Held on Friday, April 21, 2023, this year's Earth Day Symposium began with opening remarks by Dr. Zhibo Zhang (UMBC) and introductions by Kylie Hoffman (Ph.D. student, UMBC), one of the organizers. The panel, "Synergy of Earth Sciences in Academia, Industry, and Government," was held in the morning. The panelists consisted of the following women: Dr. K. Emma Knowland (GESTAR II/MSU), Ms. Veronica Johnson (WJLA-TV/ABC7), Dr. Antonia Gambacorta (NASA/GSFC), Dr. Lorraine Remer (GESTAR II/UMBC), and Dr. Yaitza Luna-Cruz (NASA HQ). Panelists presented their backgrounds, which fully represented academia, industry and government. They shared how they originally became interested in atmospheric science and/or weather, and what they found rewarding in their work (fellow researchers, collaboration, research experiences in the field and in the air, plus seeing growth in diversity). They discussed overcoming obstacles and the advancement of technology. Another topic of discussion was the availability of (or lack of) open source/open science data and what could be done to make global data accessible.
Following this panel, invited speakers Dr. Ivona Cetinic (GESTAR II/MSU) and Dr. Vandana Janeja both delivered presentations. In the afternoon, guest speakers included Dr. Chris Hennigan (UMBC), Dr. Catherine Nakalembe (UMD-College Park), and Dr. Ali Tokay (GESTAR II/UMBC). Among several outside exhibits, Ms. Dominique Footes and Ms. Amy Houghton were onsite to share the news about the GESTAR II Graduate Fellowship. Additionally, posters were presented in the Physics Building, where students could discuss their research with attendees. (See the related Photo Gallery from this portion of the day's events.) Thank you to everyone involved in organizing and presenting a terrific day of science and celebrating Earth Day at UMBC.
(Panelists, from left to right: Dr. Remer, Ms. Johnson, Dr. Knowland, Dr. Luna-Cruz, and Dr. Gambacorta. Photo: Amy Houghton.)