Monday, 24th March - 12pm, Robert Soden Title: Towards the Development of a Public Climate Observatory: The View from TorontoAbstract: We are awash in climate data. Over the past three decades have witnessed non-linear advances in technologies including satellite imagery, urban sensors, geographic information systems, and machine learning aimed at helping understand the global environment and our relationships to it. Despite this, much of the world is lagging behind on implementing effective climate action. In this talk I’ll consider this apparent contradiction and draw on insights from fields such as human-computer interaction and science and technology studies, as well as my own work in Toronto to consider how we might begin to think differently about the data we use to respond to the climate crisis. I will also describe how these insights are shaping ongoing efforts to create a public climate observatory for the City of Toronto.Bio: Robert Soden is an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science and the School of the Environment at the University of Toronto. Robert is an interdisciplinary scholar whose work is improving the data and information that experts, governments, and communities use to respond to climate change and disaster. Current projects include redesigning the data and indicators used to support monitoring progress towards urban resilience, ethnography and design research into improving the accessibility of severe weather risk communication, and the development of equitable climate and disaster risk models.Robert holds a PhD in Computer Science from University of Colorado Boulder and an MA in Natural Resources and Sustainable Development from American University. Prior to joining the University of Toronto he was a postdoctoral research scientist at Columbia University and a visiting researcher at the Stanford Urban Resilience Initiative. Robert’s professional background includes work with the World Bank’s Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery, the World Resources Institute, and the United States National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA). His research is funded by diverse organizations including NSERC, SSHRC, the NSF, the Natural Hazards Center, and University of Toronto’s Data Science Institute. Mar 24 2025 12.00 - 13.00 Monday, 24th March - 12pm, Robert Soden This event is co-organised by ILCC and by the UKRI Centre for Doctoral Training in Natural Language Processing, https://nlp-cdt.ac.uk. G.03, Bayes and on Teams
Monday, 24th March - 12pm, Robert Soden Title: Towards the Development of a Public Climate Observatory: The View from TorontoAbstract: We are awash in climate data. Over the past three decades have witnessed non-linear advances in technologies including satellite imagery, urban sensors, geographic information systems, and machine learning aimed at helping understand the global environment and our relationships to it. Despite this, much of the world is lagging behind on implementing effective climate action. In this talk I’ll consider this apparent contradiction and draw on insights from fields such as human-computer interaction and science and technology studies, as well as my own work in Toronto to consider how we might begin to think differently about the data we use to respond to the climate crisis. I will also describe how these insights are shaping ongoing efforts to create a public climate observatory for the City of Toronto.Bio: Robert Soden is an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science and the School of the Environment at the University of Toronto. Robert is an interdisciplinary scholar whose work is improving the data and information that experts, governments, and communities use to respond to climate change and disaster. Current projects include redesigning the data and indicators used to support monitoring progress towards urban resilience, ethnography and design research into improving the accessibility of severe weather risk communication, and the development of equitable climate and disaster risk models.Robert holds a PhD in Computer Science from University of Colorado Boulder and an MA in Natural Resources and Sustainable Development from American University. Prior to joining the University of Toronto he was a postdoctoral research scientist at Columbia University and a visiting researcher at the Stanford Urban Resilience Initiative. Robert’s professional background includes work with the World Bank’s Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery, the World Resources Institute, and the United States National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA). His research is funded by diverse organizations including NSERC, SSHRC, the NSF, the Natural Hazards Center, and University of Toronto’s Data Science Institute. Mar 24 2025 12.00 - 13.00 Monday, 24th March - 12pm, Robert Soden This event is co-organised by ILCC and by the UKRI Centre for Doctoral Training in Natural Language Processing, https://nlp-cdt.ac.uk. G.03, Bayes and on Teams
Mar 24 2025 12.00 - 13.00 Monday, 24th March - 12pm, Robert Soden This event is co-organised by ILCC and by the UKRI Centre for Doctoral Training in Natural Language Processing, https://nlp-cdt.ac.uk.
