Heather Lynch, Institute for Advanced Computational Science (IACS) Endowed Chair for Ecology & Evolution and AI Institute Affiliated Faculty, will be focusing more of her time on science engagement and AI over the coming year. She has been selected as a 2020/2021 American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Alan I. Leshner Leadership Institute Public Engagement Fellow as part of a cohort of 12 researchers focused on artificial intelligence.
Lynch’s award-winning work on population dynamics of Antarctic wildlife utilizes AI and Computer Vision (CV) to analyze satellite imagery of Adélie penguins colonies as a way of understanding their spatial and temporal patterns to forecast population changes and potential extinction due to climate change. Her research team has also created CV tools for annotating imagery of pack-ice seals and whales. As part of this research, she also communicates with and enlists the help of K-12 students and citizen scientists to discover penguin colonies via available satellite images.
"The Leshner Fellowship is an amazing opportunity to work alongside other researchers to bridge the gap between cutting edge research and the public,” said Lynch. “This year's emphasis on AI was well-timed for me. As my own research becomes more and more dependent on automation and machine learning, this is a great opportunity to step back and really think about how to communicate the work effectively.”
The AAAS Leshner Fellowship program focuses on a different theme each year. This year’s theme is AI. The program was designed to train mid-career faculty in science engagement on a local level, within the university, and in broader communities including policymakers in Washington, DC. “Over the course of the next year, I'll be working with AAAS staff and the other fellows on a range of new projects relating to science engagement and I look forward to bringing all that back to campus to help train the next generation of AI-focused researchers," said Lynch. The fellowship also provides in-kind funds for organizing AAAS Science Engagement activities/workshops on campus.
In June 2020, the selected Fellows will meet for a week of training at AAAS headquarters in Washington, DC. Their instruction will better prepare them to communicate about AI and related topics to the public.