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Renowned Space archaeologist Dr. Sarah Parcak has won highly regarded TED Prize for her path breaking study on preventing archeological looting through the intelligent use of satellite imagery. She has won as much as $1 million grant from TED for impressive work.
Parcak uses infrared images from satellites to identify ancient sites, and is pioneering the field of space archeology. Already, she’s identified 17 potential pyramids, 1,000 tombs and 3,100 unknown settlements in Egypt. At the Univ. of Alabama, she founded the Laboratory for Global Observation.
Now, she’s turning her sights on areas in the Middle East affected by constant upheaval and looting.
“The last four and half years have been horrific for archaeology. I’ve spent a lot of time, as many of my colleagues, looking at the destruction,” she said. “This prize is not about me. It’s about our field. It’s about the thousands of men and women around the world, particularly in the Middle East, who are defending and protecting sites.”
In the Middle East, ISIS has destroyed a number of ancient sites in Syria and Iraq, including ancient ruins in Palmyra and Nimrud, the first Assyrian capital.
Parcak will reveal her $1 million idea Feb. 16 at the TED2016 conference. “All will be invited to become a part of her work,” according to TED.
“Discoveries aren’t made by one person exploring by themselves,” Parcak said. “And discoveries aren’t made overnight. People don’t see the thousands of hours that go into it.”
With this TED prize, she hopes to get the world involved in her mission of locating and protecting ancient sites.
Agencies/Canadajournal
