Evidencia: A Century of High Alpine Landscape Change in the Peruvian Andes Revealed by Mining Lost Aerial Photo Archives
Join the Explorers Club on January 27th to hear about a fascinating project intersecting history and climate science, as well as two parallel Andean expeditions, 92 years apart.
About 22% of the world’s population depends on snowpack and glaciers for water resources. Climate change is having profound impacts on these resources in the tropical high Andes, confronting communities with fundamental decisions on how to modify livelihoods and resource use. When meeting with communities, a common request is heard: the need for Evidencia – evidence of how the past differs from present, as a guide to the future.
Using novel methodology, Dr. Anton and Dr. Tracie Seimon lead a National Geographic-supported team replicating aerial landscape scenes from lost photos taken almost a century ago, revealing stark impacts of climate change on alpine glaciers and water resources. The focus was on the Cordillera Vilcanota in Peru –– among the most important regions for high alpine climate study in the global tropics. Applying a groundbreaking approach to air photo analysis, the team determined precise camera positions for high-resolution images taken by the 1931 Shippee-Johnson Expedition that chronicled the icebound range, decades before climate warming-driven ice loss and satellite-based monitoring. In 2023, they re-photographed those 1931 aerial scenes, enabling direct comparisons and precise measurements of change over 92 years that now can be related to observed biological, ecological and social landscape changes. These findings offer critical Evidencia for local communities and environmental planners, while also educating global audiences on how climate change has already transformed mountain landscapes of the high Andes.
This in-person event at the Explorers Club Headquarters will include an audience Q&A.
Streaming live here on explorers.org, our YouTube Channel, and our Facebook Live — Monday, January 27th at 7:00 pm ET.
RESERVATIONS
This will be an in-person lecture at Explorers Club Headquarters.
In-person tickets are $20 for Members, and $35 for the General Public.
Check-in will begin at 6:00 pm, with a beer and wine reception from 6:00 – 7:00 pm
Anton Seimon
Dr Anton Seimon is an independent scientist who leads research programs on diverse themes in the atmospheric and environmental sciences with support from donors including National Geographic, MacArthur Foundation, National Science Foundation and family foundations. Current projects include: monitoring climate change impacts in alpine watersheds of the tropical Andes; refining methods of interpreting climate signals in ice cores from tropical high mountains; classifying a new type of windstorm; mapping surface airflow in high-intensity tornadoes; and climate change prediction for East Africa using Earth System models. For the National Center for Atmospheric Research, he serves on the steering committee of the Community Climate Intervention Strategies group, which works to develop interdisciplinary research on climate interventions – technologies to reverse climate change – to achieve a sustainable climate. A National Geographic Explorer and six-time grantee, he is active in science education, and served as a juror for the NY WILD Film Festival. When not in the field abroad or chasing storms with Tracie on the Great Plains, he teaches in the Environmental Policy program at Bard College in the Hudson Valley.
Tracie Seimon
Dr Tracie Seimon is the Director of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Molecular Diagnostics Program, based at the Bronx Zoo. At the WCS she leads the development and implementation of molecular diagnostics to search for endangered species using environmental DNA (eDNA) approaches, identify species in the wildlife trade, and diagnose infectious diseases in wildlife. Her work has taken her to far-flung realms such as the Russian Far East, Uganda, Rwanda, Peru, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Vietnam to conduct fieldwork and develop molecular diagnostic capacity for wildlife conservation projects. Tracie also leads a long-term monitoring initiative in the Peruvian Andes to reveal how amphibians, as indicator species, are adapting to climate-driven landscape change. In 2019, as members of the National Geographic Perpetual Planet Mt Everest Expedition she and Anton co-led a biological survey to assess the diversity of species that live on Earth’s highest mountain.Tracie served as lead photo analyst and aerial photographer for the National Geographic-funded expedition. She also serves as a reviewer for the Explorers Club Exploration Fund Grant program, and was a NY WILD juror from 2019-2024. She and Anton enjoy storm chasing together every spring, and her passion is photographing nature in all forms.
