It would have been enough just to get together and see everyone.
“Sometimes we get so busy with deadlines, right?” asked ForestSAT 2026 organizer Inacio Bueno, Ph.D. “Papers, coding, … work, meetings and other things — proposals — that we forget there is also a community behind science, a community of people trying to learn, help each other and make things better. This week reminded me of that.”
Bueno, a part of the SilvaLab at the UF School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences, spoke at the conclusion of the ForestSAT conference, a biannual gathering of the world’s top minds and new researchers in forest spatial analysis technologies. The 2028 edition recently concluded in Gainesville.
As conference co-chair and SilvaLab member Maureen Duane said at the outset of the event, “ForestSAT is the premier international forum for researchers, practitioners, and stakeholders advancing forest observation and analysis through cutting-edge technologies. Since its inception in 2002, ForestSAT has convened every two to three years.”
However, it can be more than that. Bueno, who assisted with audio-visual work during the conference, saw presentations he wouldn’t have attended otherwise.
“Before that session, I knew very little about that topic, and it was not directly related to my research, but all the talks were excellent,” Bueno said. “And, they really caught my attention. They made me think beyond my own research area and reminded me how broad and connected our field is.”
There was a fair amount of participation, with 585 abstracts published in the ForestSAT 2026 program. Bringing ForestSAT to UF was Associate Professor Carlos Alberto Silva, Ph.D., of the eponymous SilvaLab.
In an email to organizers and volunteers, Silva said, “We welcomed approximately 350 attendees — both in person and virtual — from over 30 countries, and I am truly proud of the outstanding impression we made, not only for ForestSAT, but also for UF, IFAS, and SFFGS.”
At the conclusion of the conference, Silva handed over the ceremonial bell to the ForestSAT 2028 hosts, Centro para la Conservación de la Biodiversidad y el Desarrollo Sostenible (CBDS), based at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid.
CBDS is a leading research hub in Spain for biodiversity conservation and sustainable development.
Check out photos and videos from ForestSAT 2026 on the SFFGS Flickr page:
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