WinteR Meetup: Geodata and Landscape Insights with R

We look forward to the next Zurich R User Meetup, sponsored and co-organized by Volodymyr Trotsiuk from the WSL, the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow, and Landscape Research.

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Schedule:

06.15 pm Doors open
06.30 pm Introduction / Welcome by the organizing team
06.45 Introduction by the WSL
06.50 pm Talks (see below)
ca 07.50 Take the Stage: Pitching job ads, ideas, events, ...
ca 08.00 - 09.00 pm Apéro
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Volodymyr Trotsiuk: Data scientist, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL.

Introduction to WSL and R usage in the institution (5 min)

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Dominique Weber: Technical staff member, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL.

Ecological infrastructure planning

The development of an ecological infrastructure supports the long-term protection and promotion of biodiversity in Switzerland. We support the Canton of Zurich in this planning and use R to process and analyze extensive and mainly open geodata on protected areas and their connectivity, and to model potential new areas. In this presentation we will show how we have used R to build a reproducible geospatial processing pipeline and what we have learned in the process.

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Micah Wilhelm: Scientific assistant, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL.

FORTE app: online tools for forests today and tomorrow

Over the years, the need for accurate and accessible data on forest conditions and future projections has grown in Switzerland. The Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL has responded with tools like FORTE Now and FORTE Future, which aggregate real-time and predictive data on tree growth, water stress, defoliation, and habitat suitability for over 30 tree species. These R Shiny applications empower users to explore forest health and climate resilience from local to national scales, illustrating the current and future impacts of climate change. Additionally, educational versions for young students were developed using fictional narratives to underscore the societal effects and adaptive strategies needed for forest sustainability.

How to get to WSL:
https://www.wsl.ch/en/about-wsl/locations/wsl-birmensdorf/