Rosenberg Institute Seminar Series - Brendan Tougher

Brendan Tougher, Director of the Ocean Program, Anthropocene Institute 

ProtectedSeas Marine Monitor (M2): Conservation Technology for Marine Protected Areas (MPAs)

Abstract:  Over the last 10-years the Marine Monitor (M2) system was developed at the Estuary and
Ocean Science (EOS) Center by a small team of engineers and developers at ProtectedSeas along with the help of EOS graduate students. The M2 system integrates X-band marine radar, automatic identification system (AIS) sensors, and optical cameras with custom software to autonomously track and record all vessel activity in nearshore coastal environments. M2 is used for a variety of applications by government agencies, law enforcement personnel, researchers, and NGOs to better inform decision making related to human use in and around marine managed areas. Brendan Tougher, co-founder of M2, will provide an overview of the M2 system platform and how EOS's strategic location along the San Francisco Bay has enabled M2 to develop and iterate its software and hardware design to build a robust and reliable conservation technology that has a global impact protecting and enforcing marine managed areas.

Bio: Brendan Tougher is the Director of the Ocean Program at the Anthropocene Institute where he oversees ocean related initiatives, specifically the Future of Fish Feed, ProtectedSeas Navigator, Marine Monitor (M2), LLC and ocean related grant giving through Anthroocean and has over 15-years of experience working at the intersection of science, technology, environmental conservation, and business. He is also the co-founder for M2, a small conservation technology company based in California specializing in shore-based monitoring technologies for management of nearshore marine managed areas.