by Shireen Dooling
The Interplanetary Initiative’s pilot project, SpaceHACK for Sustainability led by Interplanetary’s Assistant Teaching Professor, Eric Stribling, has one very specific big question to answer: How can we involve students in leveraging space technologies in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals?
Earth Observation, (EO), satellite data is currently central to how governments monitor progress on many of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, (SDGs). Arizona State University is uniquely positioned to access troves of satellite data that can be used to develop innovative solutions to social and environmental problems that are in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Because of this, SpaceHACK, a student-led hackathon, was created to provide an opportunity for students to get involved with the creation of solutions to some of the SDGs using the massive amount of data available to the university.
Below are a few profiles of exceptional students who participated in the pilot project’s first event last year. They share what they gained from the experience as well as a few pieces of advice for other students who would like to get involved with SpaceHACK.
This year, the hackathon gains international reach with, The Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral (ESPOL) in Ecuador, and the University of Toronto in Canada. All teams will submit their projects to the judges for review and the events will run simultaneously. Each institution will have a specific track the students can participate in. The Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral track will revolve around how oceanic heating is threatening ecosystems in Coastal South America. The University of Toronto will deal with data around communications infrastructure and how it might be impacting gentrification and urban sprawl of communities. The Arizona State University track will focus on water access in the desert that can be used to inform future strategies around agricultural practices in Arizona in the near future. There will be one winner for each track.
If you are a student interested in participating in this year’s SpaceHACK for Sustainability event happening March 22 – 23, at any of the institutions listed above, make sure to register here!
SpaceHACK student profiles
Contributor: Kennedy Gourdine – Wildfire Risk and Social Disparity (Researcher)
Short bio: I am pursuing a B.A. in Sustainability with a minor in Urban Planning. I am involved with the Interplanetary Lab to assist the organization with event execution and to promote sustainability and DEIA initiatives in the space industry. Some of my other hobbies include playing intramural volleyball, salsa dancing, and volunteering in my community. My dream career goal is to establish circular economies in space colonies and communities on Earth as well.
What was the purpose of SpaceHACK as an event when you participated? Will you participate in this year’s event?
When I participated in SpaceHACK, the purpose of the event was to increase awareness of the issues presented and encourage students across various disciplines to collaborate on complex sustainability issues using satellite data. I am looking forward to participating in this year’s event! I encourage students of any discipline or experience level to participate as well!
What was your role during the event? Were you part of a team or did you participate as an individual?
My role in my team was to research the topic and provide insight from a sustainability perspective. I was a part of a team that was randomly assigned, which was an interesting experience.
What was your project, or what were you trying to solve, and was the end result considered a success? Why or why not?
My team’s topic was Wildfire Risk and Social Disparity. Through our project we were supposed to investigate how wildfire risks are distributed across income levels, focusing on the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI). Our solution was an app that alerted people about fires and in the region and how they were spreading. Even though we didn’t place, I consider our project to be a success because we learned a lot about the WUI and interpreting satellite data. Our biggest issue was tying our application back to social disparity to create a solution people would realistically use. A valuable lesson my team took away from this experience was that the solution has to be framed within the context and social issues are just as important and economic and environmental ones.
Reflecting on your experience and your role, what was the most valuable skill, concept, or perspective you gained from your time at SpaceHACK personally. How do you think you can apply that experience as a future professional in the space industry?
The most valuable skill I learned from that experience was how to collaborate across disciplines. My teams were engineering students and had different ways of perceiving and communicating information. I had to learn how to communicate in ways they could understand and make sure that our solution could be easily understood by our audience. I plan on using this skill for the rest of my career as being a space industry professional requires one to communicate with people of all cultures and disciplines.
What feedback would you give other students who might be interested in participating in events like SpaceHACK? Especially those who may be intimidated by coding based projects?
I would tell those students not to be afraid of trying something for the first time. SpaceHACK is a great opportunity for ALL students, especially those with a coding background because a large component of the hackathon is about learning new technology. I was one of the students who took a chance and tried something new, and I learned valuable and technical skills because of it.
What are your future goals after you finish your academic career?
After I graduate from ASU, I aspire to get a Masters in Global Management or International Relations to learn more about how I can create change as a global citizen. I hope to pursue a career in space environmentalism and lead initiatives to make space exploration more sustainable.
__
Contributors: Tasha Coelho and Gabriella Nakleh (Team Members) – Climate Impacts on favelas
Gabbie and Tasha both worked on the coding/data visualization aspect.
Tasha’s short bio: Degree: Earth & Space Exploration, student researcher for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) and Mastcam (camera on the Mars Curiosity Rover, run by SESE’s Jim Bell Research Group), former Interplanetary Initiative student researcher (researching the connections and gaps between space exploration and the UN SDGs)
Hobbies: I’ve recently been enjoying learning all about the Apollo missions. One of the main reasons I came to Arizona is to explore the nearby planetary analogs (I especially love being a field assistant for geologists, they always blow my mind sharing the stories behind the landscapes)
Gabriella’s short bio: I am an Aerospace Engineering Student and a Space Ambassador. I am president of WoAA and my goal is to be the first Lebanese woman in space, and one of the first people on Mars. I love reading, and spending time outdoors and with my family.
What was the purpose of SpaceHACK as an event when you participated? Will you participate in this year’s event as individuals or as a team again?
Tasha: In early 2022, I was part of a small group led by Interplanetary Initiative’s Eric Stribling to research how space exploration supports the UN SDGs. Upon presenting our findings to the Interplanetary Initiative team, it was evident that satellite data was by far the biggest contributor, and folks started to have the idea to make a hackathon based on that.
Gabbie: I am not well versed on what the purpose of SpaceHACK was when I participated, Eric Stribling would probably be a better person to ask. As for whether I will participate this year, yes I will, and hopefully I get to be on a team with Tasha again cause I loved working with her!!
What was your role during the event? Were you part of a team or did you participate as an individual?
Tasha: Gabbie, myself, Lizzie, and Luke were all part of a team. Gabbie and I worked on compiling and manipulating certain satellite datasets in Google Earth Engine and discovering what conclusions we could make. Lizzie and Luke focused more on policy and how our code could be helpful to favela residents, emergency responders, etc.
Gabbie: If you mean during the event as a whole I was simply a participant, which was loads of fun. In terms of our team we all worked together and towards the end Tasha and I focused more so on the coding side of the project, like using google earth engine to succeed in our projects goal, while our other teammates, Luke and Elizabeth, worked on the political and governmental aspects of our project.
What was your project, or what were you trying to solve, and was the end result considered a success? Why or why not?
Tasha: We learned a tremendous amount about how satellite datasets can be used to solve real world problems, a definite success.
Gabriella: We were trying to create major danger zones in Brazilian favelas since they are majorly impacted by destructive landslides that are worsening due to climate change and global warming. I consider our end result a success because we got to present our research at a conference which was loads of fun. We did reach a big wall after the conference when it came time to develop our research further, but in terms of the SpaceHack, and our goal, we won and so I would consider it a success!!
Reflecting on your experience and your role, what was the most valuable skill, concept, or perspective you gained from your time at SpaceHACK personally. How do you think you can apply that experience as a future professional in the space industry?
Tasha: During the beginning of the hackathon, Gabbie and I focused on learning to work with the satellite datasets. We’d overlay certain datasets, alter their opacities, and then pan out to different areas on Earth and become fascinated with what they reveal.
Gabriella: I think the most valuable skill I developed is to actually have faith in my capabilities. Our team was not very confident that we would win and we thankfully did, and so I learnt to have more faith in myself. I also learnt more about Brazil, and the socio-political climate there which was equally as important.
What feedback would you give other students who might be interested in participating in events like SpaceHACK? Especially those who may be intimidated by coding based projects?
Tasha: I echo Gabbie!!! Coding and knowing how to extract conclusions from datasets is such a valuable skill, and the tutorials participants have access to at the beginning of the hackathon make it all far more intuitive.
Gabriella: DO IT!!! It was so much fun and I am planning on doing it again this year. I developed new skills, and got LOADS of opportunities from it so I say don’t be intimidated by it.
What are your future goals after you finish your academic career?
Tasha: Conduct scientific research in extreme environments, to never stop learning and exploring.
Gabriella: To get to space!!
__
Contributor: Taylor Foster – Wildfire Risk and Social Disparity (Researcher and Programmer)
Short bio: I am a Human Systems Engineering undergrad with a minor in Design Studies, and a Space Ambassador. Out of curiosity I enrolled in one of the Interplanetary Lab classes, taught by Interplanetary Initiative’s Eric Stribling, and learnt about SpaceHack that same semester. Looking back, it was one of the best decisions I’ve made at ASU!
My current career goal is to become a safety engineer but my dream job would be to design space habitats. My hobbies include making music, climbing and reading science fiction.
What was the purpose of SpaceHACK as an event when you participated? Will you participate in this year’s event?
I understood SpaceHack to be an event for students to use their academic knowledge and skills to deal with real-world, global challenges. As someone who is passionate about both space and sustainability, SpaceHack represented a unique opportunity for me to engage with both topics. And yes, I’m excited to see what’s in store for this year’s event!
What was your role during the event? Were you part of a team or did you participate as an individual?
During this event I was assigned to a really cool team, with students studying architecture, civil engineering and computer science. I helped by uncovering correlations between mean monthly fire area and daily fire occurrences in Arizona and California using Google Earth Engine.
What was your project, or what were you trying to solve, and was the end result considered a success? Why or why not?
My team addressed Wildfire Risk and Social Disparity in the Wildland Urban Interface, (the transition area between wilderness and developed land) specifically within the western United States. Our proposal, which aimed to identify and remove medium-sized trees from low-income, fire-prone areas and repurpose them for innovative uses such as biochar production, biofiltration, and biomass energy generation, was successful and recognized with an honorable mention. Although our solutions could have been more in-depth, I hope that our findings are generalizable to other regions with dry summer climates.
Reflecting on your experience and your role, what was the most valuable skill, concept, or perspective you gained from your time at SpaceHACK personally. How do you think you can apply that experience as a future professional in the space industry?
Participating in SpaceHACK showed me how satellite imaging has become an increasingly important tool that can improve today’s sustainability efforts in ways that I wasn’t aware of. I also got familiar with using datasets which is a really valuable skill not just in the space industry, but across all tech jobs.
What feedback would you give other students who might be interested in participating in events like SpaceHACK? Especially those who may be intimidated by coding based projects?
Even if you don’t come from a highly technical background, having the willingness to learn is the most important aspect to the success of your team! I had never used geographic information system (GIS) software before SpaceHack but the support and learning resources that were provided helped my team and I immensely.
What are your future goals after you finish your academic career?
Hoping to one day do research at the PhD level and keep learning about how humans can use current and emerging technologies to adapt to extreme environments, better respond to disasters and make the planet safer.