SKYTRUTH: THE VIEW FROM ABOVE

JOHN AMOS, PRESIDENTROTARY CLUB OF SHEPHERDSTOWN - JANUARY

11, 2011

A picture is worth 1,000 words.

A picture is worth 1,000 words.

A picture is worth 1,000 words.

Images of beauty.

Delta, Madagascar

Images of beauty.

Sand waves, Bahamas

Images of beauty.

Open-pit mine, Peru

Images of beauty.

1986

Images of beauty.

2008

SKYTRUTHSATELLITE IMAGES AND MAPPING TO

INVESTIGATE AND ILLUSTRATE ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES• Oil and gas drilling• Coal mining• Hardrock mining• Deforestation / forest change• Urban growth• Pollution• Climate change

SKYTRUTH

501(C)(3) NON-PROFIT INCORPORATED IN 2001• 2 FTE, 6-person Board of Directors, volunteers• Offices in Shepherdstown (Entler Hotel)

PROGRAM FUNDING• Private foundations, donors, fees for services

EXPLORING COLLABORATION WITH SHEPHERD UNIVERSITY• Government grants (NASA)

SKYTRUTH

PROGRAM EXAMPLE

POLLUTION MONITORING AND MEASUREMENT

Katrina – Gulf of Mexico, 2005Montara – Australia, 2009BP / Deepwater Horizon – Gulf, 2010

August 21, 2009: Oil well on the new Montara platform 125 miles off the coast of Western Australia “blows out,” spewing oil into the Timor Sea

Platform is evacuated. Response crews begin to spray dispersant on oil slicks. Conflicting accounts about size, extent, and location of slicks.

SkyTruth provides independent information on the extent and location of slicks

August 30 - Patchy slicks extend across 2,500 square miles

Offshore Oil and Gas Drilling and ProductionStill Pose Risks

John Amos, SkyTruth

Capitol Visitor’s CenterWashington, DC – November 4, 2009

SKYTRUTH AND SHEPHERD

EXPLORING COLLABORATION WITH SHEPHERD• Student partnerships: internships, volunteers,

classroom work• Faculty partnerships: project development and

implementation• Institutional partnership: grant opportunities

(NASA), working with other institutions• Informal teaching opportunities for SkyTruth

SKYTRUTH: THE VIEW FROM ABOVE

www.skytruth.orginfo@skytruth.org