Luis Carrasco Tornero

Applied Scientist
luiscartor (at) gmail.com
luis.carrasco (at) descarteslabs.com
Descartes Labs

Biography

I am a geospatial scientist with a background in ecology and conservation. I do applied research in sustainability for businesses, government and non-profits. My research focuses on analyzing satellite data to measure and monitor carbon, deforestation, and biodiversity.

I currently work as an applied scientist at Descartes Labs, where I mainly analyze satellite data, combining it with multiple other datasets to create dynamic products for the measurement and monitoring of deforestation and biomass. I am also working on a satellite-based biodiversity monitoring system. Formerly, I was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Tokyo, and at NIMBioS/University of Tennessee, where I worked on forest structure measurements with lidar, habitat and crop historical mapping, environment-biodiversity relationships, protected areas and climate change, etc. Prior to that, I also worked at the Center of Ecology and Hydrology (CEH) in the UK, collaborating with the creation of the UK's national Land Cover Map. I obtained my PhD at the University of Tsukuba, Japan, where I studied the habitat selection of colonial herons and egrets. I studied my bachelor's degree in physics and my master's degree on biodiversity conservation at the University of Valencia, Spain, where I found my passion for nature and for looking at the earth from above.

Journal Publications

  1. Carrasco L., M. Mashiko, Y. Toquenaga. 2014. Application of random forest algorithm for studying habitat selection of colonial herons and egrets in human-influenced landscapes. Ecological Research 29: 483-491.
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  2. Carrasco L., Y. Toquenaga, M. Mashiko. 2015. Extrapolation of random forest models shows scale adaptation in egret colony site selection against landscape complexity. Ecological Complexity 24: 29-36.
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  3. Carrasco L., Y. Toquenaga, M. Mashiko. 2017. Balance between site fidelity and habitat preferences in colony site selection by herons and egrets. Journal of Avian Biology 48: 965-975.
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  4. Carrasco L., P. Vera, E. Belda, J.S. Monrós. 2017. Combining remote sensing and field mapping methods to study the vegetation dynamics within a coastal wetland and determine the habitat effects of a threatened bird species (Emberiza schoeniclus witherbyi). Journal of Coastal Research 34: 42-49.
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  5. Carrasco L., L. Norton, P. Henrys, G.M. Siriwardena, C.J. Rhodes, C. Rowland, D. Morton. 2018. Habitat diversity and structure regulate British bird richness: Implications of non-linear relationships for conservation. Biological Conservation 226: 256-263.
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  6. Carrasco L., A.W. O'Neil, R.D. Morton, C.S. Rowland. 2019. Evaluating combinations of temporally aggregated Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2 and Landsat 8 for land cover mapping with Google Earth Engine. Remote Sensing 11: 288.
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  7. Scholefield P., D. Morton, G. McShane, L. Carrasco, M.G. Whitfield, C. Rowland, R. Rose, C. Wood, E. Tebbs, B. Dodd, D. Monteith. 2019. Estimating habitat extent and carbon loss from an eroded northern blanket bog using UAV derived imagery and topography. Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment 43: 282-298.
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  8. Carrasco L., X. Giam, M. Papeş, K.S. Sheldon. 2019. Metrics of lidar-derived 3D vegetation structure reveal contrasting effects of horizontal and vertical forest heterogeneity on bird species richness. Remote Sensing 11: 743.
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  9. Hunt M., C.S. Rowland, G.A. Blackburn, L. Carrasco, J.W. Redhead. 2019. High resolution wheat yield mapping using Sentinel-2. Remote Sensing of Environment 233: 111410.
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  10. Liang W., A. Mongi, L. Carrasco, J. McNelis, L. Tran, Y. Li, J. Grant. 2020. Mapping vegetation at species level with high-resolution multispectral and lidar data over a large spatial area: A case study with kudzu. Remote Sensing 12: 609.
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  11. Sarzynski T., X. Giam, L. Carrasco, J.S.H. Lee. 2020. Combining Radar and Optical Imagery to Map Oil Palm Plantations in Sumatra, Indonesia, Using the Google Earth Engine. Remote Sensing 12: 1220.
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  12. Carrasco L., M. Papeş, E.N. Lochner, B.C. Ruiz, A.G. Williams, G.J. Wiggins. 2020. Potential regional declines in species richness of tomato pollinators in North America under climate change. Ecological Applications 31: e02259.
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  13. Carrasco L.., M. Papeş, K.S. Sheldon, X. Giam. 2021. Global progress in incorporating climate adaptation into land protection for biodiversity since Aichi targets. Global Change Biology 27: 1788-1801.
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  14. Sahneh F. et al. 2021. Ten simple rules to cultivate transdisciplinary collaboration in data science. PLoS Computational Biology 17(5): e1008879.
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  15. Carrasco L., X. Giam, K.S. Sheldon, M. Papeş. 2022. The relative influence of history, climate, topography and vegetation structure on local animal richness varies among taxa and spatial grains. Journal of Animal Ecology 91 (8): 1596-1611.
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  16. Carrasco L., G. Fujita ,K. Kito, T. Miyashita. 2022. Historical mapping of rice fields in Japan using phenology and temporally aggregated Landsat images in Google Earth Engine. ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing 191: 277-289.
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  17. Atkins, J.W., P. Bhatt, L. Carrasco, ... K. Krause. 2023. Integrating forest structural diversity measurement into ecological research. Ecosphere: 14:9, e4633.
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  18. Hunt M.L., G.A. Blackburn, G.M. Siriwardena, L. Carrasco, C.S. Rowland. 2023. Using satellite data to assess spatial drivers of bird diversity. Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation: 10.1002/rse2.322
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Data Publications

  1. 12 DOI-associated datasets related to the UK Land Cover Map 2015.
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  2. Carrasco L., Go Fujita, Kensuke Kito, Tadashi Miyashita. 2021. Historical rice field maps of Japan. Mendeley Data, V1, DOI: 10.17632/v4xmd5kgck.1
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  3. Carrasco L., Giam, Xingli; Sheldon, Kimberly S.; Papes, Mona. 2022. The relative influence of history, climate, topography and vegetation structure on local animal richness varies among taxa and spatial grains, Dryad, Dataset, https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.x0k6djhmx
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Web Apps

  1. TAMBO Project. 2021. Historical rice field maps of Japan.

Magazine and blog articles

  1. SENSED. 2017 (Issue 65). Dissecting avian behaviour from space.

  2. MasScience. 2020. Bosques, láseres y diversidad de aves (In Spanish).

Featured Media

  1. NEON - Observatory Blog. 2019. Studying relationships between forest structure and bird biodiversity.

  2. Anthropocene Magazine. Berly McCoy. 2021. Climate change compels us to reconsider protected area borders.

  3. National Science Foundation - News. 2021. Climate change forces rethinking of conservation biology planning.

  4. YALE - Climate Connections. Molly Matthews Multedo. 2021. How climate change could harm some wild bee populations.

  5. THE LANCET - Planetary Health. Sam Hinsley. 2021. Protected area adaptability.

Selected Conference Presentations

  1. Choosing the best or avoiding the worst? 2013. 60th Ann. Meeting of ESJ, Japan. Poster presentation.

  2. Rule of the thumbs of different lengh in colony site selection of herons and egrets. 2014. 61th Ann. Meeting of ESJ, Japan. Contributed Talk.

  3. Using remote sensing for the study of the vegetation dynamics of a coastal Mediterranean wetland and its effect on the habitat availability of a threatened passerine. 2014. 26th International Ornithological Congress, Japan. Poster Presentation.

  4. Inexpensive satellite images + long-term census data = evolution of habitat selection 2014. 26th International Ornithological Congress, Japan. Poster Presentation.

  5. From remote sensing to avian behavior: changes in colony site selection strategies of herons and egrets. 2016. Symposium on Space - The Final Frontier for Biodiversity Monitoring?, UK. Poster Presentation.

  6. Using remote sensing to study changes in habitat selection of avian species over time. 2016. Remote Sensing & Photogrammetry Soc. Ann. Meeting, UK. Poster Presentation.

  7. Developing methods for UK Land Cover Mapping with Sentinel-2. 2016. Remote Sensing & Photogrammetry Soc. Ann. Meeting, UK. Poster Presentation.

  8. Breeding site selection in multi-species bird colonies: changes in selection strategies over time. 2016. British Ecological Society Ann. Meeting, UK. Poster Presentation.

  9. Environmental heterogeneity regulates bird richness at a 1-km scale in Great Britain. 2017. British Ecological Society Ann. Meeting, UK. Poster Presentation.

  10. Temporal aggregations of Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2, and Landsat 8 for land-cover mapping . 2018. Remote Sensing & Photogrammetry Soc. Ann. Meeting, UK. Poster Presentation.

  11. LiDAR-derived 3D structural metrics reveal opposite effects of horizontal and vertical forest heterogeneity on bird richness. 2019. Ecological Society of America Ann. Meeting, USA. Contributed Talk.

Invited Talks

  1. Changes in colony site selection strategies of herons and egrets over the years: new statistical methods for studying habitat selection. 2014. 30th Ann. Meeting of the Society of Population Ecology, Japan.

  2. Habitat structure and animal diversity. 2019. Conservation Science Group Meeting, University of Tennessee, US.

  3. Habitat heterogeneity as a driver of species distribution and diversity. 2020. Gunshu Seminar, Department of Ecosystem Studies, University of Tokyo, Japan.

Invited Workshops

  1. The Impact of Climate Changes on Animal Populations. 2015. Erice, Italy.

  2. NERC Valuing Nature - Business Impact School. 2016. London, UK.

  3. NSF - Lemmon Lab: Collaborations between data scientists and domain scientists. 2019. Tucson, AR, US.

  4. NSF - Exploring New Dimensions of Forest Ecosystems with Structural Diversity. 2020. Purdue University, US (Online).

Grants and Awards

  1. International Exchange Program. 2006-07. University of Valencia, Spain.

  2. Japanese Government Monbukagakusho Scholarship for Graduate Students. 2011-15. Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan.

  3. Doctoral Program in Biological Sciences Dean's Award. 2015. University of Tsukuba, Japan.

  4. Best Poster Prize. 2016. Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry Society Annual Meeting. Birmingham, UK.

  5. Recipient of NIMBioS Postdoctoral Fellowship in Mathematical Biology. 2018. Awarded by the NSF's National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis. Knoxville, TN, US.

  6. Recipient of Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science Postdoctoral Fellowship. 2020-21. Standard Program. Tokyo, Japan.

  7. Recipient of Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research. 2020. Awarded by the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), $12,000. Tokyo, Japan.