On October 22, 2024, this year’s GESTAR II undergraduate and graduate fellows gave virtual presentations on topics they researched with their mentor(s); they were joined by an international visiting student who is working with a GESTAR II scientist. The event was organized and moderated by Dominique Footes, Special Programs Administrator (SURA). 

Three different GESTAR II fellowships were represented: 2023-2024 Graduate Fellows, 2023-2024 Morgan State University Undergraduate Fellows, and 2024 Short-Term/Visiting Fellows, who are students at partner universities ASU, CSU, and PSU. This year’s visiting fellows worked with their mentors over ten weeks in Summer 2024; however, their research collaborations continued into Fall 2024. For more information on upcoming fellowship opportunities, visit the GESTAR II Student Opportunities.

GESTAR II 2023-2024 Graduate Fellows:

Chhaya Kulkarni (University of Maryland, Baltimore County) presented “Assessing Radiance Variance in OSSE Simulations for Improved Satellite Observations.” She worked with GESTAR II mentor Nikki Privé (610.1/MSU) and Dr. Vandana Janeja (UMBC). Ms. Kulkarni created a web tool that shows some of the Machine Learning results from her research; she submitted a “demonstration track” paper titled “Interactive Assessment Variances of High-Resolution Model Features in OSSE Simulations” that was accepted by ACM SIGSPATIAL 2024.

Yu-An Chen (Colorado State Univ.) presented “Application of Nonlinear Data Assimilation to Hurricane Dynamics and Predictability: Boundary Layer Turbulent Structure.” Mr. Chen worked with GESTAR II mentor Stephen Guimond (UMBC, now with Hampton Univ.) and Dr. Peter Jan van Leeuwen (CSU).

GESTAR II 2023-2024 Morgan State University Undergraduate Fellow:  

Ajan Coleman (Morgan State Univ.) gave a lightning talk titled “Plant Hyperspectral Spectroscopy Data Research”; his mentor was Dhruva Kathuria (618/MSU).

GESTAR II 2024 Short-Term/Visiting Fellows:  

Praveena Kulandhaivel (Arizona State Univ.) gave a lightning talk titled “Exploring High-Resolution PM2.5 Hindcast Modeling in Phoenix”; her mentor was Carl Malings (610.1/MSU).

Alexis Cole (Pennsylvania State Univ.) gave a lightning talk titled “Exploring the Relationship Between GNSS RO Penetration and Lower Tropospheric Moisture in the Arctic Using Multi-Observational Datasets”; her mentor was Manisha Ganeshan (613/MSU).

Madison Shogrin (Colorado State Univ.) gave a lightning talk titled “O3-sensitivity from space: diurnal variability in the HCHO:NO2 ratio and NO2 over the Colorado front range from TEMPO and TROPOMI”; her mentor was Lok Lamsal (614/UMBC) and her advisors were Dr. Emily Fischer (CSU) and Dr. Vivienne Payne (NASA JPL).

In addition to the GESTAR II fellows, international student Janhavi Singh (Banaras Hindu University, India) gave a short presentation titled “Estimation of Surface Concentration of Particulate Matter (PM2.5) Using Machine Learning Algorithms over Kolkata (INDIA)”; her mentors were Lok Lamsal (614/UMBC) and Dr. Sunita Verma (B.H.U.).

Congratulations to all of our fellows on their collaborative and informative presentations, and we thank all the mentors and advisors!

Three Goddard teams were recipients of a 2024 Blue Marble Award, among them the NASA Disasters Response Coordination System Team of which Robert Emberson (617/UMBC) is a member. The team was a “recipient in the category of Resilience or Climate Change Adaptation for outstanding contribution to science-based disaster response and resiliency planning.” Created in 2006, the Blue Marble Award recognizes personnel who demonstrate environmental leadership in carrying out the agency’s mission. The award ceremony was held October 8, 2024, at the NASA 2024 Environmental Operational Meeting at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX. Congratulations!

We asked Dr. Emberson for more information on the Disasters Program and the Disaster Response Coordination System: “I am one of the Associate Program Managers for the Disasters Program at NASA HQ, which supports both funded research projects as well as a range of agencies to inform decisions relating to Disaster response. I’ve been involved in various capacities in the disaster response support work for the past 5 years, but this year the program has formalized these activities into the Disaster Response Coordination System, an expanded way to leverage NASA assets to support our partners.” Read about the launch of the new system in this June 2024 NASA news feature.

The Disasters Program provides resources via Earth observing data to aid and inform emergency management decision-makers; most recently, they’ve been activated in response to Hurricanes Milton and Helene. The DRCS is featured in this article on nasa.gov regarding the devastation from Hurricane Milton and how NASA is providing FEMA and state agencies with resources. The DRCS team also utilizes the NASA Disasters Portal, which “provides access to a range of data sources for our response activities.” Read more about current and previous disaster activations here.