Felix Specker
Felix is a Geospatial Data Scientist at the Crowther Lab, ETH Zurich, specializing in remote sensing, geospatial analysis, and machine learning. His work focuses on global vegetation monitoring and trait mapping, leveraging Earth observation data to gain a deeper understanding of ecosystems and biodiversity. He holds a Master’s in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics and a Bachelor’s in Environmental Sciences, both from ETH Zurich.
Sessions
Monitoring ecosystem restoration efforts at scale remains a significant challenge, despite their critical importance for ecosystem recovery and biodiversity conservation. Publicly funded satellite missions such as Sentinel-2 and Landsat offer opportunities for global-scale monitoring, thanks to their high spatial and temporal resolution, provided these data can be meaningfully linked to ecosystem characteristics. Here, we use a variety of remote sensing time-series products developed within the scope of the OEMC project consortium, including variables that quantify vegetation traits, indices, and soil health characteristics. These datasets are available at annual intervals for a period of up to 25 years, with a spatial resolution of 30 meters or higher. This is crucial for monitoring restoration efforts of smallholder farmers, given the often sub-hectare plot sizes. We apply our methodology to three restoration project data bases: (1) a controlled scientific experiment comparing the effects of different reforestation practices in Costa Rica, (2) a large global database of nature-based carbon offset projects, and (3) sites from the Restor.eco database, a global network of restoration projects. For each site, we analyze changes over time by comparing pre- and post-intervention trends and explore methods for identifying suitable control sites to isolate the effects of restoration. Altogether, this work supports global restoration tracking, empowering local farmers and smallholders by demonstrating that their efforts have an impact at a global scale.