On October 29, 2026, we had the pleasure of welcoming Prof. Dr. Marco Körner from the Earth Observation Center (EOC) of the German Remote Sensing Data Center at the DLR to the Earth Observation Research Cluster (EORC) at the University of Würzburg for an inspiring talk.
Under the title “From Data to Insight: Rethinking Machine Learning for Trustworthy Modeling of Complex Systems”, Marco explored the challenges and opportunities of applying machine learning to complex environmental and urban systems.
A central message of the talk was that reliable scientific insights require more than powerful AI models and large datasets. Earth observation data are often incomplete, noisy, or biased, while the underlying environmental processes remain only partially understood. Addressing these challenges requires approaches that combine machine learning with domain expertise, physical understanding, and knowledge of sensor and data limitations.
The presentation highlighted the importance of process-consistent and data-efficient learning approaches, with applications ranging from land-use and crop-type mapping to vegetation and hydrological dynamics. It also emphasized the need to move beyond pattern recognition towards scientifically meaningful, robust, and trustworthy modeling.
A big thank you to Marco Körner for sharing his research and perspectives with us, and to everyone who joined the talk and contributed to the scientific exchange!
We look forward to continuing the discussions and exploring opportunities for collaboration at the intersection of Earth observation, machine learning, and environmental research.
Our EORC Talk series will continue with more exciting topics and speakers in the future. Everyone interested in Earth observation and related research is warmly invited to join our upcoming talks – we look forward to welcoming you!
