Networking Friday with Argyro Kavvada (NASA)
On September 18th, 2020, 1-2 PM UTC, Argyro Kavvada reviewed innovative Earth observation solutions for the Sustainable Development Goals. Her presentation illustrated innovative endeavors that aim to integrate Earth observation data, tools and model outputs to support countries in target setting, tracking progress on the Sustainable Development Goals, and informing sustainable development planning and decision making. She serves a dual role as Manager of the Earth Sciences Division’s Sustainable Development Goals Activities to extend uses of Earth science and applications in support of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), while also leading Booz Allen Hamilton's project on studies, assessments, and strategic management for the Applied Sciences Program in NASA’s Earth Science Division. She serves as the Executive Secretary for the international Earth Observations for Sustainable Development Goals (EO4SDG) initiative that NASA co-leads, and the NASA representative to the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites SDG Working Group. In this role, she has built a network of thought leaders and collaborators in the Earth observation and international development landscape.
Networking Friday with Sergio Rossi (Università del Salento)
On September 11th, 2020, 1-2 PM UTC, we dived in the marvellous underwater worlds with Sergio Rossi, Associate Professor at the DiSTeBA (Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Biologiche ed Ambientali) at the Università del Salento and Visiting Professor at the Universidade Federal do Ceará. He talked about Marine Forests and their Role in the Oceans. The moderator was Eduardo Pereira, Assistant Professor at the University of Minho and a member of IB-S (Institute for Bio-sustainability) and ISISE (Institute for Sustainability and Innovation in Structural Engineering). What is an engineer? A person that solves problems for the community, giving tools and services that improve our lives. A tree or a coral are ecosystem engineering species, they benefit the community, and give also essential ecosystem services to the humans. In the case of the forests of the sea (Marine Forests - MFs): kelp forests, seagrasses, coral reefs, sponge grounds, gorgonian forests, hydrothermal vent associated fauna, etc.) their role is giving shelter and food to other species, promote the reproduction and life cycles of many organisms, transform the hydrodynamics and recycle nutrients, immobilize carbon and promote the biomass of fisheries, create physical barriers against wave action and be biodiversity hotspots…they enhance complexity and functionality that is essential for a healthy community in the benthos and also in the plankton.
Networking Friday Special Thematic Session on Evolving and Sustaining Ocean Best Practices
Continuing with the Networking Fridays Webinar series, on August 28th, 1-3 PM UTC we will hold our 3rd 2-hour long Thematic Special Session. This session will discuss the Ocean Best Practices System. Best practices are created by the community for the community. The Ocean Best Practices System under the auspices of the IOC will support the end-to-end best practices value chain. The oceans play a key role in global issues such as sustainability. As we move toward basin-scale ocean-observing, efficient and consistent monitoring and predicting of the planet’s ocean is essential. These need common methods for interoperability and reproducibility. The Ocean Best Practice System provide publication, discovery and access to relevant and tested methods, from observation to application, as well as a foundation for increasing capacity. It supports the entire ocean community in sharing methods, developing best practices and capacity development in their use.
Networking Friday with Danielle Wood (MIT Media Lab)
On August 21st, 2020, 1-2 PM UTC, we will meet Danielle Wood, Director of the Space Enabled Research Group, Assistant Professor of Media Arts & Sciences and Aeronautics & Astronautics, Media Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She will talk about Sustainability in Space and on Earth: Research Initiatives of the Space Enabled. Danielle’s presentation will be about her work of the Space Enabled Research Group at the MIT Media Lab. The mission of the Space Enabled Research Group is to advance justice in Earth’s complex systems using designs enabled by space. The Group’s message is that six types of space technology are supporting societal needs, as defined by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. These six technologies include satellite earth observation, satellite communication, satellite positioning, microgravity research, technology transfer, and the infrastructure related to space research and education. While much good work has been done, barriers remain that limit the application of space technology as a tool for sustainable development.
Oceans in the solar system
On August 19, we held our second Roundtable on Current Issues. This session, entitled “Oceans in the Solar System: exploring the origin of life and habitability of water bodies on Mars, Europa and Earth”, discussed the evidence for water bodies outside the Earth, and their implications for the origins of life and planetary habitability. Our first speaker was Dr. Timothy Goudge from the University of Texas (UT) at Austin and the UT Center for Planetary Systems Habitability (CPSH). He reviewed the current geologic and geochemical clues that point towards a Martian surface that may have been entirely covered by rivers, lakes, and oceans. He will also discussed our next steps forward in planetary exploration, namely the scientific goals of NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover, which will explore an ancient water body. Dr. Krista Soderlund, also from UT Austin and UT CPSH, journeyed us further into the depths of the Solar System to explore the present-day possibility of oceans in Europa, one of Jupiter’s icy moons. Her work comprises planetary fluid dynamics and geophysical numerical simulations, and will play a key part in the upcoming NASA Europa Mission. Lastly, Dr. Mary Voytek, Director of the NASA Astrobiology Program, focused on the possibility of life in the exciting habitats outlined by Dr. Goudge and Dr. Soderlund.
Networking Friday with Minister Maria do Rosario Sambo (Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, Angola)
On August 14th, 2020, 1-2 PM UTC, we met Maria do Rosário Sambo, Minister of Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, Angola. The moderator was Susana Catita, Executive Director, Ciencia LP. Minister Maria do Rosário Sambo took office on September 30th, 2017. She earned her medical degree from the Faculty of Medicine of the University Agostinho Neto, Luanda, Angola, in 1983, received her Neurology speciality in 1997 from the Egas Moniz Hospital, Lisbon, Portugal and obtained her PhD degree in Medicine, Genetics Specialty, with the theme “Genetic Susceptibility to Cerebral Malaria in Angolan Children” from the University of Lisbon and the Gulbenkian Institute of Science, Portugal, in 2010. From 2011 to 2015, Minister Maria do Rosario Sambo was the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine of Universidade Katyavala Bwila, Benguela, Angola, and then she was the Rector of Universidade Agostinho Neto, Luanda, from 2015 to 2017. She is currently a Full Professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the Universidade Agostinho Neto.
Networking Friday Special Thematic Session on Sargassum
Continuing with the Networking Fridays Webinar series, on July 31st, 1-3 PM UTC we had our second 2-hour long Thematic Special Session. This session was focused on Sargassum and we had an unique panel of specialists: Cesar Toro (IOCARIBE of IOC-UNESCO), Karima Degia (UWI), Sandra Ketelhake (AtlantOS, KDM), Isabel Sousa Pinto (CIIMAR, GEO MBON), and Leah Mupas Segui (GEO Blue Planet Initiative). The moderator was Emily Smail (NOAA, GEO Blue Planet Initiative).
From Deep Sea to Outer Space
On July 22nd, 1-3 PM UTC, we will start a new Webinar series. This first session will have a unique group of speakers: Fabien Cousteau, Jacques Rougerie and Peter Weiss. The moderator will be Gui Menezes, Regional Secretary for the Sea, Science and Technology of the Government of the Azores. They will discuss human life in extreme environments, From the Deep Sea to the Outer Space.
Networking Friday with Paulo Veiga (Minister of Maritime Economy, Cabo Verde)
On July 24th, 2020, 1-2 PM UTC, we will met Paulo Jorge Lima Veiga, Minister of Maritime Economy, Cabo Verde, who will discuss the development of the Maritime Economy in Cabo Verde and its role in the country's post-pandemic economic recovery, namely the fisheries sector in Cabo Verde; the creation of Campus do Mar; the São Vicente Special Maritime Economic Zone Project, the transition process from Cape Verde to Blue Economy. Minister Paulo Veiga took office on 10 January 2020 after serving for two years as Assistant Secretary of State for Maritime Economy.
Networking Friday with DK Osseo-Asare (Penn State’s AESEDA)
On July 17th, 2020, 1-2 PM UTC, we had DK Osseo-Asare, Assistant Professor of Architecture and Engineering Design at the Stuckeman School, College of Arts and Architecture, Penn State. The moderator was Felipe Addor, adjunct professor and Director of the Interdisciplinary Nucleus for Social Development of Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Nides/UFRJ).