Patrick J. McGovern Foundation Expands Commitment for Earth Index to Meet the Moment

mikel
Earth Genome
Published in
2 min readOct 24, 2024

We are excited to announce that Earth Genome has been awarded a $300,000 grant from the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation to respond to rapidly increasing demand for Earth monitoring for everyone with Earth Index.

This past year we’ve completely redesigned the Earth Index experience in close collaboration with our users, and built the infrastructure to process Earth observation data and monitor change at large scale. Now, this greatly appreciated support comes at a pivotal moment for the Earth and AI. This technology must be in the hands of those directly addressing our most urgent environmental problems, to detect and monitor harmful land use activities, empower action, and identifies the best opportunities for investments in nature-based solutions. With this support, we will be able to build up our technical team to keep building fast, expand coverage to the entire globe, and support our growing user base.

“We see a world where communities shape their own futures by accessing data that credibly reflects their experiences. Earth Genome’s Earth Index brings that vision to life. By making satellite data accessible and actionable, the platform removes barriers to critical information, giving communities the tools to address their unique challenges. Earth Genome’s novel approach aligns with our commitment to empowering people through data, ensuring that our tech-enabled future serves human needs,”

- Vilas Dhar, President of the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation

Working with the entire Patrick J. McGovern Foundation team has been exceptionally collaborative, and productive. This grant stands on the shoulders of multiple years of support, as well as incredible generosity and partnership from the Rockefeller Foundation and Craig McCaw Family Foundation. And in addition, Earth Index is now in demand as part of paid service work on several active projects like identifying locations of GHG emissions from factory farming globally, and monitoring forests with sustainable agricultural certification organizations.

We’re excited to share more details on those projects soon, as well as details on our roadmap for the year ahead. With Earth Index, we plan to greatly accelerate availability of data to frontline environmental defenders worldwide, so their focus can be squarely on the challenge of implementing environmental and societal change. Let’s get mapping!

About the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation

The Patrick J. McGovern Foundation (PJMF) is a philanthropic organization dedicated to advancing artificial intelligence and data science solutions to create a thriving, equitable, and sustainable future for all. PJMF works in partnership with public, private, and social institutions to drive progress on our most pressing challenges, including digital health, climate change, broad digital access, and data maturity in the social sector.

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Earth Genome
Earth Genome

Published in Earth Genome

We build technology to create data, apply science, influence, guide and measure effective actions on the most pressing climate and conservation issues of our times.

mikel
mikel

Written by mikel

Mapper. Coder. Earth Genome. OpenStreetMap Foundation. HOT. former Mapbox / Presidential Innovation Fellow. Views are my own.

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