Press
10 tech innovations improving lives in the developing world, Fast Company, May 2023
How Digital Tools Can Help Solve the Colorado River Crisis, Wall Street Journal Pro Sustainable Business, March 2023
Applying climate reparative finance toward water security, Science of the Total Environment, March 2023
My Climate Journey Startup Series - Virridy, February, 2023
Scaling Climate Tech Innovation to Industry and Net-Zero Acceleration Panel, Deloitte hosted World Economic Forum Panel, January, 2023
Water Security through Remote Sensing with Virridy’s Evan Thomas, Bluefield Research The Water Values Podcast, December, 2022
This Aerospace Engineer Brought Tech and Vision to Earthbound Challenges, Superpowers for Good Podcast, November 2022
Can remote sensing tech help East Africa's water-stressed communities? DevEx, November 2022
How new technology can help farmers survive increasing droughts, Future Farming, October 2022
Researchers develop new way to test drinking water for E. coli, ABC 15, October 2022
Virridy partners to improve water security in Africa through climate finance-based model, AgFunder News, September 2022
New Technology to Help Conserve Water On-Farm, North American Ag Spotlight, September 2022
Virridy, CU partners on water initiatives in Africa, Daily Camera, September 2022
Drought is a global health crisis — capitalism could be a surprising solution, Harvard Public Health Magazine, August 2022
Is technology the answer to managing Colorado groundwater use?, Denver Business Journal 8-2-22
Emerging Technologies to Improve Water Resource Management in Colorado, University of Colorado, August 2022
Managing resources from the sky, Farm Progress, July 2022
Virridy wants to tackle water insecurity in a world still dependent on irrigation for food, AgFunder News, July 2022
Virridy raises $5.5M to expand its sensor catalog, TechCrunch, June 2022
Drought in west sparks $5.5 million funding for Boulder climate company, Denver Business Journal, June 2022
A Steady DRIP with NASA Satellites, NASA, February 2021
Keeping a Dry Eye on Drought in East Africa, NASA Applied Sciences, February 2021
Using in-field data to achieve groundwater sustainability, Swarm Technologies, February 2021
Groundwater pump monitoring with low-cost satellite connectivity saves energy and money, Swarm Technologies, November 2020
Building a Satellite-Enabled Drought Resilience Network in the Western US, Swarm Technologies, October 2020
Improving Water and Energy Service Delivery with IoT Solutions, Engineering for Change, March 2018
Innovations in WASH Impact Measures: Water and Sanitation Measurement Technologies and Practices to Inform the Sustainable Development Goals, The World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank, January 2018
Exploring the use of mobile-enabled sensors to optimise sanitation waste collection in Kenya, Sanergy, Virridy Inc, GSMA, November 2017
Portland company lands $750,000 federal grant to expand water monitoring in Africa, The Oregonian, September, 2017
Satellite Monitoring: An Innovative Solution for Water Management, Medium, September 2017
DevEx: The ‘internet of things’ is narrowing the gap between data and action, June 2016
Feedback Labs: Broken Pumps and Promises, June 2016
The Internet of Broken Things, Engineering for Change, April 2016
Portland State University: GSM-Enabled sensors for monitoring handpumps to improve water services in Rwanda, GSMA, March 2016
Fixing M&E with Sensors and the Internet of Things, ICTWorks, March 2016Harnessing the Internet of Things for Global Development, United Nations
Broadband Commission, January 2016
The Water Project: The Water Promise, November 2015
Smart Sensors in Rwanda Warn Engineers in Oregon When Water Pumps Fail, Forbes, June 22, 2014
Portland State Fearless Inventor, March 2015
Research
Fankhauser, K., Macharia D., et al. Estimating groundwater use and demand in arid Kenya through assimilation of satellite data and in-situ sensors with machine learning toward drought early action," Science of the Total Environment, 2022.
Thomas, E., Wilson, D., Kathuni, S., Libey A., Chintalpati, P., Coyle, J. “A contribution to drought resilience in East Africa through groundwater pump management informed by ensemble machine learning, in-situ instrumentation and remote sensing”, Science of The Total Environment, 2021.
Thomas, E., Brown, J., “Using Feedback to Improve Accountability in Global Environmental Health and Engineering, Environmental Science and Technology, 2020.
Thomas, E., et al., The Drought Resilience Impact Platform (DRIP): Improving Water Security Through Actionable Water Management Insights, Frontiers in Climate, V2. A6. 2020.
Iribagiza, C., Sharpe, T., Wilson, D. Thomas, E., User-centered design of an air quality feedback technology to promote adoption of clean cookstoves. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 30, 925–936 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41370-020-0250-2
Anna Libey, Marieke Adank, Evan Thomas, Who pays for water? Comparing life cycle costs of water services among several low, medium and high-income utilities, World Development, Volume 136, 2020, 105155, ISSN 0305-750X, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105155.
Bedell, E.; Sharpe, T.; Purvis, T.; Brown, J.; Thomas, E. Demonstration of Tryptophan-Like Fluorescence Sensor Concepts for Fecal Exposure Detection in Drinking Water in Remote and Resource Constrained Settings. Sustainability 2020, 12, 3768.
Evan Thomas, Elizabeth Jordan, Karl Linden, Beshah Mogesse, Tamene Hailu, Hussein Jirma, Patrick Thomson, Johanna Koehler, Greg Collins, Reducing drought emergencies in the Horn of Africa, Science of The Total Environment, Volume 727, 2020, 138772, ISSN 0048-9697,https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.138772.
Nick Turman-Bryant, Taylor Sharpe, Corey Nagel, Lauren Stover, Evan A. Thomas, Toilet alarms: A novel application of latrine sensors and machine learning for optimizing sanitation services in informal settlements, Development Engineering, Volume 5, 2020, 100052, ISSN 2352-7285, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.deveng.2020.100052.
Frederick G. B. Goddard, Radu Ban, Dana Boyd Barr, Joe Brown, Jennifer Cannon, John M. Colford, Joseph N. S. Eisenberg, Ayse Ercumen, Helen Petach, Matthew C. Freeman, Karen Levy, Stephen P. Luby, Christine Moe, Amy J. Pickering, Jeremy A. Sarnat, Jill Stewart, Evan Thomas, Mami Taniuchi, and Thomas Clasen, “Measuring Environmental Exposure to Enteric Pathogens in Low-Income Settings: Review and Recommendations of an Interdisciplinary Working Group”, Environmental Science & Technology 2020 54 (19), 11673-11691 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.0c02421
Thomas, E., Needoba, J., Kaberia, D., Butterworth, J., Adams, E., Oduor, P., Macharia, D., Mitheu, F., Mugo, R., Nagel, C. "Quantifying increased groundwater demand from prolonged drought in the East African Rift Valley," Science of the Total Environment, v. 666, p 1265-1272. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969719306941?via%.... 2019
Turman-Bryant, N., Nagel, C., Stover, L., Muragijimana, C., Thomas, E., "Improved Drought Resilience Through Continuous Water Service Monitoring and Specialized Institutions—A Longitudinal Analysis of Water Service Delivery Across Motorized Boreholes in Northern Kenya," Sustainability, 11(11), https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/11/3046/htm. 2019.
Anderson, D., Thomas, E., Clasen, T., “Quantifying averted disability adjusted life years as a performance indicator for water quality interventions: A review of current methodologies and challenges,” Water, 2018.
Turman-Bryant, N., Fankhauser, K., Clasen, T., Thomas, E., “Measuring Progress Toward Sanitation and Hygiene Targets,” Waterlines, 2018.
Andres, L., Borja-Vega, C., Thomas, E., “Using On-site and Remote Sensing Technologies to Monitor Water and Sanitation Use and Interventions”, Water, 2018.
Wilson, D., Coyle, J., Thomas, E., “Ensemble Machine Learning and Forecasting Can Achieve 99% Uptime for Rural Handpumps,” PloS ONE, http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0188808, 2017.
Delea, M., Nagel, C., Thomas E., Halder, A., Amin, N., Shoab, A., Freeman, M., Unicomb, L., Clasen, T., “Comparison of respondent-reported and sensor-recorded latrine utilization measures in rural Bangladesh: a cross-sectional study,” Transactions of The Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 2017.
Bedell, E., Leslie, M., Fankhauser, K., Burnett, J., Wing, M., Thomas, E., “"Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Based Structure from Motion Biomass Inventory Estimates." Journal of Applied Remote Sensing 11(2), 2017.
Thomas, E., Beyond Broken Pumps and Promises: Rethinking Intent and Impact in Environmental Health, Journal of Energy Research and Social Science, v25 pp 33-36, 2017. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2016.12.006.
Snoad, C., Nagel, C., Bhattacharya, A., Thomas, E. “The effectiveness of sanitary inspections as a risk assessment tool for faecal contamination of rural drinking water: A review of data from West Bengal India,” American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.16-0322, 2017.
Thomas, E., Tellez-Sanchez, S., Wick, C., Kirby, M., Zambrano, L., Rosa, G., Clasen, T., Nagel, C., "Behavioral Reactivity Associated with Electronic Monitoring of Environmental Health Interventions - A Cluster Randomized Trial with Water Filters and Cookstoves," Environmental Science and Technology, DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.6b00161, 2016.
Sinha, A., Nagel, C., Thomas, E., Schmidt, W., Torondel, B., Boisson, S., Clasen, T., “Assessing Latrine Use in Rural India: A Cross-Sectional Study Comparing Reported Use and Passive Latrine Use Monitors,” American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 95(3), doi:10.4269/ajtmh.16-0102. 2016.
Nagel, C., Beach, J., Iribagiza, C., Thomas, E., “Evaluating Cellular Instrumentation on Rural Handpumps to Improve Service Delivery – A Longitudinal Cohort Study in Rural Rwanda,” Environmental Science and Technology (49) 24 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.5b04077, 2015.
Kipf, A., Brunette, W., Kellerstrass, J., Podolsky, M., Rosa, J., Sundt, M., Wilson, D., Borriello, G., Brewer, E., Thomas, E., “A Proposed Integrated Data Collection, Analysis and Sharing Platform for Global Development,” Journal of Development Engineering, doi:10.1016/j.deveng.2015.12.002, 2015.
O’Reilly, K., Louis, E., Thomas, E., Sinha, A., “Combining Remote Monitoring and Ethnography to Estimate Household Latrine Usage in Rural India,” Journal of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Development, (5), 3, doi: 10.2166/washdev.2015.155, 2015.
Thomas, E., Barstow, C., Rosa, G., Majorin, F., Clasen, T., “Use of Remotely Reporting Electronic Sensors for Assessing Use of Water Filters and Cookstoves in Rwanda,” Environmental Science and Technology, 2013. DOI: 10.1021/es403412x.
Thomas, E., Zumr, Z., Barstow, C., Fleming, M., Spiller, K., Remotely accessible and reconfigurable in-situ instrumentation to improve monitoring of global development interventions, Sustainability, August 2, 2013.
Thomas, E., Measuring Sustainability, Solutions Journal, Volume 3, Issue 4, pp. 41-44, 2012.
Patents
Neff, J., Whiting, G., Thomas, E., An Integrated System for the Detection and Monitoring of Soil Carbon Sequestration, US Patent Pending US Serial No. 63/263,444.
Bedell, E., Fankhauser, K., Sharpe, T., Wilson D., Thomas, E., Alarm Threshold Microbial Fluorimeter and Methods, US Patent 11,506,606 B2. Issued November 22, 2022.
Wilson, D., Coyle, J., Thomas., E., Croshere, S., Machine Learning Techniques for Improved Water Service Delivery, US Patent 11,507,861 B2. Issued November 22, 2022.
Fleming, M., Spiller, K., Thomas, E., System and Methods for Operating a Microcomputer in Sleep-Mode and Awake-Mode with Low Power Event Processing, United States Patent US 10,564,701. Issued Feb. 18, 2020.
Thomas, E, Fleming, M., Distributed low-power monitoring system, United States Patent US 9,077,783 B2, Issued July 7, 2015.