The intersection of technology and environmental stewardship is no longer a futuristic concept, it is a present-day necessity. As a GDE and investigative researcher, I have always looked for tools that bridge the gap between complex data and actionable policy.
The Yale GDG on Campus series provided a deep dive into a powerful ecosystem that allows us to monitor, model, and communicate environmental challenges with unprecedented precision.
The Sustainability Trinity: Earth Engine, Vertex AI, Gemini and more
To achieve true environmental accountability, we need a workflow that moves from observation to intelligence.
© Nadia B Ahmad
Google Earth Engine
: Our Planetary Dashboard
Earth Engine serves as the ultimate tool for environmental OSINT (Open Source Intelligence). It allows us to monitor the “Right to a Healthy Environment” by analyzing decades of satellite imagery. Whether we are tracking deforestation in the Sahel or urban heat islands in Lagos, Earth Engine provides the empirical evidence needed to verify corporate sustainability claims and fight “greenwashing.”
© Nadia B Ahmad
Vertex AI
: Engineering the Solutions
While Earth Engine gives us the data, Vertex AI allows us to build the solutions. As a Professional Security Engineer, I see Vertex AI as the bedrock for training custom machine learning models that can predict energy consumption or simulate climate risks. It allows us to create inclusive tools that are “secure by design,” ensuring that climate data remains protected while being accessible for impactful decision-making.
© Nadia B Ahmad
Gemini
: The Bridge to Human Understanding
The greatest barrier to climate action is often the complexity of the data. Gemini changes this by acting as a multimodal translator with advanced reasoning. I can explore how Gemini can take complex geospatial reports and localize them into languages like Yoruba, Hausa, or Igbo — making climate literacy a reality for everyone.
©Nadia B Ahmad
Google Maps
: The Interface for Real-World Action
Google Maps has evolved from a navigation tool into a “digital powerhouse” for environmental awareness and city planning.
Project Green Light: Uses AI and Google Maps driving trends to model traffic patterns and optimize traffic lights. This can reduce stops at intersections by up to 30% and emissions by over 10%.
Fuel-Efficient Routing: Suggests routes that take a similar amount of time but have fewer hills and less traffic, which enabled an estimated 2.7 million metric tons of GHG emissions reductions in 2024 alone.
Environment APIs: New tools like the Solar API (mapping solar potential for 320 million+ buildings) and the Air Quality API (tracking pollutants in 100+ countries) empower businesses and citizens to make healthier, greener choices.
© Nadia B Ahmad
Google Colab
: The Scientific Engine for Analysis
Google Colab is a zero-configuration, cloud-based platform that allows you to write and execute Python code directly in your browser, with free access to powerful GPUs and TPUs.
Geospatial Processing: Colab integrates seamlessly with Google Earth Engine and BigQuery, allowing researchers to process petabytes of satellite imagery without needing local high-end hardware.
AI Model Training: It is used extensively to develop and train machine learning models for sustainability, such as predicting deforestation risk or mapping species distributions.
Interactive Storytelling: Researchers use Colab to create interactive notebooks that combine live code with visualizations (like heatmaps of urban heat islands), making it an ideal tool for investigative journalists to “ground” their environmental reports in reproducible data.
© Nadia B Ahmad
Top comments (0)