turtle habitat loss. These projects included the participation of various experts and researchers from diverse fields across various countries across the globe - ranging from marine biology, biodiversity conservation, PNG community management, remote sensing, and land use policy among various others. MDF is managed by a management committee, which is made up of the Chairman, the Deputy Chairman, Secretary, the Treasurer, the Project Coordinator, Community Development Officer, and a male and female member of the foundation, and ensures that women participate equally in decision making. We at MDF assert that we have the required skill sets, knowledge, established international network, and the necessary foundational work to undertake projects successfully.

Context

Morobe Development Foundation Inc. is a not-for-profit organization based in Papua New Guinea and was established to promote sustainable community development initiatives and thereby address several exigent issues – ranging from environmental conservation to women's rights – that are hindering the progress of the region. Mangrove forests play a crucial role globally, supporting the livelihoods of millions of people living along coastlines while contributing significantly to economies worldwide through ecosystem services valued between billions of dollars annually. These services include shoreline stabilization, providing habitats for diverse benthic macrofauna, and supplying food, honey, and timber. Beyond their economic and social benefits, mangrove forests offer scalable and cost-effective natural climate solutions by sequestering carbon in biomass and soil/sediment. Globally, the potential of mangrove forests to mitigate climate change is significant, with the capacity to offset a substantial percentage of annual fossil fuel emissions through carbon sequestration. Few of our ongoing projects focus on applications of various remote sensing technologies for monitoring forest biomass, tracking land use land change patterns, evaluating climate change impacts, and conserving sea turtle habitats. We are currently looking for online volunteers who are passionate about data science and mangroves/sustainability-related topics and are enthusiastic about enhancing their research writing skills (approximately 20 hours per week for 12 weeks) to support us in this research collaboration. The objective of this research is to understand how mangroves will respond to climate change scenarios in the next century, through climate projection techniques and establish the carbon sequestration potential of carbon by carbon emission modelling. The selected online volunteers with a background in data science will collaborate in the climate projections of mangrove response in the next century, for this, R programming skills are needed, additionally contribute to the development of carbon emission models to estimate the amount of carbon sequestered by this ecosystem.

Task description

Morobe Development Foundation (MDF) Inc. is looking for 6 (six) Online Volunteers who have expertise in data analysis, R programming knowledge, climate projection and carbon emission modelling and a background in the field of data science, preferably also in forestry, mangroves, sustainability, remote sensing, or related areas. Selected online volunteers would be expected to assist the MDF team with: 1. Data analysis-related and programming tasks for the establishment and analysis of climate change projection under different scenarios in the next century and carbon emissions modelling 2. Tools development that allows simulate the respond of mangroves under different climate change scenarios (e.g. sea level rise) 3. Journal article writing (drafting preparation and literature review). 4. Grant proposal support (drafting and literature review). The topic of the current research is: "Understanding how mangroves will respond to climate change in the next century and how much carbon emissions they are sequestering” The results of this project will be included in a peer-reviewed journal article, and based on the level of contributions, the online volunteers would be acknowledged (with a certificate) and/or invited to be a co-author. Students looking into applying for PhD programs are highly encouraged to apply.