Topher White: What can save the rainforest? Your used cell phone


The sounds of the rainforest include: the chirps of birds, the buzz of cicadas, the banter of gibbons. But in the background is the almost-always present sound of a chainsaw, from illegal loggers. Engineer Topher White shares a simple, scalable way to stop this brutal deforestation — that starts with your old cell phone.
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About Topher

Topher is an engineer and physicist. He is passionate about creating and inventing. At a young age, he started creating apps and websites, after having learned the basics about computers from his father. After obtaining a Bachelor's Degree from Kenyon College, he worked as a web chief for ITER, the international consortium that is building a nuclear fusion reactor in southern France. However, a year later he made a sudden career change and moved to California, where he worked on a sports website for fans called Enthuse. Nevertheless, he wasn’t truly satisfied with his work until he become involved with protecting the environment and its deforestation. As a volunteer at an ape sanctuary in Indonesian Borneo, he stumbled upon loggers illegally cutting a tree into two-by-fours. This gave him the idea to reprogram used cellphones  to detect the sounds made by chain saws and send out alerts to the rangers. In 2012 he founded Rainforest Connection, which converts used cellphones into solar-powered listening devices. Topher's invention has has put a stop to lots of illegal logging in Sumatra. His system is now being used by other three more countries; namely Indonesia, Brazil, and Africa.
 
Mitchell Besser
Ron Gutman
Donald Sadoway
Jane McGonigal
Jorge Soto
Alice Bows-Larkin
Topher White
Chris Milk
Yves Behar
Caleb Chung
Nilofer Merchant
Shawn Achor
Astro Teller
Adam Grant
Tim Harford
Jason Fried
Arianna Huffington
David Logan
Roselinde Torres
Paola Antonelli
Alex Blumberg
Rochelle King
Anil Dash
Rob Forbes
Christoph Niemann
Kelly McGonigal
Joanne Wilson
Oliver Burkeman
Aaron Dignan
Tony Buzan
Tom Chatfield
John Armstrong
John-Paul Flintoff
Mitchell Besser
Mitchell Besser
Ron Gutman
Ron Gutman
Donald Sadoway
Donald Sadoway
Jane McGonigal
Jane McGonigal
Jorge Soto
Jorge Soto
Alice Bows-Larkin
Alice Bows-Larkin
Topher White
Topher White
Chris Milk
Chris Milk
Yves Behar
Yves Behar
Caleb Chung
Caleb Chung
Nilofer Merchant
Nilofer Merchant
Shawn Achor
Shawn Achor
Astro Teller
Astro Teller
Adam Grant
Adam Grant
Tim Harford
Tim Harford
Jason Fried
Jason Fried
Arianna Huffington
Arianna Huffington
David Logan
David Logan
Roselinde Torres
Roselinde Torres
Paola Antonelli
Paola Antonelli
Alex Blumberg
Alex Blumberg
Rochelle King
Rochelle King
Anil Dash
Anil Dash
Rob Forbes
Rob Forbes
Christoph Niemann
Christoph Niemann
Kelly McGonigal
Kelly McGonigal
Joanne Wilson
Joanne Wilson
Oliver Burkeman
Oliver Burkeman
Aaron Dignan
Aaron Dignan
Tony Buzan
Tony Buzan
Tom Chatfield
Tom Chatfield
John Armstrong
John Armstrong
John-Paul Flintoff
John-Paul Flintoff
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