Speakers Bio & Abstract

BiographyBalachander is passionate about Maps, Open Data and Free and Open Source Software. With a Post Graduate Diploma in Rural Management from IRMA, he has worked on Natural Resource Management with communities in different parts of the country over the last 15 years. At Keystone Foundation, Balachander is working on conserving groundwater in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve focusing on springs and small hill wetlands. This work in centered around planning for the water security of local communities who have traditionally conserved these resources over many centuries. He is training a group of village youth in using technologies such as Android tablets, GPS, GIS, Open Data Kit etc. to generate databases and maps of springs and other water resources in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve. You can find more information on his work at Keystone at http://nilgiriswaterportal.in. Keystone Foundation is a Trust founded in 1993, that works for the improvement of the quality of life and environment in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve. You can find more information on Keystone and its activities at http://keystone-foundation.org Abstract While advances in remote sensing and access to free imagery is increasing, there is a need to promote citizen science initiatives to generate local data sets to complement these. Keystone is inventorying and monitoring groundwater resources in the Nilgiris with village communities to support informed decision-making by various stakeholders.