Message from our Program Manager - December 20, 2023
Dear LCLUCers, friends of LCLUC, international colleagues and friends,
As if the continuing war in Ukraine, was not enough, we are now witnessing the war in the Gaza strip bordering Israel. The atrocities that occurred in southern Israel on Oct 7 – the massacre and hostage-taking by Hamas terrorists – have prompted the Israeli military to respond with efforts to dismantle the terrorist organization, leading to infrastructure destruction and civilian casualties. Pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian protests in many countries have shaken societies globally. Media attention remains focused on discussions and tensions surrounding these events. Of particular concern have been the troubling incidents on US campuses, marked by hateful exchanges that have occasionally escalated to an outpour of antisemitic slogans and sometimes violence. In short, my wishes a year ago for a “peaceful New Year” appear to have totally missed the mark (or did I jinx it?).
In keeping with the LCLUC tradition, I will herein summarize the past year’s program achievements, and convey my best wishes to the LCLUC family and our friends around the world, and my wish for peace but perhaps more cautiously than last year.
Solicitations and Future Plans. LCLUC-23 selections have introduced more Multi-Source Land Imaging (MuSLI) projects into the Program, this time enhancing the use of infrared data. The projects encompass diverse subject such as forest mortality, degradation, and regeneration; wildfires and fire risk near urban centers, heat effects in urban environment, and war-induced damages to agriculture. Some of the selected projects are led by researchers new to the LCLUC program, so I extend a warm welcome them into the LCLUC family. A couple of projects are focused on India, thus enhancing the Program’s SARI component led by Krishna Vadrevu (NASA MSFC). SARI is currently progressing through its Synthesis phase conducted by the three large project teams - one selected last year and two selected this year - led by Michigan State U. and JPL.
ROSES-2024 will be announced as usual around Valentine’s Day (mid Feb). The LCLUC-2024 solicitation was developed jointly with the Earth Science Technology Office (ESTO), particularly its Advanced Information Systems Technology (AIST) program. This call aims to contribute to the NASA’s recent undertaking in the development of Earth System Digital Twins. I vision LCLUC Program’s role is envisioned, in enhancing the Land component of such ESDTs by advancing the incorporation of land-use datasets as boundary conditions in numerical weather forecast and climate models. In the first stage, we will focus on incorporating only physical land-use data in models. The inclusion of socio-economic data will be pursued at the next stage. Therefore, although the LCLUC program usually requires combining aspects of physical and socio-economic sciences, the current call will not require a socio-economic component. There will be two steps – please watch the website and the announcement of ROSES-2024 for the due dates.
Here's a traditional reminder for all LCLUCers to pay attention to non-LCLUC ROSES elements, such as the Carbon Cycle program, Interdisciplinary Science (IDS) Program, the Terrestrial Ecology and Terrestrial Hydrology programs, and others, including those for students (FINESST) and Early Career Scientists (NIP). Recall that the LCLUC Science Team includes not only projects that are funded through the LCLUC solicitations but also those LCLUC-related projects that are funded through some of the above-mentioned Earth Science programs. For example, this year the IDS-22 program’s element “Processes Across the Land-Ocean Continuum”, led by Laura Lorenzoni (Ocean Biology and Biogeochemistry Program Manager) and me, yielded two projects joining the LCLUC team. Some selections from those programs are sometimes supported by the LCLUC program base funds when very good proposals are picked up from other programs’ rounds, depending on flexibility.
Science Team Meetings. After a long period of virtual communications, we moved to in-person meetings, the most recent one held last May in College Park, MD - the 2-day LCLUC Science Team meeting prior to the joint Carbon Cycle and Ecosystems Focus Area plenary sessions. Undoubtly, that the energy exchange between the speakers and the audience (as well as the exchange of viruses) is missing at virtual meetings. In-person meetings provide opportunities for fruitful interactions during breaks and after the sessions, especially for younger researchers who have a chance to meet veteran LCLUCers, have informal conversations between early career and mature scientists, forming new teams, and develop new ideas for future projects.
The next LCLUC Science Team meeting is scheduled for April 2-4 in Gaithersburg, MD (detailed information is available on the website). The venue, “Rio Center”, is a scenic place with a beautiful path around a lake and stunning views. We held an ST meeting there a few years ago; unfortunately, the weather in mid-March was less than ideal. Hopefully, the next early April will see good weather and plenty of blossoms.
Brno is a city proud of its role in history as the place where the father of genetics, Gregor Mendel, conducted his first experiments with pea shoots while serving as a monk at the Augustine monastery. I highly recommend visiting the Mendel Museum there. Last year the city celebrated their famous compatriot’s 200th birthday by installing a monument to Mendel’s pea shoots.
That was one of my destinations in Central Eastern Europe in a rather complex itinerary in the framework of the Embassy Science Fellowship (ESF) program of the U.S. State Department. I was lucky to be selected this year, being the first ESF representative from NASA. The overarching theme for my program was Water-Energy-Food Nexus. My base was in Budapest – the hub for the activities in the region. In Budapest, I visited the Lechner Center and the Eötvös Loránd University, and visited the Office of Space Research at the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. I also traveled out of Budapest to Óbuda University in Székesfehérvár, where I met with the local group of researchers and gave an overview of the capabilities for monitoring land surface changes from space. Székesfehérvár is a picturesque historical town, where Mihály Vörösmarty, the famous Hungarian romantic poet and playwright studied from 1811-1816. See pics of the plaque in Székesfehérvár and the monument in his honor in Budapest.
Curiously, Charles Vörösmarty (City University of New York) has recently joined the LCLUC team with his NASA IDS-22 project. I wouldn’t call him a “newcomer” as he already was an LCLUCer a few years ago (and, as we all know, once an LCLUCer, always an LCLUCer). But what’s even more interesting is that it turns out that he IS related to the famous romantic poet! Am I the only one who sees the resemblance?
In Budapest, I also attended a reception at the U.S. Ambassador’s Residence in honor of U.S.-Hungarian scientific collaboration, gave a few remarks on NASA’s behalf and had photo op with the U.S. Ambassador (see pic below). Levent Ronczyk – LCLUC friend from Pécs, Hungary – helped me a lot during my stay in Hungary and recommended that I visit the House of Music, a museum that opened just a couple of years ago (see pic below). I found it one of the most interesting places I visited this summer, so I highly recommend it as a destination to anyone visiting Budapest.
Besides Hungary, my ESF adventure included giving several lectures at Babes Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, and visiting University of Belgrade, Serbia, where I gave a keynote talk at the “Green Balkans” conference and joined the Geography Faculty in celebrating their 130th anniversary.
During my previous visit in Belgrade, en route from the LCLUC workshop in Novy Sad four years ago, I discovered the best ice cream in the world at “Crna Ovca”. So this time around, I indulged in their ice cream twice every day. In the pic below you can see my favorite: cherry and chocolate.
After the ESF program and the SCERIN workshop in Brno, I traveled to my final destination – Vienna, Austria - where I visited IIASA and the Technical University of Vienna. The International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) was founded in the early 1970s to promote East-West scientific cooperation during the Cold War, and today IIASA promotes and supports research on current global challenges. It is located in the in Schloss Laxenburg near Vienna, where the Habsburgs had their summer retreat (https://iiasa.ac.at/about-iiasa/institute/history). At IIASA, we have friends of LCLUC who have been involved in Northern Eurasia Earth Science Partnership (NEESPI) and SCERIN activities, Anatoly Shvidenko and Dmitri Shchepashchenko who kindly organized my seminar (see pics taken in front of the IIASA entrance and in their 19th century dining hall). The seminar was hybrid with more audience members online than in the room.
Prof. Wolfgang Wagner (Technical U. of Vienna), well known for his work on large-scale soil moisture studies from satellites, and who contributed to NEESPI science planning at its inception, organized my seminar and to my amazement, despite the fact that it was both summer vacations and exams time, he managed to gather quite a few people at their department. So, on the Fourth of July, instead of having barbeque and watching fireworks at home, I was giving a seminar in the center of Vienna.
After coming back to the HQ, I gave a summary presentation of my ESF experience at a Lunch & Learn Seminar – see https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1SRPcW-oiv5MbkwaYYhMcaQMVgY650TVT/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=104600839535779052012&rtpof=true&sd=true
(with many fun pics, look at them at your leisure).
I welcome Florian Schwander (NASA Ames) who assumed the role of the new US lead for the Mediterranean network (MedRIN) activities, succeeding Vince Ambrosia, who recently retired. Vince’s contributions to GOFC-GOLD are greatly appreciated. Thanks to the regional leads for MedRIN Ioannis Gitas (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki), and Fantos Hadjimitsis (University of Technology, Cyprus) continue to actively guide the network’s initiatives. Next July, together with Chariton Kalaitzidis (Maich), they will host a joined SCERIN-MedRIN workshop at MAICh institute in Crete. The workshop will be accompanied by the TAT sessions. Those who are planning to attend the workshop are welcome to volunteer in training TAT students (contact me for details if you’re interested).
The Latin American RedLaTif network (led by Wilfrid Schroeder, NOAA) had a small side meeting at the Space Week Nordeste in Fortaleza, Brazil, last August (more on it below).
Activities of the African networks (led by David Roy, Michigan State U., and his regional partners Natasha Ribeiro, Yudith Kamoto, Navashni Govender, Landing Mane, Cheik Mbow and others) continue as planned.
Incidentally,
this year I had my first visit on the African continent, attending the World
Climate Research Program (WCRP) conference in Kigali, Rwanda, where I presented
my vision of contributing to the development of Digital Twins by incorporating
land-use data in numerical climate and weather forecast models. I learned that such
WCRP conferences are held only once in a decade, and their goal is to develop a
statement that would be provided to decision makers, e.g., at COP summits on
climate. The conference was held in the Convention Center, which is considered
the most expensive building in Africa (at $300M).
While
in Kigali, my boss (Jack Kaye) and I got to meet the US Ambassador there and visited
the Rwanda Space Agency, where we exchanged our ideas on potential interactions
and collaboration.
It turns out that one of their staff – Joseph Abakunda (left from Jack Kaye in the pic) – knows the LCLUC program very well as he’s been in contact with Catherine Nakalembe (U. Maryland) - an LCLUC team member and a laureate of Africa Food Prize award three years ago. Joseph noted that the GOFC-GOLD has no network in Horn of Africa region - food for thought for the Food Prize laureate and GOFC-GOLD leads.
Regarding
GOFC-GOLD, I’d like to give a shout-out to Krishna Vadrevu (NASA MSFC), who, in
addition to helping me continuously in his role of LCLUC Deputy, running the Program,
has also been busy coordinating activities for regional networks. This includes
his leadership in two SARI networks: South Asia coordinated with Prof.
Garg (TERI School of Advanced Studies) in
India, and Southeast Asia coordinated with regional partners: Dr. Perry (KMUTT)
and Dr. Tanita (GISTDA), both in Thailand, and Dr. Israr in Indonesia. Coordinating
ALL the networks is not a trivial task, and he’s been doing an excellent job in
this role. He’s also been proactive in enhancing our partnership with the Vietnamese
Space Agency and our Japanese partners at NIES and JAXA. A significant portion
of Krishna’s time and effort has been dedicated to the regional
workshops, focused on air pollution in Asia, last February and the forthcoming
workshop this coming February, both held in Hanoi, Vietnam. I’d also like to express
my gratitude again to our partners and co-sponsors Tsuneo Matsunaga-san and Ohara-san at NIES, Japan for their continuous support of LCLUC
workshops in Asia on the topic of biosphere-atmosphere interactions.
The
Space Week Nordeste 2023 meeting in Fortaleza in northeast Brazil was held last
August, organized by Geraldo Ferreira, a professor at the University of Ceará,
Brazil, with a little help from NASA LCLUC. The meeting covered various space missions
as well as space and Earth research and was attended by a few LCLUCers. During
the last couple of days, the meeting moved to the biggest mall in Fortaleza,
with many interesting exhibits installed and children having fun, engaged in
various activities.
During a couple of LCLUC sessions in Fortaleza we successfully attracted early career Brazilian researchers. I also had the chance to meet Nicolinha, a remarkable anow 10-year old from Fortaleza, who was pronounced the world's youngest astronomer two years ago> Nicolinha actively participates in a NASA-affiliated program, where she searches for asteroids, attends international seminars and engages with some of her country's top space and science figures (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-10048743/Meet-worlds-youngest-astronomer-8-year-old-Nicole-Oliveira-finds-18-asteroids.html).
Encountering
this little astronomer was a precious moment during my business travel to this
meeting. I was surprised how much interest and aspiration to space a child at
her age could possess. Her mother claims that her daughter was already fascinated
by stars before the age of three. I had the opportunity to witness her give slide
presentation and, despite the language barrier, I was very impressed by her
dedication to the subject and her ability to convey her ideas with ease to
other children and their parents.
The GOFC-GOLD leadership is still interested in holding the second GOFC-GOLD Summit, at which regional networks from all over the world have the opportunity to meet and exchange their experiences and ideas. The coming year, however, is already full of scheduled meetings, so probably it will likely have to be postponed again. In the meantime, I’d encourage wider distribution of the announcements of regional networks’ webinars, so that cross-fertilization between various networks could continue to be pursued despite this delay.
I would like to commend Jon Padgham (START Inc.) for his organizational efforts in keeping GOFC-GOLD active. I applaud David Skole, the Land Cover Implementation Team Co-Chair, and David Roy, the Fire Implementation Team Co-Chair, both at Michigan State U., for their outstanding supervision of their respective teams in collaboration with their European co-chairs: Martin Herold (GFSET, Potsdam, Germany) in Land Cover IT, and Martin Wooster (King’s College, UK) and Jesus Ayanz (JRC, Italy) in Fire IT. At the recent GOFC-GOLD Fire IT meeting in Montreal, it was discussed to hold the next Fire IT meeting possibly next summer in Milan adjacent to the next EARSEL Forest Fire meeting.
Capacity Building. The LCLUC program continues to focus on cultivating the next generation of LCLUCers. In addition to target solicitations directed at early career scientists, each international Science Team meeting includes a training session designed to enhance regional capacity to align with SERVIR activities. Furthermore, we continue actively support the NASA-ESA Trans-Atlantic Training (TAT) initiative, organized by Premek Stych (Charles U. in Prague), Francesco Sarti (ESA), myself (NASA), and Levente Ronczyk (Hungary), who recently joined the organizing team. TAT aims to promote the use of remote sensing methods and spaceborne data use in Eastern Europe. The most recent TAT was held in conjunction with the SCERIN workshop in Brno, Czech Rep., and the next one is planned to be held in Crete, Greece in conjunction with the SCERIN-MedRIN joint workshop next July. This initiative plays a crucial role in advancing expertise and skills in remote sensing among students in the region and within the community of early career scientists, building their professional capacity.
Program Support. Dr. Krishna Vadrevu (NASA MSFC) has been managing his considerable responsibilities with enthusiasm and efficiency as he serves both as LCLUC Deputy Program Manager and the GOFC-GOLD coordinator. The continuous improvement of the program, College Park, with Meghavi Prashnani taking charge of developing newsletters and the website updates, assisted by Rohan Purekar. Melanie Reynolds coordinates the LCLUC webinars, which are recorded and can be accessed on the LCLUC website. Mary Mitkish and Meghavi organize the in-person science team meetings, while Jack O’Bannon and Fernando Ramirez take care of IT issues. My personal appreciation goes out to each of them for their dedicated efforts .
For
those who haven’t explored the LCLUC website thoroughly, I encourage you to do
so at your leisure. There are many interesting features, including a map of
project locations at the bottom of the page, team membership and members’ pages,
a map of research polygons, and a recently developed hotspots map. It is critical
for each PI to verify the content of all the above-mentioned maps for their respective
projects; please check the locations, affiliations, the full list of
collaborators and their affiliations/locations, etc.
Further down, you’ll find the NASA LCLUC and LCLUC-relevant calls and selections.
Going back to the top, you’ll find the calendar of LCLUC and LCLUC-related meetings on the right, and the list of past and future LCLUC ST meetings as well as the link to LCLUC-related meetings on the left. The project tab at the top allows you to explore a list of past and ongoing projects on a particular region (you’d need to click on the tab and scroll down to see the list). For specific project details, just click on the project of interest. Important notice: We are in the process of upgrading the LCLUC website, so there may be some design changes on the front page and some potential hiccups during this period. Your feedback is crucial, so please share any observations or concerns. Meghavi will keep you informed about the changes you may encounter once they are implemented.
Please continue to help us communicate statistics on publications, as well as figures like the numbers of graduate student supported under the LCLUC projects, awards for papers, etc. I use these statistics when promoting the Program to upper management and worldwide.
I cannot overemphasize the critical support I receive from Krishna (NASA) and Chris Justice (UMD) in running the program. It’s hard to imagine how the program would function if not for their continuous and thoughtful support.
Recognitions. I heartily congratulate the following LCLUCers for their well-deserved accomplishments.
Meghavi Prashnani received an Emerging Leader award at GEO Week in Cape Town this year for her more than ten years of dedication to Earth Observation through various programs, including LCLUC.
Dr. Lucy Hutyra became a 2023 MacArthur Fellow. https://www.macfound.org/fellows/class-of-2023/lucy-hutyra#searchresults
Dr. Son Nghiem, Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL), was awarded a JPL Center Award - the 2023 Voyager Award with the citation “for outstanding leadership at the international level in advancing the use of remote sensing for land use applications of high societal impact.” Moreover, Dr. Nghiem was selected as IEEE Life Fellow this year.
Dr. Peilei Fan, who recently moved from Michigan State U. to Tufts U., received this year William J. Beal Outstanding Faculty Award at Michigan State University. Most importantly, she started in her role as the next President of International Association of Landscape Ecology (IALE; https://www.landscape-ecology.org/) for four years.
Dr. Eleanor (Kellie) Stokes, who recently joined the NASA team at HQ, received the Kuno award for applied science, an award for young women scientists making a societal impact.
Two LCLUCers – Alexander Prishchepov (U. Copenhagen) and Nick Magliocca (U. Alabama, Tuscaloosa) – became new members in the Global Land Program (GLP) Scientific Steering Committee.
Kirsten De Beurs, who recently moved from U. Oklahoma to her native country, the Netherlands, gave her inaugural lecture “Reflected Light to Narratives” in her new position at Wageningen University.
Please contact our team if you are featured in the media or receive an award, so that we can highlight your accomplishment on the website.
On a Personal Note: The past year, despite the backdrop of ongoing wars, held special significance for me. I never received so many medals in one year and it was especially nice for this rain of medals falling on the year when I hit the age of 70. Among these honors, the NASA Exceptional Service Medal was an especially appreciated recognition. It’s always pleasant to be recognized, although I should notice that my NOAA medal (the bronze medal from the Dept. of Commerce) three decades ago made me feel prouder, as it was a reward for my scientific achievements and not for the service. In my sport life, I also earned a bronze and a silver medal in my category at two North American Cups (NAC) fencing competitions, which placed me on the national USA team. This provided me the opportunity to compete in the World Veterans Competition, an annual international event held this year in Daytona Beach, Florida. Having attended three World Veteran competitions in Europe previously, this year was the first time I got to the podium (!) as a bronze medalist in my category, putting me also on the saber team USA for the next day team competition, in which our team clinched the gold medal (the first time after 2015). Thus, I brought two international competition medals home from Florida.
Final Remarks. I am sending this letter primarily to LCLUC PI’s (current and alumni) and friends of LCLUC. Before you discard my message, please forward it to your team members including non-US partners.
The program is expanding and growing in numbers, with many early career scientists joining in the last few years. Welcome all newcomers to the LCLUC family! Remember: once an LCLUCer, always an LCLUCer. All LCLUC alumni are invited to keep in touch and attend LCLUC events. And, of course, all veterans are welcome to submit innovative, exciting proposals with novel methods, leveraging the synergy of various kinds of satellite observations, employing “big data” and “machine learning” methods, as well as incorporating advanced methods to integrate socio-economic data and methods into LCLUC studies. So, the program is going through both rejuvenation and reinvigoration.
I’d like to wish the whole LCLUC family, friends and international colleagues exciting results and discoveries and a productive 2024 New Year. Let us hope that “differences in opinions” will be reduced, if not resolved, somehow more peacefully than they have in the past. As Voltaire once said: “Opinion has caused more trouble on this little earth than plagues or earthquakes.” Considering the outcomes of previous year-end wishes, I express only cautiously optimism, wishing that the world situation will not deteriorate further.
To those who reached the end of this message, thank you for your patience and apologies for taking your time from your family and holidays.
Happy Holidays, and healthy and hopefully more peaceful New Year!
-Garik
Comments
Post a Comment