ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ) – Scientists from Virginia Tech were at the center of the action when a five-year competition came down to 48 hours in the Brazilian Rainforest.
They were part of an international team that took top honors and the $5 million grand prize in the XPRIZE Rainforest Competition.
Back in July, Julie Allen and other members of the Limelight Rainforest Team were in a remote part of Brazil with a unique mission, to identify as many species as possible in a plot of rainforest in 24 hours and do it using remote technology.
“We collected images. We collected acoustics, sounds from birds and bats, and we also collected DNA,” Allen told WDBJ7. “The DNA we collected is called environmental DNA and that was primarily what my lab was in charge of.”
Along with Postdoctoral Associate Nyomi House, Lab Manager Isabella Burgos and some “awesome undergraduates,” Allen said she is proud of how the team worked under enormous pressure and challenging conditions.
And she said she is hopeful, the technology they pioneered will have a life beyond the competition.
“Let’s just get all the tech that we can, and see how fast, how quickly can we identify species in the forest. How can we level up the sampling that we’re doing to really start rapidly surveying species,” she said.
That’s important because many species are disappearing, especially in places like the rainforest that are under intense pressure.
The XPRIZE Rainforest Competition is over. Limelight Rainforest took top honors when the winners were announced earlier this month as the G20 Summit was getting under way in Rio de Janeiro.
But Allen said she and others are now thinking about the next step, and the best way to make the most of what they’ve learned.
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