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Toward New Partnerships In Remote Sensing: Government, the Private Sector, and Earth Science Research (2002)

Chapter: Appendix B: Biographical Information for Steering Committee Members and Workshop Speakers and Panelists

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Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Information for Steering Committee Members and Workshop Speakers and Panelists." National Research Council. 2002. Toward New Partnerships In Remote Sensing: Government, the Private Sector, and Earth Science Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10500.
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B
Biographical Information for Steering Committee Members and Workshop Speakers and Panelists

STEERING COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Roberta Balstad Miller, Chair, has worked and published extensively in the areas of science and technology policy and human interactions in global environmental change. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. Currently the director of the Center for International Earth Science Information Network at Columbia University, she was previously a staff associate with the Social Science Research Council (1975 to 1981), the founding executive director of the Consortium of Social Science Associations (1981 to 1984), and director of the Division of Social and Economic Science at the National Science Foundation (NSF) (1984 to 1993). She received NSF’s Meritorious Service Award in 1993. Dr. Miller has served as chair of a number of scientific advisory groups, including the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Advisory Panel on Advanced Science Institutes and Advanced Research Workshops; the Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; the Human Dominated Systems Directorate of the U.S. Man in the Biosphere Program; and others. From 1992 to 1994, she served as vice president of the International Social Science Council. Dr. Miller’s National Research Council (NRC) service includes former membership on the Space Studies Board, the Board’s Task Group on Research and Analysis Programs, and the Climate Research Committee. She currently serves on the NRC Committee on Global Change Research and the NRC Committee on the Geographic Foundation for Agenda 21.
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Information for Steering Committee Members and Workshop Speakers and Panelists." National Research Council. 2002. Toward New Partnerships In Remote Sensing: Government, the Private Sector, and Earth Science Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10500.
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Mark R. Abbott1 was an acting assistant professor for the Section of Ecology and Systematics at Cornell University (1978 to 1979) and a postgraduate researcher for the Institute of Ecology at the University of California at Davis (1979 to 1980). From 1980 to 1982, Dr. Abbott was a NATO/NSF postdoctoral fellow of ocean ecology at the Institute of Ocean Studies in Sidney, British Columbia. He was a member of the technical staff of the Oceanography Group at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory from 1982 to 1988. At the same time, he was also an assistant adjunct professor of the Marine Life Research Group at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. In 1988, Dr. Abbott joined the faculty of the College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University, where he is a professor of biological oceanography. He currently serves on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Earth Observing System (EOS) Investigators Working Group (1989 to the present) and is a member of the EOS Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer Science Team (1989 to the present). He currently chairs the EOS Payload Panel (1995 to the present). In addition, he serves on NSF’s Joint Global Ocean Flux Study Science Executive Committee (1996 to the present). Dr. Abbott was chair of the Space Studies Board’s Committee on Earth Studies and a member of the Space Studies Board. He currently serves as a member of the NRC’s Committee on NASA-NOAA Transition from Research to Operations.

Alexander F.H. Goetz2 has been a professor of geological sciences and director of the Center for the Study of Earth from Space/Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at the University of Colorado, Boulder, since 1985. Dr. Goetz received degrees in physics, geology, and planetary science from the California Institute of Technology. Previously he spent 15 years at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where he started and headed the geologic remote sensing group and initiated the development of imaging spectrometry, now known as hyperspectral imaging. Prior to joining JPL, he spent 3 years at Bellcomm, a subsidiary of AT&T Bell Labs, working on the Apollo program. Dr. Goetz has been a principal investigator in the Apollo, Skylab, Shuttle, and Landsat programs. He is currently a member of the Landsat 7 science team and plays a similar role in the EO-1 satellite team. Dr. Goetz has received numerous awards—among them the NASA/Department of the Interior William T. Pecora award. In addition, Dr. Goetz was a founder and the CEO of Analytical Spectral Devices, Inc., in Boulder, for 10 years, and is currently its chairman.

Lawrence W. Harding, Jr., is a research professor at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, with appointments at Maryland Sea Grant

1  

Mark Abbott served on the steering committee until April 2001.

2  

Alexander Goetz joined the steering committee in August 2001.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Information for Steering Committee Members and Workshop Speakers and Panelists." National Research Council. 2002. Toward New Partnerships In Remote Sensing: Government, the Private Sector, and Earth Science Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10500.
×

and the Horn Point Laboratory. His research focuses on the use of aircraft and satellite remote sensing of ocean color to study phytoplankton responses to nutrient enrichment in estuarine and coastal waters. He also directs Sea Grant educational activities in remote sensing in collaboration with NASA scientists. His main interests include coordination of a regional, multiplatform remote sensing program in the Chesapeake Bay region to further the understanding of ecosystem health by applying new technologies to contemporary ecological issues.

John R. Jensen is a Carolina Distinguished Professor of Geography and director of the Remote Sensing and GIS Center at the University of South Carolina. His research focuses on remote sensing of vegetation biophysical resources, especially inland and coastal wetlands; remote sensing of urban, suburban, and land-use cover; development of improved digital image processing classification, change detection, and error evaluation algorithms; and development of educational materials for remote sensing instruction. Dr. Jensen has conducted contract and grant research for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site, NASA commercial applications, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) CoastWatch. He is the author of textbooks on remote sensing, Introductory Digital Image Processing: A Remote Sensing Perspective (1996) and Remote Sensing of the Environment (2000). He was president of the American Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing Society in 1996 and is now a fellow with the society.

Chris J. Johannsen is director of the Laboratory for Applications of Remote Sensing and a professor of agronomy at Purdue University. His research interests are in spatial, spectral, and temporal aspects of remote sensing relating to geographic information systems (GIS) as applied to precision agriculture, land resource development, and land degradation. He was director of the Environmental Sciences and Engineering Institute (previously, Natural Resources Research Institute) (1988 to 1995) and director of the Agricultural Data Network (1985 to 1987) at Purdue University. From 1981 to 1985, Dr. Johannsen was the director of the Geographic Resources Center, Extension Division, at the University of Missouri at Columbia. Dr. Johannsen has been named fellow to the American Society of Photogrammetry, the American Society of Agronomy, the Soil Science Society of America, and the Soil Conservation Society of America and is a member of the International Soil Society, Gamma Sigma Delta, and Sigma Xi. He has served on the Space Studies Board (1996 to 2001) and on the Board’s Committee on Earth Studies (1995 to 1998), the Committee on NASA Information Systems (1986 to 1987), and the Panel on Earth Resources (1982 to 1983).

Molly Macauley is a senior fellow at Resources for the Future (RFF), where she directs the space economics research program. Her research interests include

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Information for Steering Committee Members and Workshop Speakers and Panelists." National Research Council. 2002. Toward New Partnerships In Remote Sensing: Government, the Private Sector, and Earth Science Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10500.
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space economics and policy, recycling and solid waste management, and the use of economic incentives in environmental regulation. An economist at RFF since 1983 and a long-time analyst of the commercial use of space technology, Dr. Macauley offered her views to Congress in May 1997 on how government can foster commercial ventures into satellite remote sensing. Her research projects include exploring the use of economic incentives to manage space debris; the allocation of scarce energy, water, utilities, and telecommunications resources on the International Space Station; the value of the geostationary orbit; and the value of information, particularly information derived from space-based remote sensing. She was a member of the Space Studies Board’s Task Group on Setting Priorities for Space Research, the NRC Committee on the Impact of Selling the Federal Helium Reserve, and the NRC’s Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board’s Committee for the Assessment of NASA’s Space Solar Power Investment Strategy.

John S. MacDonald is a consultant and chairman of the Institute for Pacific Ocean Science and Technology. He is one of the founders of MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd., where he was responsible for all aspects of business operations, overall strategic leadership, technical leadership, and market positioning worldwide. Dr. MacDonald’s professional interests lie in the areas of advanced digital systems engineering, remote sensing, and image processing. He led the design team for the first Landsat ground-processing system produced by MDA, Ltd., and was involved in the early development of synthetic aperture radar processing at this company. His technical activities have been in the areas of information extraction from advanced sensor systems and the applications of remote sensing with particular emphasis on the physics of the backscatter process and the use of integrated data sets as a means of increasing the ability to extract useful information from remotely sensed data.

Jay S. Pearlman is an advanced system manager at TRW Systems. His background includes basic research, program management, and program development in sensors and systems. He has played an important role in the development and implementation of new concepts and capabilities for both the military and the civil sectors of the U.S. government. He is actively involved with the NASA EO-1 Science Validation Team in assessing the benefits of hyperspectral imagery. Dr. Pearlman is also involved in an assessment of the viability of multispectral and hyperspectral commercial applications.

PLENARY SPEAKERS

Ron Birk is vice president of global terrain for Intermap Technologies, Inc. He is responsible for business development, distributor management, and e-commerce for delivering digital elevation model and orthorectified image map products that

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Information for Steering Committee Members and Workshop Speakers and Panelists." National Research Council. 2002. Toward New Partnerships In Remote Sensing: Government, the Private Sector, and Earth Science Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10500.
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provide high-resolution information on locations around the globe. Mr. Birk has received national and international recognition as a remote sensing expert and key developer of innovative decision support solutions using remote sensing systems and data, through 15 years of experience and accomplishments. His past experience includes technical management of the Commercial Remote Sensing Program at NASA’s Stennis Space Center, where he completed more than 100 remote sensing application projects and the development of five airborne remote sensing systems, including the Calibrated Airborne Multispectral Scanner (CAMS) and the Airborne Terrestrial and Land Acquisition Sensor (ATLAS) multispectral scanner. He has experience with Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (IFSAR,) Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), multispectral, hyperspectral, lidar, and panchromatic remote sensing systems and applications. Mr. Birk received a B.S. degree in physics from the University of Notre Dame in 1982.

Raymond A. Byrnes is liaison for satellite programs at U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Headquarters. He works closely with other federal agencies and the private sector to facilitate the performance of USGS responsibilities within the Landsat program. In that capacity, he worked closely with NASA and NOAA management to transition end-to-end Landsat 7 satellite and ground system operations to the USGS in 2000 and with Space Imaging LLC management to transition Landsat 5 operations to the USGS in 2001. He is the lead USGS representative on the NASA/USGS team that is working toward a commercially based Landsat Data Continuity Mission (circa 2006) and served in a similar capacity to extend the successful one-year technology demonstration mission of NASA’s Earth Observing 1 (EO-1) satellite. His association with the Landsat program began in 1979 when he left a tenured college English faculty position within the University of Minnesota system to join the staff of the USGS Earth Resources Observation Systems Data Center near Sioux Falls, South Dakota. There he established its first Technical Information Office, to produce print and video publications on remote sensing. Mr. Byrnes also held line management positions with the Earth Observation Satellite Company from 1985 to 1992, during the initial Landsat commercialization era.

Bruce Davis is chief scientist for the Commercial Remote Sensing Program at NASA’s Stennis Space Center. In this capacity, he designed and coordinated the applications research investment by this program, as well as coordinating with program engineers in the area of technology validation. Dr. Davis has spent 14 years at Stennis working with industry partners and others through the Commercial Remote Sensing Program to develop innovative partnership programs that allow universities, government, and industry to engage in applications and technology projects. Prior to joining NASA, he worked as a land use planner for a county government. Dr. Davis holds an undergraduate degree in urban and

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Information for Steering Committee Members and Workshop Speakers and Panelists." National Research Council. 2002. Toward New Partnerships In Remote Sensing: Government, the Private Sector, and Earth Science Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10500.
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regional planning, a master’s degree in geography, and Ph.D. in geographic information processing.

Curtiss O. Davis is senior scientist for Optical Remote Sensing in the Remote Sensing Division of the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C. He received his Ph.D. in oceanography from the University of Washington in 1973. His current research is on using hyperspectral remote sensing to assess the optical properties and phytoplankton dynamics of coastal ocean ecosystems. He has worked on coastal upwelling systems off the coasts of North and South America, Africa, and the Arabian Peninsula, and conducted studies of Puget Sound, Chesapeake Bay, San Francisco Bay, and the Laurentian Great Lakes. He is a member of the NASA SeaWiFS Science Team and has participated in numerous calibration and validation experiments. He is also the project scientist for the Hyperspectral Remote Sensing Technology (HRST) Program. HRST is a focused program to develop the use of hyperspectral imaging for the characterization of the coastal ocean and to fly the Coastal Ocean Imaging Spectrometer (COIS) on the Naval EarthMap Observer (NEMO) satellite.

PANELISTS

Shana Dale has been the assistant vice chancellor for federal relations for the University of Texas (UT) System since March 2000. In this capacity, she interacts with federal government officials regarding particular projects and issues of the UT System and coordinates UT System initiatives with the broader, higher-education community at the federal level. Previously, Ms. Dale served as the staff director of the Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics, from 1995 to 2000. Ms. Dale codrafted, negotiated, and managed the Commercial Space Act of 1998 (P.L. 105-303) through enactment. She also investigated and staffed the committee’s hearing on potential missile technology transfers to China, as well as managing the committee’s investigation into the safety of the Mir space station and numerous oversight issues associated with the International Space Station. She served on the board of directors for Women in Aerospace from 1997 to 2000. Previously she was a Republican assistant legislative director and counsel on the Space Subcommittee. She was appointed to the Committee on Science, Space and Technology in March 1991, as the Republican counsel on the Subcommittee on Science. Before moving to Washington, D.C., Ms. Dale was employed in private practice in San Diego, California. She received her B.S. degree with honors in management information systems from the University of Tulsa and her J.D. degree from California Western School of Law. She also completed the Senior Managers in Government program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She is a member of the Bars of California, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Information for Steering Committee Members and Workshop Speakers and Panelists." National Research Council. 2002. Toward New Partnerships In Remote Sensing: Government, the Private Sector, and Earth Science Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10500.
×

James A. Flowers is vice president for commercial programs for Orbital Imaging Corporation (OrbImage). He served previously as vice president for North American Sales for OrbImage, and has been part of the company’s strategic development team since 1997. Prior to joining OrbImage, Mr. Flowers was responsible for strategic marketing and technology commercialization for TRIFID Corporation, a provider of geodetic engineering and software development services and image-based map products. Previously, Mr. Flowers held senior positions in several companies offering emerging technologies to industrial markets.

Alexander F.H. Goetz (See biographical information for Dr. Goetz under the heading “Steering Committee Members,” above.)

Kass Green is the president of Space Imaging Services, an organization offering value-added remote sensing, GIS, and training services to clients throughout the world. Space Imaging Services is one of the largest remote sensing/GIS services organizations in the world, providing mapping services, desktop and Web application development, geospatial analysis, and training. Ms. Green is also the cofounder and president of Pacific Meridian Resources, a GIS consulting firm recently purchased by Space Imaging. In January 2001, Pacific Meridian Resources was merged with Space Imaging’s program management division to create Space Imaging Services. Ms. Green’s background includes more than 25 years of experience in natural resource policy, economics, GIS analysis, and remote sensing. She is the author of numerous articles on GIS and remote sensing and has coauthored a book on the practical aspects of accuracy assessment. In addition to her responsibilities at Space Imaging, Ms. Green serves on advisory boards and committees for several academic, government, and private sector organizations, including NASA, USGS, and the University of California. Ms. Green is also the president of MAPPS (Management Association for Private Photogrammetric Surveyors), an organization of private mapping firms dedicated to advancing the mapping industry.

James Irons holds a B.S. degree in environmental resources management (1976) and an M.S. degree in agronomy (1979) from The Pennsylvania State University. He holds a Ph.D. in agronomy (1993) from the University of Maryland. Dr. Irons has been employed as an earth scientist in the Biospheric Sciences Branch at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center since 1978. He has conducted research there on Landsat data applications and on characterizing the bidirectional reflectance distribution functions of soil surfaces and plant canopies. He was the instrument scientist for the airborne Advanced Solid State Array Spectroradiometer (ASAS) from 1987 to 1999. He has served as the NASA deputy Landsat project scientist since 1992. Dr. Irons was recently designated the NASA study scientist for the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM). In these roles he works to ensure the scientific integrity of the Landsat missions.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Information for Steering Committee Members and Workshop Speakers and Panelists." National Research Council. 2002. Toward New Partnerships In Remote Sensing: Government, the Private Sector, and Earth Science Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10500.
×

Dale R. Johnson is vice president of Positive Systems, Inc. Mr. Johnson has a background in forestry from Oregon State University, with a degree in electronic/ electrical engineering. He has held various positions within Positive Systems, beginning with that of flight engineer; he then became operations manager, and his current position is in sales. He has managed the Scientific Data Buy program contract with NASA for the past three years.

Christopher O. Justice is a professor at the geography department, University of Maryland. He is a science team member and leader of the land discipline group for the NASA Moderate Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and heads up a small research group responsible for MODIS land data processing at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. He is responsible for the MODIS fire product and is currently the forest fire monitoring and mapping implementation team leader for the Global Observation of Forest and Land Cover Dynamics (GOFC-GOLD) project, which is part of the Global Terrestrial Observing System. Dr. Justice was a coinvestigator on the AVHRR Pathfinder II Project that developed AVHRR land products and a coinvestigator on the Landsat Pathfinder Humid Tropical Forest Monitoring Project based at the University of Maryland. Dr. Justice is the project scientist for NASA’s Land Cover and Land Use Change Program. He is also on the Science Advisory Panel for the NOAA Office of Global Programs. He is on the strategic objective team for the Agency for International Development’s Central Africa Regional Project for the Environment and has projects on forest and land-cover monitoring and modeling in Central Africa. Dr. Justice played a key role in the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program Data and Information System and in the development of the NASA EOS Science Working Group on Data. Dr. Justice recently served on the NRC Committee on Earth Sciences.

Thomas R. Karl is the director of NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center and also manages NOAA’s Climate Change Data and Detection Program Element for NOAA’s Office of Global Programs. He holds a master’s degree in meteorology from the University of Wisconsin. Mr. Karl is a fellow of the American Meteorological Society and the American Geophysical Union. He recently completed his chairmanship of the National Academy of Sciences Climate Research Committee. Mr. Karl has received numerous awards for his scholarly work on climate, including the Helmut Landsberg Award, the Climate Institute’s Outstanding Scientific Achievements Award; he is a two-time recipient of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Gold Medal, its Bronze Medal, and the NOAA Administrator’s Award. He is currently editor of the Journal of Climate and an associate editor for Climate Change. Mr. Karl has been a lead author on each of the Intergovernmental Panel Assessments of Climate Change since 1990 and is cochair of the U.S. National Climate Assessment. Mr. Karl has written nearly 100 peer-reviewed journal articles, has been coauthor or coeditor of numerous

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Information for Steering Committee Members and Workshop Speakers and Panelists." National Research Council. 2002. Toward New Partnerships In Remote Sensing: Government, the Private Sector, and Earth Science Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10500.
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texts, and has published more than 200 technical reports and atlases. He has been called upon by the U.S. Congress and the White House to testify and brief on matters related to climate variability and change, and currently is cochair of NOAA’s Decadal-to-Centennial Strategic Planning Team.

David S. Linden has been directly involved with remote sensing since 1978, when he worked at the USGS’s EROS Data Center as an application scientist. He has worked extensively in both the public and private sectors over the past 20 years. Some of his previous jobs include these: president of QC Data, Inc. (oil industry services); executive vice president of Genasys, Inc. (GIS software); and vice president and general manager of Johnson Control’s GIS division (GIS and remote sensing). Dr. Linden has been involved in the commercialization of space-based remote sensing since 1990, when he became an EOSAT distributor while employed with Johnson Controls. He has been continuously involved with the commercialization of remote sensing for the past 10 years. He is currently president of DSL Consulting, Inc., a small consulting firm that focuses on the public and private use of both remotely sensed data and GIS. Dr. Linden is a member of the editorial board of GEOWORLD, as well as of many professional societies involved with remote sensing and resource management. He received a Ph.D. from Colorado State University in 1995, an M.S. from the University of New Hampshire in 1978, and an A.B. from Cornell University in 1972.

Rolf Mamen is director general of the David Florida Laboratory (DFL), a national facility for the integration and environmental test of spacecraft, and director general of the Canadian Space Agency’s space operations branch. Dr. Mamen’s career began with a short consultancy with RCA Limited relating to the HERMES communications satellite. He then joined the Canadian Department of Communications (DOC) as a research scientist at the Communications Research Centre (CRC). His professional activities within CRC dealt predominantly with satellite orbit and attitude determination/prediction and with inertial navigation. He gained experience in space program management at DOC headquarters and then at the R&D branch of the Department of National Defence. He returned to the CRC where, in January 1982, he assumed responsibility for the management of the DFL. Since that appointment, the DFL has successfully supported the Associazione Nazionale Idrokinesiterapisti (ANIK)-D, Brazilsat, Olympus, ANIK-E, Radarsat-1 and M-SAT satellites. It is currently providing test support to the Mobile Services System (MSS), Canada’s contribution to the International Space Station, and is preparing for Radarsat-2. Upon creation of the Canadian Space Agency, the DFL was transferred to this new department. Dr. Mamen earned a B.Eng. (Hon.) in electrical engineering at McGill University in 1966 and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Imperial College, University of London, in 1970.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Information for Steering Committee Members and Workshop Speakers and Panelists." National Research Council. 2002. Toward New Partnerships In Remote Sensing: Government, the Private Sector, and Earth Science Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10500.
×

Charles McClain received a B.A. degree in 1970 from William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri, with a major in physics and a minor in mathematics, and a Ph.D. in marine sciences from North Carolina State University in 1976. He worked for two years as a National Research Council postdoctoral associate at the Naval Research Laboratory, where he used airborne laser profilometry to validate GEOS-III altimeter estimates of surface wave heights. He has worked at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) since 1978. Since joining the research staff at NASA/GSFC, his research has focused on the utilization of satellite ocean color observations and numerical models to study the interactions between physical and biological processes in the oceans. He has been involved with the SeaWiFS (Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor) mission in a number of roles, including calibration and validation manager, project scientist, and project manager. He is presently the head of the Office for Global Carbon Studies and is also the project manager of the SIMBIOS (Sensor Intercomparison and Merger for Biological and Interdisciplinary Oceanic Studies) project.

Edward D. Nicastri is president of EdN Consulting. Mr. Nicastri has more than 30 years’ experience developing and operating commercial and government ground and space systems, developing and transitioning advanced technologies, and maintaining Air Defense and Federal Aviation Administration command and control systems. He currently provides consulting services to private industry and government agencies. Mr. Nicastri was previously a vice president for Orbital Imaging Corporation (OrbImage), where he was responsible for engineering development and operation of OrbImage’s space and ground assets. He has held previous executive positions within Orbital Science Corporation (Orbital) and was responsible for completing the development and launch of Orbital’s first series of Pegasus-class satellites. Prior to entering private industry, Mr. Nicastri served 24 years in the Air Force. In his last military assignment, he was the director for space systems at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). In a 5-year period, he and his team successfully developed and launched 10 satellites and 2 new launch vehicles. He also served on seven U.S. Department of Defense senior-level steering committees. Prior to his assignment at DARPA, Mr. Nicastri held key positions in the development and operation of several Air Force and National Reconnaissance Office space systems. Mr. Nicastri received his bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering from Clemson University and a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology. He has received numerous military and civilian awards, including a 1990 laurel from Aviation Week and Space Technology for his achievements at DARPA.

Robert A. Schiffer serves as deputy director of the Research Division in the NASA Office of Earth Science. He earned a master’s degree in aeronautical engineering from the Polytechnic University in 1958 and a Ph.D. in atmospheric

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Information for Steering Committee Members and Workshop Speakers and Panelists." National Research Council. 2002. Toward New Partnerships In Remote Sensing: Government, the Private Sector, and Earth Science Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10500.
×

physics from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1971. He spent 12 years on the technical staff of Caltech’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory before transferring to NASA Headquarters in 1972. He chairs the interagency Working Group on Observations and Monitoring and cochairs the Working Group on the Global Water Cycle for the U.S. Global Change Research program, serves as principal Earth Science Enterprise (ESE) representative on various interagency and international groups that coordinate global observing systems programs, and chairs the ESE panel responsible for evaluating and approving proposals submitted by the scientific community to the NASA commercial Science Data Purchase Program.

David L. Skole is currently the director of the Basic Science and Remote Sensing Initiative, a research program focused on environmental research using remote sensing systems. Dr. Skole’s research interests focus on the role humans play in changing land cover throughout the world. He uses satellite data to measure the patterns of landscape change at regional and global scales, then employs field research to uncover the fundamental processes of change. Dr. Skole is also developing analyses and models of the carbon cycle and biodiversity. Currently he is involved in research projects focused on understanding the interannual variation in deforestation rates and the social and ecological controls on its variation over time. He is principal investigator (PI) of a NASA Earth Science Information Partners center. He is also PI for the NASA Landsat Pathfinder Project, and PI on a number of other funded research projects including the Large Scale Amazon Basin Experiment. He is a PI and member of the Landsat 7 science team, and is a PI with the Canadian Radarsat program and the Japanese Earth Resources Satellite program. Dr. Skole is the PI on the NASA-funded Center of Excellence in the Applications of Remote Sensing at Mississippi State University. He is also PI and coinvestigator on several studies of the human dimensions of land use and cover change. Dr. Skole is the chairman of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP)/International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (IHDP) Core Project on Land Use and Cover Change, a steering committee member for the IGBP Data and Information Systems project, as well as a member of the standing committees of the IGBP and IHDP. He has served on several NASA committees and panels for EOS and its data system and other programs. He is currently the High Resolution Design Team Leader for the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites project on Global Observations of Forest Cover.

William E. Stoney is currently principal engineer for Mitretek Systems supporting NASA’s Stennis Space Center’s Commercial Data Buy and Land Imaging Satellite Data Base programs. He was director of NASA’s Earth Observation Program from 1972 through 1978, during which time Landsats 1, 2, and 3 were launched, the Thematic Mapper sensor was defined and developed, and NOAA’s

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Information for Steering Committee Members and Workshop Speakers and Panelists." National Research Council. 2002. Toward New Partnerships In Remote Sensing: Government, the Private Sector, and Earth Science Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10500.
×

TIROS and GEOS satellites and sensors were developed and launched. Since leaving NASA, he worked for RCA and GE supporting NASA in the development of the EOS program and for MITRE and now Mitretek on the current and future Landsat systems.

David A. Thibault has served as executive vice president of Earth Satellite Corporation since 1987. He joined EarthSat in 1971. From the mid-1970s to 1985, Mr. Thibault directed EarthSat’s Environmental Applications Group. He was a NASA principal investigator on several joint projects with state environmental agencies that examined the utility of Landsat data for inventory and monitoring. He also directed aerial remote sensing programs that included wetlands mapping and abandoned mined lands inventories for New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New York. He was a principal participant in early studies for the Council on Environmental Quality, and the Office of Management and Budget on the utility and cost-effectiveness of remotely sensed data for a variety of public and private purposes. From 1985 to 1987, Mr. Thibault was international vice president of EOSAT, and the chief of EarthSat’s team assigned to the Landsat commercialization effort conducted by EOSAT under contract to NOAA. In this role, he worked closely with the international receiving stations and was a private sector representative of the United States government to remote sensing policy development workshops conducted by the United Nations, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the European Economic Community.

Michael R. Thomas was appointed acting director of the applications division of NASA’s Office of Earth Science in March 2000. He is on loan to NASA Headquarters from the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, where he is currently the director in waiting for the Geospace Applications Development Directorate. Before joining NASA, Dr. Thomas spent 15 years in research and development in the defense intelligence industry. His areas of technical expertise include remote sensing, information fusion, and artificial intelligence. Since joining the Earth Science Enterprise, he has focused on developing an applications program that can bridge the gap between scientific knowledge and its routine, operational use to improve public and private sector policy and decision making.

Kurtis J. Thome received his B.S. degree in meteorology from Texas A&M University, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in atmospheric sciences from the University of Arizona. He has been with the Optical Sciences Center at the University of Arizona since 1990 and is currently an associate professor. His research interests include radiometric calibration of optical sensors, atmospheric remote sensing, radiative transfer, and satellite atmospheric correction. His work includes research with such current sensors as Landsat-7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus, Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer and

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Information for Steering Committee Members and Workshop Speakers and Panelists." National Research Council. 2002. Toward New Partnerships In Remote Sensing: Government, the Private Sector, and Earth Science Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10500.
×

MODIS on the Terra platform, Advanced Land Imager and Hyperion on the EO-1 platform, IKONOS, Multispectral Thermal Imager, and several airborne hyperspectral systems.

Ferris Webster is professor of oceanography in the College of Marine Studies of the University of Delaware. He received a Ph.D. in geophysics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Since 1994 he has served as chair of the Panel on World Data Centers of the International Council for Science (ICSU). He is active in working for open international access to data and information as chair of the ICSU/CODATA ad hoc Group on Data and Information. His research interests include the role of the ocean in climate change, ocean variability, time-series analysis, and oceanographic data management and processing. Most of his current work involves data management and computer-based information management systems for the World Ocean Circulation Experiment, for developing systems for global observations of the environment, and for research studies leading to climate prediction.

Gregory W. Withee is the assistant administrator for Satellite and Information Services of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Mr. Withee leads the U.S. civil operational environmental satellite programs, which supply the nation’s weather and environmental satellite data, and he also leads three national environmental data centers that archive and make accessible climate, ocean, and geophysical data and products. Mr. Withee has worked in other areas at NOAA, the private and university sectors, and in the United Nations system. He has written more than 100 publications and reports and has received numerous awards, including the Presidential Distinguished Rank Award for extraordinary performance in the Senior Executive Service. Mr. Withee received his undergraduate degree in physics from Pomona College and an M.S. in oceanography from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Information for Steering Committee Members and Workshop Speakers and Panelists." National Research Council. 2002. Toward New Partnerships In Remote Sensing: Government, the Private Sector, and Earth Science Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10500.
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Information for Steering Committee Members and Workshop Speakers and Panelists." National Research Council. 2002. Toward New Partnerships In Remote Sensing: Government, the Private Sector, and Earth Science Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10500.
×
Page 63
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Information for Steering Committee Members and Workshop Speakers and Panelists." National Research Council. 2002. Toward New Partnerships In Remote Sensing: Government, the Private Sector, and Earth Science Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10500.
×
Page 64
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Information for Steering Committee Members and Workshop Speakers and Panelists." National Research Council. 2002. Toward New Partnerships In Remote Sensing: Government, the Private Sector, and Earth Science Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10500.
×
Page 65
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Information for Steering Committee Members and Workshop Speakers and Panelists." National Research Council. 2002. Toward New Partnerships In Remote Sensing: Government, the Private Sector, and Earth Science Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10500.
×
Page 66
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Information for Steering Committee Members and Workshop Speakers and Panelists." National Research Council. 2002. Toward New Partnerships In Remote Sensing: Government, the Private Sector, and Earth Science Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10500.
×
Page 67
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Information for Steering Committee Members and Workshop Speakers and Panelists." National Research Council. 2002. Toward New Partnerships In Remote Sensing: Government, the Private Sector, and Earth Science Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10500.
×
Page 68
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Information for Steering Committee Members and Workshop Speakers and Panelists." National Research Council. 2002. Toward New Partnerships In Remote Sensing: Government, the Private Sector, and Earth Science Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10500.
×
Page 69
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Information for Steering Committee Members and Workshop Speakers and Panelists." National Research Council. 2002. Toward New Partnerships In Remote Sensing: Government, the Private Sector, and Earth Science Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10500.
×
Page 70
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Information for Steering Committee Members and Workshop Speakers and Panelists." National Research Council. 2002. Toward New Partnerships In Remote Sensing: Government, the Private Sector, and Earth Science Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10500.
×
Page 71
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Information for Steering Committee Members and Workshop Speakers and Panelists." National Research Council. 2002. Toward New Partnerships In Remote Sensing: Government, the Private Sector, and Earth Science Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10500.
×
Page 72
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Information for Steering Committee Members and Workshop Speakers and Panelists." National Research Council. 2002. Toward New Partnerships In Remote Sensing: Government, the Private Sector, and Earth Science Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10500.
×
Page 73
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Information for Steering Committee Members and Workshop Speakers and Panelists." National Research Council. 2002. Toward New Partnerships In Remote Sensing: Government, the Private Sector, and Earth Science Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10500.
×
Page 74
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The technical, scientific, policy, and institutional environment for conducting Earth science research has been changing rapidly over the past few decades. Changes in the technical environment are due both to the advent of new types and sources of remote sensing data, which have higher spatial and spectral resolution, and to the development of vastly expanded capabilities in data access, visualization, spatial data integration, and data management. The scientific environment is changing because of the strong emphasis on global change research, both nationally and internationally, and the evolving data requirements for that research. And the policy and institutional environment for the production of Earth observation data is changing with the diversification of both remote sensing data and the institutions that produce the data. In this report, the Space Studies Board's Steering Committee on Space Applications and Commercialization explores the implications of this changing environment, examining the opportunities and challenges it presents.

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