Shah Selbe on Clubhouse

Bio

NatGeo Explorer, nonprofit founder (Conservify & Fieldkit.org), NatGeo Image Collection photographer, conservation technologist, New England Aquarium Fellow, Poptech Social Innovation Fellow, UW Madison Nelson Institute Fellow, NatGeo Fellow (2016-2020), XPRIZE advisor, environmentalist, and former rocket scientist. I live and work on Tongva land.

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Full bio:
I am a photographer, engineer, conservation technologist, and NatGeo Explorer that works with communities, NGOs, and governments to identify and deploy technologies that can help with wildlife conservation and environmental protection. I’ve been an Explorer with the National Geographic Society since 2013 and a NatGeo Fellow from 2016-2020.

I started a nonprofit technology development laboratory called Conservify that develops things like apps, conservation drones, open source sensors, mobile technologies, and more. This work has included water quality characterization in Peru's Boiling River, biodiversity protection in Botswana's Okavango Delta, tracking glacial melt in Canada's Banff National Park, understanding the behaviors of Congo's lowland gorillas, helping citizen scientists monitor water in the Amazon Rainforest, drone-based monitoring of Sri Lanka’s blue whales, and many more diverse activities across the globe.

Our main initiative is FieldKit.org, which is an open-source software and hardware platform (environmental sensors, app, and data portal) that allows individuals and organizations to collect and share field-based research data and tell stories through interactive visualizations. In 2021, it will be in use across 29 countries and with partners like UCLA, City of New York, Wildlife Conservation Society, National Geographic, and many diverse groups and users. FieldKit won the $150k 2019 Hackaday Grand Prize for best product development.

My photography is represented by National Geographic Image Collection. I am also a Nelson Institute Fellow at the University of Wisconsin Madison, a New England Aquarium Ocean Conservation Fellow, PopTech Social Innovation Fellow, Buckminster Fuller Challenge finalist, UCR Alumni Award winner, and Rolex Laureate Award finalist. Before this work, I spent 10 years as a rocket scientist (spacecraft propulsion engineer) building and launching satellites with Boeing.

Feel free to reach out to me on DM on Twitter and Instagram below. Or you could email me at [email protected]