She sees the forest and the trees.
A Hunter College professor of Geography and Environmental Science has received a $300,000 grant from NASA to study the Earth’s vegetation from space.
The project of Prof. Wenge Ni-Meister, a collaboration with NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, will use laser measurement of vegetation to model changes in the Earth’s ecosystems. The satellite-based measurements will help predict how much carbon is sequestered by the Earth’s forests, and how forest disturbances caused by human activities contribute to atmospheric CO2 concentrations.
Thus, the measurements “will improve our understanding of the role of forests in mitigating climate warming,” Ni-Meister said.
The grant is part of $3.9 million the federal government awarded to 13 teams at under-resourced American academic institutions to support collaborations with NASA that offer students mentorship and career development in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.
The grants come through NASA’s Science Mission Directorate Bridge Program, which was established in 2022 to improve diversity in NASA’s workforce.
Founded in 1921, Hunter College’s Department of Geography and Environmental Science is the only one at CUNY and is the largest and among the most technologically advanced geography programs in the region. Students can major in geography or environmental studies as undergraduates and continue for an MA in Geography, a post-baccalaureate certificate in GIScience, a MS in GeoInformatics, and a PhD at the CUNY Graduate Center. The department also runs field courses in Hawaii, Maine, Argentina, and the Catskills.
