It is surprising that instead of questioning how we assess academic work we question the license under which it will be distributed.

In business management the Pareto principle, or the law of the vital few, translates into the notion that 20% of the clients bring in 80% of the sales. I argue that in science the same principle applies. Here, focussing 20% of your time on necessary projects will translate in the bulk of your output.

In much of my work I use geospatial data (either vector or raster maps). However, visualizing this data easily for people unfamiliar with geographic information system (GIS) toolsets is often difficult as end users care about the result (a nice map) not learning visualization tools. In short, to communicate your work you need to present maps in an appealing way.

Within the context of the CLIMO COST action there was a need for a mountain forest map (EU wide if not global), as defined by FAO rules. These rules specify that forests above 300 m and with a considerable slope are “mountain forest”. I put together a Google Earth Engine worked example to generate this data.

Shitty values are tangible external goals largely outside your control. Chasing these goals will causes a lot of anxiety and leave you empty even when you accomplish them, as they do not solve real world problem.