Nadine Laporte Explained

Nadine Therese Laporte is a researcher and academic in the fields of forestry and remote sensing.

Early life and education

Nadine Therese Laporte was born in France. She is the only child of two farmers from a small farming community.^[1]

Laporte was the recipient of several French government and European grants to pursue higher education in France and Italy.^[1] She obtained a Diploma of General Studies in Sciences in 1982, Bachelor of Biology in 1984, Master in[Biology of Organisms and Populations in 1985, Advanced Studies Degree in Ecology in 1986, and a [[Doctorate]] in Tropical Ecology and Remote Sensing in 1990, which was a relatively new field at the time.^[1] She received her PhD from Paul Sabatier University in Toulouse.

While in school she interned at the Laboratory for International Mapping in France because Paul Sabatier University did not have a remote sensing division. This was a relatively new field at the time.^[2]

Career

Prior to becoming a scientist at the Woods Hole Research Center, where she was director of the Africa program,^[3] she conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Maryland in College Park and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt Maryland.

She is adjunct research professor at Northern Arizona University.^[4]

Research

Much of Laporte's research focuses on mapping and monitoring carbon emissions, deforestation, and forest biomass. The main area of study is tropical and sub-tropical land masses. Much of her work has focused on Africa, particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).^[2] The satellite remote sensing data is used to assess how much CO₂ would be released into the atmosphere if a forest were to be cut down, based on the amount of biomass in existing trees. It can also help record the amount of biomass, which then contributes to these CO₂ estimates. This recording of biomass is not only to assess CO₂ emissions, but also to contribute to the conservation of forest species, including primates.^[3]

Laporte's research contributed to tropical forest policies a part of REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation.)^[5] REDD+ is a policy mechanism to reduce carbon emissions by helping to protect tropical forests and lessen deforestation. She assisted the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to quantify forest carbon stocks and emissions reporting for REDD+ under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This method was suggested because it would help protect biodiversity, people living in the area, and maintaining stored carbon in these tropical ecosystems.^[6]

Other roles

Laporte has been a panelist and guest speaker for NASA,the ClimateWorks Foundation,^[7] Woods Hole Research Center, and several other research programs.

She was the principal investigator for NASA’s Land-Cover and Land-Use Change Program (LCLUC) project: An Integrated Forest Monitoring System (INFORMS) for Central Africa. This project began in 2000 and ended in 2003. Collaboration between multiple entities, including in-country National Forest Services, developed a forest monitoring system in this study.^[8] She was also the principal investigator for the project Forest Biomass and Land-Use Change in Central Africa: Reducing Regional Carbon Cycle Uncertainty, starting 2004 and ending in 2007. This study aimed to develop remote sensing that could be utilized for national reporting.^[9]

Publication

Laporte's articles have been published in Nature Climate Change,^[10] Carbon Balance and Management,^[11] Science,^[12] International Journal of Remote Sensing,^[13] Society for Conservation Biology,^[14] Environmental Conservation,^[15] Environmental Research Letters,^[16] International Forestry Review,^[17] American Journal of Primatology,^[18] and Nature Sustainability.^[19]

Personal life

Laporte married Scott Goetz, a professor of informatics, computing, and cybersystems at Northern Arizona University.^[4]

Notes and References

1. N. T. Laporte, personal communication, 2022
2. Nadine Laporte. (n.d.-b). Scinapse.
3. Bagwell, R. (2022). Mapping the Changing Forests of Africa. Earthdata. https://www.earthdata.nasa.gov/learn/sensing-our-planet/mapping-the-changing-forests-of-africa
4. Scott Goetz. (n.d.). Northern Arizona University. https://experts.nau.edu/en/persons/scott-goetz/network-persons/
5. Bertazzo, S. (2019). What on Earth is ‘REDD+’? https://www.conservation.org/blog/what-on-earth-is-redd/
6. Butler, R. (2008). Forest carbon credits could guide development in Congo. Mongabay Environmental News. https://news.mongabay.com/2008/05/forest-carbon-credits-could-guide-development-in-congo/
7. In the Spotlight: April 2, 2021. (2021). The NAU Review – the Official News Source for Northern Arizona University. https://news.nau.edu/spotlight-april-2-2021/
8. An Integrated Forest Monitoring System for Central Africa | LCLUC. (n.d.). https://lcluc.umd.edu/projects/integrated-forest-monitoring-system-central-africa
9. Forest Biomass and Land-Use Change in Central Africa: Reducing Regional Carbon Cycle Uncertainty | LCLUC. (n.d.). https://lcluc.umd.edu/projects/forest-biomass-and-land-use-change-central-africa-reducing-regional-carbon-cycle
10. 2. Baccini, A., Goetz, S., Walker, W. et al. (2012). Estimated carbon dioxide emissions from tropical deforestation improved by carbon-density maps. Nature Climate Change 2, 182–185 https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate1354
11. Goetz, S.J., Baccini, A., Laporte, N.T. et al. (2009). Mapping and monitoring carbon stocks with satellite observations: a comparison of methods. Carbon Balance Management 4, 2 https://doi.org/10.1186/1750-0680-4-2
12. Laporte, N. T., Stabach, J. A., Grosch, R., Lin, T. S., & Goetz, S. J. (2007). Expansion of Industrial Logging in Central Africa. Science, 316(5830), 1451–1451. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1141057
13. MALINGREAU, J. P., TUCKER, C. J., & LAPORTE, N. (1989). AVHRR for monitoring global tropical deforestation. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 10(4–5), 855–867. https://doi.org/10.1080/01431168908903926
14. Rose, R. A., Byler, D., Eastman, J. R., Fleishman, E., Geller, G., Goetz, S., Guild, L., Hamilton, H., Hansen, M., Headley, R., Hewson, J., Horning, N., Kaplin, B. A., Laporte, N., Leidner, A., Leimgruber, P., Morisette, J., Musinsky, J., Pintea, L., . . . Wilson, C. (2014). Ten ways remote sensing can contribute to conservation. Conservation Biology, 29(2), 350–359. https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.12397
15. SUNDERLIN, W., NDOYE, O., BIKIÉ, H., LAPORTE, N., MERTENS, B., & POKAM, J. (2000). Economic crisis, small-scale agriculture, and forest cover change in southern Cameroon. Environmental Conservation, 27(3), 284–290.
16. Goetz, S. J., Hansen, M., Houghton, R. A., Walker, W., Laporte, N., & Busch, J. (2015). Measurement and monitoring needs, capabilities and potential for addressing reduced emissions from deforestation and forest degradation under REDD+. Environmental Research Letters, 10(12), 123001. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/10/12/123001
17. Johns, T., Merry, F., Stickler, C., Nepstad, D., Laporte, N., & Goetz, S. (2008). A three-fund approach to incorporating government, public and private forest stewards into a REDD funding mechanism. International Forestry Review, 10(3), 458–464. https://doi.org/10.1505/ifor.10.3.458
18. Devos, C., Sanz, C., Morgan, D., Onononga, J. R., Laporte, N., & Huynen, M. C. (2008). Comparing ape densities and habitats in northern Congo: surveys of sympatric gorillas and chimpanzees in the Odzala and Ndoki regions. American Journal of Primatology, 70(5), 439–451. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.20514
19. Kleinschroth, F., Laporte, N., Laurance, W.F. et al. Road expansion and persistence in forests of the Congo Basin. Nature Sustain 2, 628–634 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-019-0310-6