Machine learning and big data to better understand the cultural value of ecosystems

Humans are driving a worldwide loss of biodiversity and altering the planet’s biogeochemical cycles. Ecosystem services allow us to understand and value the contributions of ecosystems to human well-being. One of the most important but least understood aspects are the cultural contributions of ecosystems. A key challenge is gaining a comprehensive overview of these contributions. Volunteered geographic information, such as on social media, coupled with the power of machine learning, promise a new wave of understanding. This research sets out to take advantage of these new opportunities to generate novel insights into the contributions of ecosystems to human well-being.