Shah Selbe

Shah is an engineer, conservation technologist, and National Geographic Explorer that works with communities, NGOs, and developing countries to identify and deploy technologies that can help with their greatest conservation challenges. He founded Conservify in order to bring open source technologies into conservation. His work has included biodiversity protection in Botswana's Okavango Delta, tracking glacial melt in Canada's Banff National Park, understanding the behaviors of Congo's lowland gorillas, helping citizen scientists monitor water in the Amazon Rainforest, drone-based monitoring of Sri Lanka’s blue whales, and many more. He also founded FieldKit, an open-source software and hardware platform (environmental sensors, app, and FieldKit.org website) that allows individuals and organizations to collect and share field-based research data and tell stories through interactive visualizations. Shah is also a Nelson Institute Fellow at the University of Wisconsin Madison, a New England Aquarium Ocean Conservation Fellow, Rolex Award Finalist, and a PopTech Social Innovation Fellow. Before becoming a conservation technologist, Shah spent 10 years as a rocket scientist building and launching satellites with Boeing.