An interview with Nina Moiseeva, Map Impact’s Chief Scientific Officer

Learn how a passion for maps has led to some of the most innovative climate products available today in our interview with Nina Moiseeva, Chief Scientific Officer

Donna Lyndsay, Business Development Director, had the pleasure of interviewing Nina Moiseeva, Map Impact Chief Scientific Officer, to learn more about her background and her journey to creating Map Impact’s core data products. With a deep passion for data science, earth observation and environmental applications of technology, Nina’s career has seen her supporting sustainable development in regions facing some of the world’s most pressing environmental challenges. Read the full interview below:

Donna: Can you tell us about how your career journey started?

Nina:  My career in geospatial science and Earth observation began at Moscow State University, where I earned my bachelor’s and master’s degrees in cartography and geoinformatics. Back then, AI and ML weren’t as prominent, but studying core GIS and mapping techniques provided a solid foundation for my career.

Donna: What was your first job? 

Nina: While I was still a student, I joined the Institute of Geography at the Academy of Sciences during my second term. I worked on various research projects, mainly focusing on the circumpolar regions and Arctic landscapes, as well as classical cartography, including topographic mapping of my homeland.

Nina’s career has taken her on research expeditions to a wide range of landscapes and ecosystems, invoking a passion for applying technology to environmental applications

Donna: Did you have other roles at the beginning of your career? 

Nina: Yes, in my third term, I took a second role, combining my studies with work in academia and a commercial organisation. My first commercial job was as a geospatial engineer for television and mass media, which required rapid map and geo-visualisation production for news, broadcasts and meteorological forecasts, contrasting with the slower and more precise pace of academic research.

Donna: When did you switch to environmental research?

Nina:   I became deeply excited about environmental research once I participated in my first expedition, where I had an opportunity to study the landscape. I then joined a dozen expeditions in various geographic regions and biodiversity zones, collaborating with universities and natural reserves. These expeditions involved field data acquisition, remote sensing techniques, and studying various scientific topics, such as habitat and landscape assessment, Anthropocene and Indigenous populations, palaeogeographical cartography, nature conservation, and mapping of flora and fauna.

Donna: Did you continue your education through your career path?

Nina: Yes. At first, I wanted to understand not only the geospatial technologies but also the economic and environmental aspects of how we use land and resources. So I pursued a master’s degree in Nature Resource Management at Moscow State University’s Department of Public Administration. This helped me combine environmental and economic approaches in areas such as agriculture, forestry, and land management and to understand the human-environmental interaction more deeply. I also earned a degree in Computational Mathematics and Cybernetics. My motivation was to strengthen the algorithmic and computational side of my work.

Donna: What was your next career move? 

Nina: I joined one of the leading oil and gas companies in my country, working as a Geospatial Analyst for environmental assessment during the pipeline and infrastructure construction, as well as exploration and development of oil and gas fields. Understanding and measuring the environmental impact during industrial construction is a vital part of sustainable development.

Donna: What was your previous experience in Earth observation?

Nina:  For almost 10 years, I led a department at Scanex, the leading commercial space company in my home country. This company operates a complete technological cycle, including ground receiving stations of EO data, satellite imagery processing software, analytical projects and products, web portals, and satellite imagery distribution. We developed a wide range of products for forestry, agriculture, environmental disaster monitoring, and marine areas, using both commercial and open Earth observation data.

Donna: What were some of the products you developed? 

Nina: We created various products like Fire Map and Fire Scan for wildfire monitoring and assessment, Marine Portal for maritime, sea and ocean monitoring, SpaceAgro for agriculture, Online Catalogue for the EO data exploration and access, and many others. The company also authored Scanex Image Processor software for the EO technical and thematical processing. These tools and products showcase the diverse applications of geospatial data and Earth observation across various thematic domains and research topics.

Donna: Tell me more about the land use and property assessment projects you worked on.

Nina: I’ve led projects that used satellite, cadastral, and open geospatial data to detect violations of land legislation, including inappropriate land use, which can lead, for example, to soil degradation or reduced renewability of resources. We also worked on identifying high-potential lands for investment, especially for urban development and future housing portfolios.

Donna: How did your UN work come into the picture? 

Nina: I became an individual consultant for the UN in the Asia-Pacific region (UNESCAP), focusing on land cover, wildfire, and drought monitoring, especially in Central Asia. I contributed to projects on country-level wildfire analytics, environmental-economic accounting, and capacity building on the integrated use of GIS and Earth observation for land assessment. This work supported sustainable development in regions facing some of the world’s most pressing environmental challenges.

Donna: And then you moved to the UK?

Nina: Yes, in 2021, I started my studies to receive a Master of Science in Geospatial Science and Computing at UCL. That was a turning point which enabled me to transition into an international career. It also provided me with an opportunity to devote a year to intensive skill development and updates, given the increasingly evolving influence of AI and ML on geospatial science and Earth observation.

Nina has a passion for knowledge transfer and training, regularly presenting her work to different audiences

Donna: What are you doing now? 

Nina: I’m lucky to be the Chief Scientific Officer at Map Impact. I joined as an Earth Observation Scientist and have since stepped into the CSO role. I’ve helped to develop our core products: BiodiversityView, HeatView, WildfireView, and DroughtView. I’m responsible for methodologies and workflows for satellite and geospatial data processing, and I’m trying to answer the question of what, how, and why we are computing and analysing. This role allows me to combine all previous experiences across geospatial science, Earth observation, quantitative research, and domain environmental applications.

Donna: Thank you, Nina, for sharing your journey and contributions to climate intelligence. We look forward to seeing your work continue to shape the future at Map Impact.