Paul Arellano, Ph.D., geoscience professor, works on optimization tools and methods for measuring the impacts of oil spills in the Amazon region. This year, Peru’s state oil company, Petroperu, has reported 5 large oil spills. Detecting and cleaning oil can be highly complex and its presence has serious consequences on the health of the communities living close to spills and the delicate balance of such a diverse area as the Amazon sectors.Even more complex is to handle and detect oil spills of the past that have remained hidden for years. In many cases the vegetation grows back, but if we dig a little within the earth, we can still find traces of the damage.

Now, Paul´s research has reported that the leaves of the trees growing in areas of oil spills have a lower amount of chlorophyll, slightly changing its color. successfully detecting its biophysical and biochemical changes in vegetation from a satellite. Through this satellite technique, Yachay Tech aims to help older spills in the Amazon, in order to help improve the quality of life of nearby communities and through the possible creation of new mechanisms for cleaning the same areas.

Because of its importance in the conservation of the Amazon, Paul’s work has been featured in Volume 353 of Science Magazine. Read the full article by Barbara Fraser through your account here. 

—

Science has been at the center of important scientific discovery since its foundation in 1880, with an initial capital from Thomas Edison. Today, Science continues to publish the best research in the sciences, with articles consistently ranked among the most cited in the world. The Science family of journals is published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s oldest and largest general science organization.