Purdue digital forestry team advances to biodiversity challenge finals
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A team of Purdue University and Illinois Institute of Technology competitors has qualified for the finals of a global challenge in tropical biodiversity.
The XPRIZE Rainforest competition is a five-year challenge with a total $10 million prize purse. More than a dozen semifinalist teams in the contest were tasked with collecting as much biodiversity data as possible over 24 hours in the rainforests of Singapore. They were then given 48 hours for analysis.
The Purdue and Illinois Institute of Technology team, called Team Welcome to the Jungle, was one of two semifinalist teams to cover about 150 acres of rainforest using drone technology. Experts in civil, mechanical and aerospace engineering from the two schools worked with researchers from Natural State, which operates a research center in Africa, and the Morton Arboretum in the Chicago suburbs.
“We have a unique set of skills that allow us to be highly impactful,” Purdue PhD student Joshua Carpenter said in a news release. “We team up with people who have the scientific knowledge. When we have the chance to bring those skills to bear to help improve the world, we want to do it.”
The XPRIZE Rainforest finals will take place next year and be similar in format to the semifinal competition. Six finalist team will be given 24 hours to survey and 48 hours to process data from a more challenging, 247-acre area.
“Working collaboratively, our team has been able to obtain crucial insights about the health and biodiversity of the rainforest,” Purdue Associate Professor Jinha Jung said. “Our joint efforts illustrate the power of interuniversity collaboration in addressing critical environmental challenges.”