Machine Learning in Ecological Science and Environmental Policy

ICML 2011 Tutorial: Machine Learning in Ecological Science and Environmental Policy

Topic Overview

This tutorial will review opportunities for machine learning research in ecological science and environmental policy. We will present examples of existing and emerging applications of machine learning and challenges for machine learning research.

Target Audience

Machine learning researchers, especially graduate students and junior faculty. We will assume familiarity with graphical models (primarily directed models) and plate notation.

Presenters

Tom Dietterich, co-PI Computational Sustainability NSF Expedition grant, Director of Intelligent Systems Research at Oregon State University. Species distribution modeling, multi-label classification, MDPs for wildfire management.
Rebecca Hutchinson, Postdoctoral Scholar at Oregon State, PhD CMU 2009 (Tom Mitchell), expertise in species distribution modeling with partial detection, variable expertise, etc. Assessing population trends and range shifts. Boosting and graphical models.
Dan Sheldon, Postdoctoral Scholar at Oregon State, PhD Cornell 2009 (John Hopcroft), bird migrations, managing Red Cockaded Woodpecker populations, radar ornithology, probabilistic learning and inference

Tutorial Slides

Download the tutorial slides

Outline of the Tutorial

Introduction: from data to models to policies
Data acquisition: Sensors, Human Observers, Re-purposing existing data networks.
- Case study 1: Sensor placement
- Case study 2: Computer vision for species monitoring
- Case study 3: Finding swallow roosts using Doppler weather radar
Ecological Models and Methods for Learning Them
1. Species distribution models (SDMs)
  - Case study 1: SDMs from Presence-only data using MaxEnt
  - Case study 2: Building SDMs from eBird data: STEM
  - Case study 3: Building SDMs from eBird data: Detection, Expertise
  - Open Problems
  - Inappropriate extrapolation: SDMs and Climate Change
2. Dynamical Models
  - Case study 1: Collective graphical models of migration
  - Case study 2: Meta-population Models: SPOMSIM
  - Connection to network cascades
Policy Creation and Optimization
- Case study 1: Linking populations of red cockaded woodpeckers
- Case study 2: Robust optimal solution of Fisheries Management MDPs
- Case study 3: Spatio-temporal Ecosystem Management: Wildfire in Eastern Oregon
- Case study 4: POMDPs: Managing a difficult-to-observe invasive species