Robert Chen, manager of NASA's Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC), with deputy manager Alex de Sherbinin and project scientist Susana Adamo, helped organize and co-lead the NASA Equity and Environmental Justice virtual workshop held October 20, 2021.
NASA Earth Science Division (ESD) director Karen St. Germain opened the event, which brought together 15 invited experts, including SEDAC User Working Group (UWG) chair Barbara Ryan and several other UWG members, ESD staff, and representatives from social science research organizations who engage with environmental justice research and communities. Chen, de Sherbinin, and Adamo co-led several breakout groups, working closely with SEDAC program scientist Nancy Searby and other NASA staff. The workshop report is now available.
In early 2021, a Biden administration executive order on equity directed all federal agencies to incorporate achieving environmental justice in their missions. In June 2021, NASA launched Mission Equity, a comprehensive effort to assess expansion and modification of agency programs, procurements, grants, and policies, and examine potential barriers and challenges for historically underrepresented and underserved communities.