In 2015, Steve launched what has become the National Geographic Okavango Wilderness Project to support the establishment of community-based systems of protection based on detailed, repeatable ecological surveys and long-term environmental monitoring systems spanning the Okavango Basin in Angola, Namibia and Botswana. Steve and his research team focus on establishing detailed early 21st century hydrological and ecological baselines as part of their mission to help local governments preserve built-in long-term resilience to the impacts of climate change. The focus right now is protecting the “Angolan Water Tower”, which was only recently been described by his team and is the primary water source for the world’s largest transboundary conservation area and two-thirds of Africa’s remaining elephants.  

His team, led by Dr. Rainer von Brandis, descend into the satellite imagery and remote sensing data by undertaking large-scale ground-truthing surveys and expeditions, discovering new species, taking eDNA samples, deploying permanent hydrological and meteorological monitoring stations, monitoring wildlife populations using camera traps, and mapping all birds, wildlife and human activity noted along their multi-month river transects. They create 360-degree transects on EarthViews, build “story maps” to make scientific discoveries accessible to the public and use ArcGIS Survey123 forms for expert data capture. They measure the heartbeat of these ecosystems on the ground and amplify the value of satellite imagery and remote sensing data.