Patrick Meier invented the concept of using ''crisis mapping'' in humanitarian emergencies, and is a co-founder and the

Executive Director Executive director is commonly the title of the chief executive officer of a non-profit organization, government agency or international organization. The title is widely used in North American and European not-for-profit organizations, though ...

of WeRobotics.

Early life

The son of a businessman, Meier grew up in Kenya, Ivory Coast, and Austria. As a 13-year old in Kenya, Meier created an online map of Iraq during the

1991 Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases ...

Education

Meier received his undergraduate degree from

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...

, and studies for his

Ph.D A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

. at Tuffs University's

Fletcher School The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy is the graduate school of international affairs of Tufts University, in Medford, Massachusetts. The School is one of America's oldest graduate schools of international relations and is well-ranked in it ...

Digital mapping of the Haiti earthquake

Meier's fiancée was in Port-au-Prince when the

2010 Haiti earthquake A catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake struck Haiti at 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. The epicenter was near the town of Léogâne, Ouest department, approximately west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's c ...

occurred. Working remotely, Meier invented the concept of a '' crisis map'' by creating an online digital map to help with the coordination of humanitarian assistance. Thousands of people in forty countries pulled information from YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter as well as email, videos and text messages, and input it on the online map. The crisis map was used by

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

, and the United States

Federal Emergency Management Agency The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Ex ...

Career

Meier worked at the

Harvard Humanitarian Initiative The Harvard Humanitarian Initiative (HHI) is an interfaculty Harvard University initiative dedicated to advancing research, practice, and policy in the field of humanitarian assistance. HHI's mission is "to relieve human suffering in war and disa ...

and is the director of social innovation at the Qatar Computing Research Institute. In November 2013, Meier aided the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

response to

Typhoon Haiyan Typhoon Haiyan, known in the Philippines as Super Typhoon Yolanda, was one of the most powerful tropical cyclones ever recorded. On making landfall, Haiyan devastated portions of Southeast Asia, particularly the Philippines. It is one of the ...

in the Philippines. Later he criticized humanitarian drone operators for not sharing the information they had gathered with either local authorities or humanitarian agencies, and spoke of the need for a code of conduct. In March 2014, Meier led a process to update the UAV Code of Conduct. In February 2015, Meier was a judge in a Dubai based ''Drones for Good'' competition. In the aftermath of the 2015 Nepal earthquakes, Meier used

unmanned aerial vehicles An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes adding a ground-based controlle ...

to create detailed images of

Kathmandu , pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Bagmati Prov ...

. Speaking later in 2015, he accused many humanitarian drone operators of "causing more harm than good", and spoke of importance of the drone code of conduct. In 2016, Meier was contacted by authorities in

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

who were seeking advice about how to respond to the 2016 Ecuador earthquake. Meier is a co-founder of WeRobotics, the founder of the Humanitarian UAV Network (also known as UAViators), and a co-founder of Kathmandu Flying Labs. Meier co-founded the Digital Humanitarian Network with United Nations official Andrej Verity. Meier is the author of the book '' Digital Humanitarians''.

Personal life

Meier married Christine Martin in 2013, with whom he has a child. They live in Washington, D.C.

References

External links

Humanitarian UAV Network
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meier, Patrick Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American humanitarians 2010 Haiti earthquake relief Tufts University alumni 21st-century non-fiction writers