NTC Now is a program launched by the Nature Tech Collective where members drop in to present time, exchange updates, and connect. Each event kicks off with a special guest, followed by a pulse on the nature tech sector and community including member only special announcements, updates and activities.

Special Guest, Kevin Halsey

Our guest this week was Kevin Halsey, co-founder of the Ecosystem Intelligence Platform and Senior Ecosystem Services Analyst at EcoMetrix Solutions. He joined NTC Now from Montana outside Glacier National Park — a spectacular region of glaciers, alpine meadows, and carved valleys.

Decision Support Tools for Nature & Biodiversity

Originally an environmental attorney, Kevin shifted his career to decision support for ecological processes. “I was in a position where all of the bad decisions had already been made, and we were arguing over why they were made and who's to blame, as opposed to changing the way decisions were made. So I really shifted my focus to more decision support. My partner, Kenna is an ecologist. So we started working on decision support around ecological processes and how to integrate that into project decision making.”

Nature-based decision making is a fundamental shift in how businesses are learning to operates today and has picked up momentum in this last year. Kevin, his partner, and his team are not newcomers to the space beginning with an engagement for the Department of Transportation in Oregon over 20 years ago to design a process that would replace 400 bridges across the state.

Ecosystem Intelligence Platform

Their Ecosystem Intelligence tool is a next generation ecosystem quantification platform developed in collaboration with The DOW Chemical Company and The Nature Conservancy. Models have been applied in over 40 countries and numerous biomes. They have now reimagined their tool as a SaaS product together with Microsoft and are developing educational support to help flatten the learning curve and improve accessibility to make this powerful tool available to more leadership teams across the world.

Want to learn more about Kevin & Ecosystem Intelligence Platform?

Connect with Kevin via Linkedin or visit the Ecosystem Intelligence Platform website.

Community Led Events

During this week’s call, members also learned of several community-led programs emerging within the Nature Tech Collective ecosystem which isis an exciting evolution

1. Scaling Conservation from Local to Global.
   Led by a large international conservation organization. This forthcoming series will focus on key gaps and opportunities to scale conservation globally.

2. Reconciling Ground Truth Data with Earth Observation.
   Led by Mozaic Earth, in this forthcoming series speakers we’ll hear from both sides of the data equation to understand where the gaps are and how to accelerate interoperability. This program is especially of interest because a member of the community based in Ecuador with an enterprise UX and design background has stepped up to help facilitate the series.

3. Joint Partnership Announcement.
   Two members of the NTC, who many consider as competitors, have approached the NTC to help coordinate a joint announcement. This signals an increasing trend

4. Indigenous Data Rights and Contracts.
   As we heard last week from Drea Burbank, Indigenous People’s are not properly consulted or included to help guide the development and design of the global biodiversity credit market. This forthcoming event series will explore emerging alternatives to help change that.

Interested to learn more about nature tech?

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