Episode 47: Bridging the data divide between ecology and infrastructure
The story of the energy transition is told in many languages: meter-scale satellite imagery, hyperlocal atmospheric data, ecological sustainability studies, infrastructure sustainability studies and more. Understanding the full story requires researchers to harmonize data collected across political lines and scientific disciplines at different scales, on varying platforms, and by organizations with varying assumptions and methodologies. In this episode, Dr. Michael Young talks about his approach to bringing all these elements together into collaborative systems that serve all stakeholders.
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Episode 46: Modeling Desert Water in a Changing Climate
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Episode 46: Modeling Desert Water in a Changing Climate
There is both an art and a science to understanding our changing planet, and mastering that intersection requires decades of curiosity, collaboration, and innovation—and experience.
From pioneering instrumentation at Yucca Mountain to developing regional and global models that inform water management and climate risk, Drs. Lorrie and Alan Flint have demonstrated the importance of long-term data, interdisciplinary collaboration, and the evolving role of science in public decision-making. In this episode, we sit down with the Flints, retired USGS research hydrologists and current co-directors at Earth Knowledge, to explore their decades-long journey through soil physics, desert hydrology, and climate modeling. They discuss the challenges of scaling models across diverse environments, integrating remote sensing, and their commitment to mentoring the next generation of scientists.
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Episode 45: Engineering the future with Earth's oldest materials
Every structure around the world has one thing in common: they are built on a foundation of rock and soil. Unfortunately, the physical properties of these materials are as varied as the structures upon them.
This variability has long forced geotechnical engineers to rely on instinct and experience when determining the most cost-effective safe solution. Since safety cannot be sacrificed, the margin of error must be covered with more robust and costly solutions than necessary in every case. In an industry where the consequences of error range from costly to catastrophic, Terracon is on a mission to replace educated guestimates with measurable, repeatable data. In this episode of We Measure the World, we talk to Arash Hosseini, Ph.D., P.E. and Matthew Ridgway, P.E. of Terracon about what it takes to make site-specific measurements consistent, accurate, and scalable.
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Episode 44: How soil thermal and moisture data drive renewable energy in Germany
Kai-Julian Hendler is a geotechnical consulting engineer at Boley Geotechnik in Munich, Germany. He holds a master’s degree in Civil Engineering, with a specialization in geotechnical engineering from the University of Lisbon. Over the past 8 years working at Boley Geotechnik, he has been a site engineer on port construction projects in South Africa, Guinea, and Australia. In his current role, he focuses on the geotechnical challenges of infrastructure projects for railways, metros, and roads.Christoph Verschaffel-Drefke is a Geotechnical Engineering and Hydrology Coordinator for Transnet BW, a transmission systems operator in Germany. After getting his degree in Geoscience Engineering, he worked on several research projects based around the heat dissipation of underground cables. During his 6 years working at TransnetBW, he has overseen projects relating to thermal soil investigation, thermal dimensioning, bedding materials of cables, and heat emissions.
Colombia