On today’s episode, we will be discussing the intersection of space science, climate change and policy. How can space technology and geospatial data improve our ability to tackle the daunting environmental challenges we see before us? And what does a positive and integrated Earth-Space future look like? We’ll cover all of this and more.

On today’s show we are joined by Dr. Raha Hakimdavar.

Dr. Hakimdavar most recently served as Director of Space Sciences at Ball Aerospace, where she developed civil space business strategy and led engagements with the government and broader space sciences community. Previously, Dr. Hakimdavar served as a hydrologist and acting national program lead in remote sensing and geospatial analysis research at the USDA Forest Service, where she developed innovative approaches to manage forest and aquatic resources in the United States and internationally. She led research on the integration of space data into the UN Sustainable Development Goals and developed a whole of government framework for a global hydrology model to assess water risk during her Presidential Management Fellowship appointment at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Dr. Hakimdavar has consulted for UN Environment and the World Bank in the Caribbean and Latin America, notably helping to establish the first remote hydro-meteorological network for disaster risk reduction, agroforestry, and hydropower development in the South Department of Haiti. She is also an adjunct professor in water and climate science at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service.

Dr. Hakimdavar earned a B.S. in civil engineering from California State Polytechnic University and a M.S. and Ph.D. in civil engineering with an emphasis on hydrology from Columbia University. She was a Fulbright Scholar in the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands and was awarded the KLM Airlines Sustainability and Innovation award for her work and research on hydro-ecology. She serves as a non-resident scholar for the Middle East Institute, as a science advisor for the green finance NGO Blue Forest Conservation, and sits on the board of the Netherland-America Foundation.

We also want to extend a big thank you to our sponsors this year for supporting our show!

Learn more about our Gold Sponsor Multiverse Media, an integrated media company focusing on space exploration, science, and technology, and check out the Cislunar Market Opportunities report produced by NewSpace Global, a Multiverse Media property, for a snapshot and user guide to the players and opportunities ahead for the cislunar economy. To get your own copy please go to cislunar.report and use coupon code citizen10 for 10% off a single user license.

Learn more about our Silver Sponsor the Colorado School of Mines Space Resources Program, a first-of-its-kind interdisciplinary program that offers Certificate, Master of Science, and Ph.D. degrees for professionals around the world interested in the emerging field of extraterrestrial resources here.