News - Geographer Achieves NASA Ambition
University of Exeter press release
A geography lecturer from the University of Exeter's Tremough Campus, Penryn, has achieved a life-long ambition to work with NASA. On 4 May, Dr Karen Anderson is heading to California to spend four weeks at NASA's Ames Research Center in San José. Dr Anderson, who has worked with the University of Exeter since 2004, was awarded a travelling fellowship from the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust to fund her visit.
An expert in the area of remote sensing, Dr Anderson uses data from environmental monitoring satellites to measure changes in the Earth's environment. Although best known for Space exploration, NASA also runs a large-scale programme of Earth observation through satellite data gathering. Satellite data collected in this way are a very useful tool for measuring change on Earth, particularly for monitoring the effects of climate change. Working with experts at NASA, Karen will be helping to develop new techniques for improving the quality of data collected by satellites in Space. The experiment on which she will be working will ultimately help in the quest to gather more accurate satellite data, and will also improve the way the information is analysed and interpreted.
Dr Karen Anderson says: "It has always been my dream to go to NASA and see how they work, so it's amazing to have this opportunity. I have carried out research projects in many different places but have never had the opportunity to work so closely with international experts at NASA before."
Over the next four weeks, Dr Anderson hopes to improve the methods that NASA uses to gather data. As well as looking for ways to improve their surveying techniques she will work with NASA to improve the way data is analysed and, in particular, the ways in which uncertainty is understood. She hopes that her findings will be useful for other companies that survey environmental change and she looks forward to sharing her discoveries with her students on her return to Cornwall.
One of ten NASA field installations, Ames Research Center plays a critical role in virtually all NASA missions in support of America's space and aeronautics programs. As a leader in information technology research with a focus on supercomputing, networking and intelligent systems, Ames develops the enabling technologies that make NASA missions possible.
The £100 million Tremough Campus is funded mainly by the European Union (Objective One), the South West Regional Development Agency, and the Higher Education Funding Council for England, with support from Cornwall County Council. Set in 70 acres of countryside, but close to the waterside towns of Penryn and Falmouth, the campus offers a lively student community. The University of Exeter now offers degrees in Biology, Modern Celtic and Cornish Studies, English, Geology, Geography, History, Law, Mining Engineering, Politics and Renewable Energy on the Tremough Campus, which has expanded rapidly as part of the CUC initiative.