Jai Woods

Something About Me

“It was a transformative learning experience which helped foster my interest in the fields of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and remote sensing” 

Jai is an Economics and Geography (GIS emphasis) double major at UC Santa barbara. He has an interest in working in the geospatial data science and economic development fields after graduation. Using technology to make informed decisions around sustainable development that takes into account human and environmental concerns are his main career goals. He has previous work experience in the landscaping industry, installing sustainable landscape features and doing preventative maintenance. Installations have ranged from rock walls, gravel driveways, and patios, to fences, walkways, and gardens. Maintenance work included mowing, brush clearing and logging for the prevention of wildfires and encroachment of invasive species. 

This past summer Jai was an intern researching whale detection techniques for future conservation and protection efforts. The program is in collaboration with The Nature Conservancy and the Bren School. The focus of the project was combining very high resolution satellite imagery in the 31 cm range with machine learning techniques that allowed rapid analysis of satellite imagery to identify the locations of whales. This information can be used to prevent whale-ship collisions, entanglement in fishing gear and other harm that may occur to sensitive populations. Jai is excited to learn more about developments in the field of geospatial artificial intelligence which will make the categorization of objects in imagery much easier than manual detection.