Next Innovation Webinar: An Earth and Space Knowledge Commons

The Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP) 2021 Webinar Series, which focuses on our annual theme of Leading Innovation in Earth Science Data Frontiers, will continue on Wednesday September 29th at 1:00 PM ET/10:00 AM PT. This series is generously sponsored by our partner SAIC. Learn more about the event below and check esipfed.org/webinars for details on future webinars.

An Earth and Space Knowledge Commons

Speaker: Ryan McGranaghan, Principal Data Scientist & Aerospace Engineering Scientist, ASTRA Associates
When: Wednesday September 29th, 1:00-2:00 pm ET
Join: Register HERE

Ryan McGranaghan, Principal Data Scientist & Aerospace Engineering Scientist, ASTRA Associates

Webinar details
Our technological and physical expansion into space exemplifies the growing interconnections between Earth and the space environment. The inseparability of the space environment from Earth and life on it reveals cracks and inadequacies in our data and knowledge infrastructure to integrate the different domains. The key to a flourishing community of Earth and space research is in improved knowledge systems (ways of representing our information). We will highlight a few efforts toward improved knowledge representation systems, emphasizing the importance of thinking in graphs/networks, and spark a discussion toward a framework to address the asymmetries: a knowledge commons [McGranaghan et al., 2021].

McGranaghan, R., Klein, S. J., Cameron, A., Young, E., Schonfeld, S., Higginson, A., … Thompson, B. (2021). The need for a Space Data Knowledge Commons. Structuring Collective Knowledge. Retrieved from https://knowledgestructure.pubpub.org/pub/space-knowledge-commons

More about the speaker
Ryan McGranaghan is the Principal Data Scientist and Aerospace Engineering Scientist at ASTRA Associates in Boulder, CO, where he leads data science and machine learning efforts to improve our understanding of the Earth’s space environment. Ryan began this role after completing a Jack Eddy Living With a Star Postdoctoral Fellowship at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, during which he studied the Earth’s and solar system planets’ interactions with the Sun. He also works extensively across NASA Centers, including Goddard Space Flight Center and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Ryan takes a multi-disciplinary (what he terms ‘antidisciplinary’) approach to the study of space, bringing together traditional space physics with innovation from the field of data science. His passion for data-driven discovery has led to involvement in the JPL Data Science Working Group, the NASA Frontier Development Lab artificial intelligence R&D incubator, and complex systems institutes throughout the United States. Prior to joining JPL, Ryan received the Visiting Young Scientist Fellowship to join the Dartmouth College School of Engineering faculty. During his six-month visiting tenure he created and taught a graduate-level course on statistical inference and data assimilation and conducted research across the engineering, applied math, and physics departments. Ryan was selected as a National Science Foundation Fellow to complete his Ph.D. research at the University of Colorado Boulder, and completed his degree in Aerospace Engineering Sciences in the Fall of 2016. He also holds a Master’s Degree in Aerospace Engineering Sciences from CU Boulder and a Bachelor’s Degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Tennessee.

Ryan has enjoyed research experiences with Los Alamos National Laboratories, the National Center for Atmospheric Research High Altitude Observatory, and the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, to name a few.

Ryan is a passionate communicator and entrepreneur of science. He was selected to give a TED talk in April 2015 on the topic of space weather, and continually strives to move audiences and more effectively communicate science through compelling storytelling and data visualization. His latest passion has been a new podcast called Origins that examines the pivotal moments across the lives of thought-leaders from science, art, engineering, and design.

About ESIP
Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP) is a community for global Earth science data professionals that works to advance the usefulness and impact of data to address pressing global environmental challenges and fuel new discoveries. For more than 20 years, ESIP has worked to support the networking and data dissemination needs of the global Earth science data community by linking the sectors of observation, research, application, education, and use of Earth science data. ESIP facilitates collaboration and builds connections across federal agencies, academia, and the private sector through innovative collaboration methods and infrastructure that provide a scalable, neutral platform to support Earth science research, data, and technical communities. To learn about ESIP, visit www.esipfed.org and follow @ESIPfed.