Pre-registration is required
Meet the Users Speaker Series is designed to bring users from society into NESDIS and provide the opportunity to connect. Meet the Users fosters collaboration and expands awareness within the NESDIS community to cultivate a comprehensive understanding of the specific needs, challenges, and priorities faced by users of remote monitoring products. By sharing their experiences and actions surrounding earth observations and data they utilize in their environment, the Speaker Series presenters educate NESDIS. Presentations bring NESDIS diverse use-cases for satellite information, demonstrate the complex ways in which end-users utilize NOAA data to provide value to society, and engage the NOAA community by providing insight into remote monitoring research.
The Pathfinder Initiative launched at NESDIS in 2020 as a continuation of NASA’s Early Adopters Program, where one of the most consistent user needs she identified was the need for continuity of observations. Created as a volunteer-driven effort, the Pathfinder Initiative aims to bridge this critical gap by engaging “Pathfinders”—advanced super users who collaborate with NOAA to co-develop end-to-end value chains. Pathfinders work closely with local decision-makers at the city, county, and state levels to explore how NOAA’s data and tools support daily operational decisions across society.
Pathfinders represent a community of sophisticated users and early adopters of both current and next-generation NOAA satellite missions and environmental information. The initiative collaborates extensively with NOAA’s Chief Economist Team (PRSSO) to quantify the value of information (VOI) and return on investment (ROI) for planned instruments, datasets, products, and services. These socioeconomic assessments span programs, communities, and user groups, providing cost-benefit analyses and building comprehensive value chains. With this initiative, Dr. Escobar and her team help transform scientific innovation into real-world impact, delivering insights that fuel economic progress and demonstrate the function and value of science information in society.
Dr. Vanessa Escobar
Dr. Escobar is a seasoned physical scientist with over 15 years of experience at the nexus of science, application, and societal impact. She specializes in socioeconomic evaluations and the development of value chains that clearly demonstrate the real-world economic benefits of scientific innovation. Her work bridges the gap between innovation and implementation, ensuring that scientific advancements at NESDIS are effectively translated for individual sectors of the user community. Through her leadership, Dr. Escobar helps align scientific investments with measurable social and economic real-world impact, advancing science, sustainability and strategic intelligence.
Dr. Escobar will provide a comprehensive overview of the past speakers of the Meet the Users Speaker Series and share accomplishments achieved throughout the Pathfinder Initiative. Join us as we review all of the past speakers, topics they covered, key information that was shared, and the sectors that the Pathfinder Initiative has engaged. Additionally, Dr. Escobar will reflect on the lessons learned and discuss strategies for ensuring the continued success and legacy of the Speaker Series.
To learn more about Dr. Vanessa Escobar and NESDIS, please contact noaa.pathfinderinitiative@noaa.gov.