At the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, I came prepared to learn about new challenges journalists around the world will face as they try to find accurate information about environmental and development issues. As a Knight International Journalism Fellow, I also came armed with some practical approaches for addressing these new challenges – at least here in the Amazon region where my work is based.

I am thrilled to announce that InfoAmazonia, a data and mapping platform focusing on the largest rainforest on the planet, launched on Sunday at the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. As a Knight International Journalism Fellow working to help reporters here in Brazil use data to track deterioration of the Amazon, this is a key component of my work and an exciting step.

Two Knight International Journalism Fellows -- Justin Arenstein and I -- attended the first summit of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) on April 17 and 18 in Brazil to see how this new movement can influence our work.

The meeting of the group, founded by the presidents of Brazil and the United States in September 2011, marked the official launch of a global effort to promote the principles of transparency and open data in the public sector.