Geospatial applications for food, water and energy nexus in the drylands of Africa from a citizen’s perception

Lecture given by Francis Oloo

The Value of Local Knowledge

Unexpectedly for me, this turned out to be my favorite talk so far in this lecture series. It was Dr. Oloo’s personal approach to conducting geospatial analysis and, for that matter, science in general as well that really pulled me into this talk. During the lecture Dr. Oloo stated that he did not want to conduct “science for science’s sake but science to influence communities.” And he was very thoughtful and practical about doing just that with his work. Often there is push back against “dumbing down” scientific findings as if it would make them less impactful, meaningful, or impressive. But your analysis and findings mean nothing if you cannot communicate them to others. So, I really appreciated that he embraced and thought about simplifying his findings and translating them into the local language. Not only did his perspective on the purpose of his projects and analyses resonate very strongly with me and reflect my reasoning for wanting to follow with path of study but the ways in which he found to actually implement this view into his work provided an inspired blueprint for those wanting to do the same in their work which I greatly appreciated.

Another unique aspect of Dr. Oloo’s talk that drew me in was his approach to using qualitative data in geospatial analyses. Qualitative and quantitative approaches to geospatial analysis had previously seemed almost antagonistic or incompatible to me, but I thought his take, to use geospatial methods and data for verification was innovative in that it placed qualitative data at the forefront of the analysis instead of using it to merely bolster or add to quantitative data as an afterthought. So often quantitative data and data analysis are heralded as the right answer, people blindly trust it, but Dr. Oloo seems to have flipped that view on its head which I find really exciting. This approach seemed to give more weight, to privilege qualitative data over quantitative, which I feel does not happen often.

As a result of how much value he places on both doing science that serves communities and on qualitative date, it comes as no surprise that Dr. Oloo seemed to have a high regard for local knowledge. He even gave an example of where local knowledge corrected geospatial analysis: his group was trying to use imagery and geospatial analyses to try and identify green areas that would be suitable for farming. In some cases, they identified green areas within drylands as suitable for farming. However, when they talked to locals about these green fields, the locals informed Dr. Oloo’s team that these areas were infested with invasive species and this not suitable for farming. The conclusions from the geospatial analyses would not have been correct if not for the addition of the locals’ knowledge. I share this example because, as silly as this may sound, I had never seen an example like that. In my studies, quantitive geospatial analyses have always been made out to be irrefutable or at the very least complete on their own, but Dr. Oloo effectively demonstrated the necessity of qualitative data and local knowledge for accurate analysis. Before I had only seen qualitative data as non-essential embellishments but I have some to see differently now. Considering that I want to work with local populations to reduce vulnerability and I aim to do this through better scientific communication, I think Mr. Oloo’s perspective and example was invaluable.

One last piece of knowledge I gleaned from this talk, as well as the previous ones, is that many of the experts in the geospatial field are currently working in fields that are not exactly the same field they necessarily got their degree in Rather, in their studies these experts learned skills that allowed them to pivot into different fields, and through their studies and work they found new passions and fields of interest that they have used their skills to break into or combined it with their previous area of study. This realization has helped me put my career in perspective and is keeping me curious about the future for sure.

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