GEOG Seminar 9/16: Dr. Molly Brown, 6th Grain

Abstract: Using optical satellite remote sensing data from Sentinel 2a/b and Landsat, 6th Grain has built a business serving large input providers in Africa and Europe. We are now moving to Brazil and other South American countries with our digital tools. This talk will begin with a summary of the structure of 6th Grain, its history and clients, along with the competitive landscape in which we work. I will spend the bulk of the time presenting the tools that we’ve developed, while answering the questions:

• What partnerships does 6th Grain have?
• How does 6th Grain secure clients?
• How can you make money selling this technology?
• How do growers use our tools to change decision making, and is there evidence for this?

Bio: Dr. Brown has been a Research Scientist at the University of Maryland since 2015, a job she took after leaving NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Molly has two decades of experience in interdisciplinary research using satellite remote sensing data and models with socio-economic and demographic information to better understand food security and agriculture drivers. She has a bachelors of science in biology and environmental studies from Tufts University, and a masters and a PhD in Geography from the University of Maryland College Park. Despite her multiple jobs, Molly still gets a kick out of publishing and has over 150 journal articles and book chapters and two books. She is planning to write a book on her 6th Grain experience as soon as she knows how the story will end.