Eleanor Stokes
Program Manager, NASA Earth Information Center
Dr. Eleanor Stokes serves as Program Manager for the new Earth Information Center at NASA Headquarters in Washington DC. In this role, she works to foster public understanding of our dynamic planet and reduce barriers to the public’s engagement with Earth data. She leads a team of Earth scientists, artists, computer scientists, and communicators to develop physical and virtual centers that amplify the impact of NASA Earth science.
Earlier in her NASA career, Dr. Stokes served as a Principal Investigator leading mission concept development and scientific research activities for NASA’s Black Marble. She was an early user of Earth at Night data, refining the first processing algorithms and developing novel methods to track urbanization dynamics. As a NASA Harriett G. Jenkins Predoctoral Fellow, she worked with the Terrestrial Information Systems Laboratory at Goddard Space Flight Center using the new Suomi-NPP VIIRS Day/Night Visible Band.
Dr. Stokes was also a Senior Research Scientist and Lead of Strategic Operations at the Universities Space Research Association. She was a contributing author on the UN Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction (GAR 2022). Honors for her scientific contributions include being named one of ESRI’s “Women Stars of Spatial Science” (2020) and Geospatial World’s 50 Rising Stars (2021). She also received the Hisashi Kuno Award for scientists creating transformative social impact (2022).
Trained as an urban land scientist, Dr. Stokes is particularly interested in how urbanization is shaping the planet. She has experience in the building technology field, specializing in high performance building design, daylight analysis, renewable energy feasibility studies, and energy efficient mechanical and lighting design.
Dr. Stokes holds a Ph.D. from the Yale School of the Environment, a Master’s in Mechanical Engineering from MIT, and a Bachelor’s in Math and Studio Art from Dartmouth College.
Passionate about communicating science through visual and experiential media, Dr. Stokes has shown her design work in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.