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© IIASA © IIA SA IIASA corner Olha Danylo is an Earth observation systems researcher who has a special interest in making science accessible to people with disabilities. Originally from Ukraine, Danylo first came to IIASA as a 2012 Young Scientist Summer Program participant and later joined the Ecosystems Services and Management Program with an Ernst Mach Scholarship. Her research uses machine learning to analyze spatial and satellite data to map large-scale land use and land cover to help achieve the sustainable development goals. Danylo’s work includes combining citizen science with satellite observations to create an app-based system to aid disaster damage mapping, providing much-needed real-time data to help communities recover and rebuild after disasters. She has developed an oil palm map using Google Earth Engine to monitor plantation expansion and analyzed nighttime light data in North Korea to evaluate the country’s economy and vulnerability to weather. Alongside her research, Danylo is committed to ensuring science can reach people with disabilities, particularly those with visual impairments. “During my university studies in Ukraine I had a class with a philosophy professor who was blind. Later, when working with him, I learned how little is done to make science accessible to audiences with physical challenges,” she explains. Danylo initiated a volunteer working group that is looking at solutions such as including the annotation of figures in scientific publications as part of the publishing process and finding alternatives to current color use in posters and presentations for those with color blindness. Making science accessible to all Günther Fischer has worked at the cutting edge of policy-based food, land, and water research for over 40 years. Fischer began his career at IIASA as a research assistant in 1974, applying mathematical methods to evaluate food systems and provide policy suggestions on how to alleviate hunger. He was part of the groundbreaking IIASA Food and Agriculture Development Program in the 1980s that produced the IIASA world food systems model. He says, ”The starting point of my work was finding solutions to widespread hunger. As scenarios simulating different policy interventions have been assessed, it is clear that simply producing more food is not the answer. Achieving sustainable food production and water security requires a multidimensional systems approach, the political will to tackle poverty, and the motivation to make the world a better place.” Fischer has been at the heart of the development of the Agro-Ecological Zones (AEZ) model system in collaboration with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. AEZ provides a standardized framework for analyzing synergies and trade-offs of alternative uses of land, water, and technology to sustainably produce food and energy. It has informed policy at the regional, national, and global level in over 20 countries, including China, where Fisher played an integral role in the development of the IIASA-China connection. “One of the most personally satisfying and successful collaborations is my work with China. I was lucky enough to build networks and relationships that aided IIASA-China relations and research,” he concludes. Informing food, land, and water policies at the global level People profiles Olha Danylo: danylo@iiasa.ac.at Günther Fischer: fisher@iiasa.ac.atBy Rachel Potter By Rachel Potter www.iiasa.ac.at30 Options Summer 2020