#56: Earth Observation for Sustainable Development Goals - Dr. Argyro Kavvada, NASA

Happy new year, everyone. Hope you are having a great start to the year. Back to podcasting after the much-needed break!

Today, I am speaking with Dr. Argyro Kavvada, who is the program manager at NASA’s Earth Sciences Division for their Sustainable Development Goals initiative, essentially focusing on how to translate Earth observation for sustainable development.

It is an area I have always been fascinated about not just for the obvious reasons, but also because it focuses on converting EO to real value, until the last-mile impact. Argyro is a renowned expert in the area of using EO for sustainable development, working with several organisations around the world and helping countries monitor their SDGs using EO. She was also the lead editor for a book published recently on this subject.

In this episode, Argyro and I discuss her story, her work at NASA, the use of Earth observation for tracking the SDGs and some examples, the challenges of converting EO data into impact, whether we are exploiting the full potential of EO for policymaking and more.

And now I bring you, Argyro Kavvada.

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• Argyro's  Profile: https://appliedsciences.nasa.gov/about/our-team/argyro-kavvada
• Argyro's Book: https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Earth+Observation+Applications+and+Global+Policy+Frameworks-p-9781119536710
• Argyro's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/argyro-kavvada-ph-d-0470a571/
• Argyro's Twitter: https://twitter.com/argie_kavvada

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01:13: Argie's story and work at NASA

07:16: What are the Sustainable Development Goals?

10:19: Examples of use in Earth observation for SDGs

18:36: Challenges of converting data into impact

23:10: Were the SDGs created understanding the capabilities of EO?

29:31: An overview of a book on the subject that Argie co-edited: "Earth Observation Applications and Global Policy Frameworks"

32:29: Are we exploiting the full potential of EO for policymaking?

36:55: State of EO and how it effects sustainable development initiatives

39:54: What are we not talking about enough and what can we do better?

43:35: Creating an inclusive, diverse future of EO

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