David Dao

David Dao

David Dao is a machine learning researcher working on AI for science, with a focus on the data that scientific models learn from. He builds tools that help biologists learn from their microscope images, and datasets and benchmarks for monitoring forests and biodiversity. His most cited work, on data valuation, measures how much each data point improves a model. He co-leads Economies & Governance at Protocol Labs R&D and is co-founder and Chief Scientist of GainForest.Earth.

He holds a PhD in computer science from ETH Zurich, where Ce Zhang and Gustavo Alonso advised his dissertation on data valuation. At the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard he was first author of CellProfiler Analyst. He later co-authored the GEO-Bench and OAM-TCD benchmarks (NeurIPS 2023 and 2024). His work has been cited more than 2,500 times (h-index 18).

GainForest works with Indigenous and local communities to close gaps in biodiversity data. With ETH BiodivX, his team surveyed the Amazon with drones and eDNA and won an XPRIZE Rainforest bonus prize in 2024. They also co-designed Taina, a community-owned AI assistant, with four communities near Manaus.

Essays

  1. 01Governing the Commons in the Intelligent AgeGainForest's vision of an equitable biodiversity data marketplace to finance conservation and govern the natural commons.Jan 2025

Research

  1. 01Academic websitePublications and research projectsdr.daviddao.org

Selected media

  1. 01The Value of DataLong-format interview on universal data income and data valuation for machine learning.Protocol Labs, 2025
  2. 02CNA Documentary: Tech To Save The World - Forest FuturesDocumentary on our work leveraging technology to restore mangroves in the Philippines.Channel News Asia, 2025
  3. 03Atmos: Indigenous Groups Are Safeguarding Culture with Their Own ChatGPTOn winning the XPRIZE Rainforest through our work with Indigenous-led AI.Atmos, 2025
  4. 04How Can AI and the Community Drive Climate Action?Long-format interview on how AI can help tackle climate change.ETH Zurich Podcast, 2025
  5. 05Conservation Data IncomeLong-format interview on our work at GainForest.Ma Earth Podcast, 2024
  6. 06WEF: A Wake-Up Call from NaturePanel discussion on the urgent need for nature-based solutions.World Economic Forum, 2022
  7. 07TEDx: Learning from nature's stewardsOn the origin story of GainForest.TEDxGeneva, 2021

Contact

Write to me at david@gainforest.net.

© 2026 David Dao