International Colloquium on Space and Sustainability in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico

Members of NASA Science Activation's NASA Earth Science Education Collaborative (NESEC) were recently invited to present and participate as part of a space and citizen science panel session at the International Colloquium on Space and Sustainability, held at the Ciudad Creativa Digital’s Plataforma Abierta de Innovación in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. The Colloquium, held November 13 to 16, 2023, is a collaboration with NASA to foster discussion in Mexico about the current state of the use of Earth observation technology and its potential applications for sustainability. The main objective of the colloquium was to strengthen diversified knowledge in Mexico about how NASA missions and programs can contribute to sustainability, especially in relation to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The colloquium brought together over 120 participants from academia, research institutions, environmental advocates and businesses, and local environmental elders, with the majority of the participants from Mexico.

Brian Campbell (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Wallops Flight Facility) presented and participated on panels in person, with talks focused on citizen science and sustainability, including the Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Program’s Biometry and Trees data collection protocols, and several NASA Earth-observing missions: ICESat-2, GEDI, and Landsat. Campbell was also the guest of honor at the Inauguration of the Technology and Capacity Building STEAM Innovation Lab Center in Jalisco (Cañadas de Obregón).

Peder Nelson, from Oregon State University and the lead for GLOBE Observer Land Cover Science, also participated virtually and co-presented with Brian Campbell during the space and citizen science session. During the trip, Campbell and Nelson also held a live webinar for the Trees Around the GLOBE Student Research Campaign from Parque Morelos in Guadalajara.

The NASA Earth Science Education Collaborative (NESEC) is supported by NASA under cooperative agreement award numbers NNX16AE28A and is part of NASA’s Science Activation Portfolio.