Nathalie Pettorelli has pioneered the use of satellite imagery to inform conservation policy. The Zoological Society of London ecologist received an award this year from British Prime Minister David Cameron for her guerrilla efforts to promote women in science.

How did you come to use satellite imagery for conservation?

Credit: L'Oréal for Women in Science

I was very interested in conservation but found that more data would be available if I focused on wildlife management. For my PhD at the Laboratory of Biometry and Evolutionary Biology in Lyons, I studied the habitat quality of a roe-deer population in southwest France that is managed by national hunting offices. Two months later, I started a postdoc at the University of Oslo to study the impact of climate on vegetation and deer-population dynamics. It was then that I started to look at satellite data to quantify vegetation productivity. I trained myself in the use of remote-sensing data, for example, those collected from aircraft or satellites.

Were they easy to apply to conservation?

No. Experts told me it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to use these tools to study wildlife. I thought the best way was to see for myself. At the time, no one I knew was working with remote sensing: it was taught in geography, not biology. The turning point was when NASA released free satellite data. I wrote a review on the satellite data I wanted to use, and started to meet people in that community. Now I am well connected.

How did you first apply these techniques?

I did a postdoc at Laval University in Quebec, Canada, using satellite data to monitor dynamics in ungulates. Then a job at the Zoological Society of London took me on several trips to the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania to work on cheetah dynamics. Although that work did not lead to real-world conservation measures, other projects have.

What successes are you most proud of?

I used satellite data to show that the vegetation dynamics of a game reserve in Chad could sustain a reintroduction of Scimitar-horned oryx (Oryx dammah). I am also proud of my work to highlight how the declining health of mangroves in Bangladesh and India has contributed to erosion of the coastline — of up to 100 metres in 2 years. I have also been working to improve policymakers' use of satellite data to inform decision-making.

What is Animove?

Together with colleagues, we wanted to train people to work at the interface of biological monitoring and remote sensing. Animove is our programme to build that capacity. We have taught a hands-on course every year since 2013 in North America and Europe, and the goal is to bring it to Africa, Asia and South America.

What is Soapbox Science?

Seirian Sumner, a behavioural biologist at the University of Bristol, UK, and I founded Soapbox Science in 2011. By then, we had each won a L'Oreal-UNESCO women in science fellowship and were interested in science communication, yet had noticed fewer female colleagues as we progressed in our careers. I found myself working on issues involving hunters, which was not female-friendly. We wanted to change perceptions of what a scientist looks like. We organize events to showcase 12 female scientists who speak about their work in busy areas of cities — such as the South Bank in London or near a tube exit in Newcastle. The women present their work, and the public can heckle or ask questions. We were surprised to get a call from the prime minister's office this year announcing that we had won a Point of Light award for making a change in the community.

Did landing a permanent position make a big difference?

It took me years to get it. But even before I had job security or a title, I wrote a book, started Soapbox Science and have been pushing at an international level for greater use of satellite imagery. Success is not a one-way road. It's possible to achieve a lot even when a job situation isn't stable.Footnote 1