Established in 2011, the World Wide Human Geography Data (WWHGD) Working Group provides a platform for the discussion of human geography issues and sharing of human geography data. In recognition of its long track record of conferences and webinars, the WWHGD organized a 50th Retrospective Symposium on the topic of planetary health, an all-day online event on July 29, 2020, that brought together many of the experts who had presented at one or more prior WWHGD events.
Alex de Sherbinin, associate director for Science Applications at Columbia University’s Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) and deputy manager of NASA’s Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC), was invited to speak about climate and human geography in the session “A Conversation on Environmental Change Impacts.” CIESIN director Robert Chen participated in the closing panel on strategic human geography perspectives and solutions for future challenges.
The Symposium highlighted a diverse set of data and information resources related to human security and planetary health, including a number of datasets and tools provided by CIESIN through SEDAC and other CIESIN projects. Co-led by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and the U.S. Department of State, the WWHGD Working Group has nearly 5,000 members spread across more than 150 countries.