Allen and postdoctoral fellow Niyomi House led the genetic sampling group for Limelight Rainforest, a multinational team with members from 10 institutions.
Out of an initial pool of about 300 entrants, Limelight Rainforest developed the fastest, most efficient automated technologies for identifying species at every level of the rainforest, from canopy to floor.
“We’re blown away,” said Allen. “We’re delighted that all our hard work was validated.”
Behind the five-year competition, the $10 million prizes, and the hype is another race with even higher stakes — against disappearing species in a changing climate.
“We needed this kick in the butt”
The XPRIZE announcement comes at a time when roughly 64 percent of the world’s tropical rainforest has been destroyed or degraded, and continues to be destroyed at a rapid rate, despite being home to half of all living animal and plant species on the planet
Automated technologies can help keep rainforests intact while increasing the number of species surveyed, Allen said.
“Rainforest species are disappearing faster than we can survey them,” Allen said. “We needed this kick in the butt. If we don’t have a fast way to survey forests, there won’t be forests left to survey.”
