Designing the Climate Story with NASA

NASA invites you to 'Designing the Climate Story,' an insightful panel discussion that delves into the creative and scientific processes behind the Earth Information Center, a physical and virtual experience at NASA Headquarters where you can see how our planet is changing in areas that affect our lives and livelihoods.

This event features a diverse group of designers, scientists, and communicators who collaborated to transform complex climate data into captivating and educational installations.

Attendees will learn about the challenges and innovations involved in designing interactive displays that make climate science accessible and engaging.

Following the panel discussion, participants will have the opportunity to interact with the panelists as they explore the Earth Information Center. This interactive experience will allow attendees to see the installations firsthand and engage in direct conversations with the creators, gaining deeper insights into the design and functionality of the exhibits (Due to high attendance, we recommend visiting the exhibit prior to the event).

This program is ideal for anyone interested in the intersection of design, science, and education, offering a unique opportunity to explore how NASA communicates vital climate information through innovative design.

NASA
https://www.nasa.gov/headquarters/

NASA Headquarters, in Washington, provides overall guidance and direction to the agency, under the leadership of the Administrator. Ten field centers and a variety of installations around the country conduct the day-to-day work in laboratories, on air fields, in wind tunnels, and in control rooms. Together, this skilled, diverse group of scientists, engineers, managers, and support personnel share the Vision, Mission, and Values that are NASA.

Speaker Details:
Jenny Mottar

Jenny Mottar serves as Art Director for NASA Science, working alongside senior leadership to design and implement the visual presence for the agency's Science Mission Directorate. She collaborates with scientists, engineers, and creative teams to translate complex ideas into visually appealing imagery for the public. During her two decades at NASA, she has developed branding for various missions, including Artemis and the James Webb Space Telescope. She is also the artist behind NASA’s Earth Day poster series, Science Calendar, and has created key art for various agency-level campaigns, anniversaries, and milestones. Ms. Mottar’s designs and illustrations have appeared on commercial products and apparel, in New York’s Time Square, television, websites, magazines, books, posters, exhibits, airports, museums and conferences around the world. Jenny is the recipient of two NASA Exceptional Public Service medals.

Lauren Katz

Nicole Ramberg-Pihl
Nicole is a freshwater ecologist with a broad background in Earth and environmental sciences. Currently she serves as the Project Manager for the Earth Information Center, leading implementation and execution of the center’s strategy, and has been serving as the Interim Project Manager for the US Greenhouse Gas Center Project Office at Goddard Space Flight Center. Prior to her current roles, she served as a Fellow for the NASA DEVELOP National Program at Goddard Space Flight Center. She has led teams and partnered with organizations across the globe to explore the use of NASA Earth observations to address local environmental concerns centered around water resources, ecological forecasting, disasters, and agriculture. Nicole has a PhD in Ecology and Environmental Sciences from the University of Maine. While completing her PhD, she was a National Science Foundation Integrative Graduate Education Research Traineeship (NSF IGERT) Fellow, which provided experience working on interdisciplinary teams to address complex environmental issues stemming from abrupt climate change. Specifically, her research examined how changes in climate and competition from smallmouth bass impact the performance of Federally Endangered juvenile Atlantic salmon in Maine streams. This experience highlighted the importance of approaching complex issues from a systems perspective and confirmed her passion for working on interdisciplinary projects relating to climate and the need to communicate scientific information to public audiences. Nicole has been on multiple teams that have received NASA Agency Honor Awards, the Excellence in Collaboration Award as part of NASA’s Honor Awards Appreciation Program, and most recently the Webby Awards.

Mark Subbarao

Mark SubbaRao leads NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio(SVS). The SVS tasked creates visualizations of NASA science results for public audiences. Mark has led the design and production of visualization content for NASA’s Earth Information Center. Before joining NASA, Mark spent 18 years at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, where he produced planetarium shows and designed museum exhibits featuring data-driven scientific visualizations. During 2019-2020 Mark served as President of the International Planetarium Society (IPS), where he spearheaded the ‘Data to Dome’’ initiative - an effort to prepare the planetarium community for the big data era. Before that he worked at the University of Chicago where he was part of a team that created the largest 3D map of the Universe, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Mark SubbaRao has a PhD in Astrophysics from The Johns Hopkins University. He is the author of over 100 scientific publications. Mark's visualizations have been widely featured in print, TV, and museums. His visualization work has been recognized with significant awards including the NSF's Vizzies, The International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge, and the Deauville Green Awards. Asteroid 170009 Subbarao is named in recognition of Mark’s work on the Sloan Digital Sky Survey.

Karina Taylor

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters, 300 E Street Southwest, Washington, United States