NASA And USAID To Sign Agreement To Tackle Worldwide Problems

Stephen Cole/Michael Braukus

Headquarters, Washington     

 

Gina Jackson

U.S. Agency for International Development, Washington

WASHINGTON -- Reporters are invited to the signing of a formal agreement between NASA and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to promote collaboration on scientific and technological solutions to worldwide problems. The memorandum of understanding addresses such challenges as global health, climate change, food security, and disaster mitigation and response.

The event will take place in the NASA Headquarters auditorium at 300 E Street SW in Washington on Monday, April 25, at 2 p.m. EDT. NASA Television and the agency's website will broadcast the event live.

The participants are:

Charles Bolden, NASA administrator

Dr. Rajiv Shah, USAID administrator

Leland Melvin, NASA associate administrator for education

Daniel Irwin, scientist, NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.

Josh Nesbit, CEO, Medic Mobile, Austin, Texas

Dieterich Lawson, chief technology officer, Medic Mobile

Alex Dehgan, science and technology adviser to the USAID administrator

Before the signing ceremony, there will be a presentation on two NASA-USAID programs, SERVIR and LAUNCH. The SERVIR program integrates satellite observations, ground-based data and forecast models to monitor and forecast environmental changes and improve response to natural disasters in Central America, the Caribbean, Africa, and the Himalayas. It helps inform science-based decision-making in the areas of climate change, health, agriculture, environment, water, and weather.

LAUNCH is a global initiative to identify and support innovative work poised to contribute to a sustainable future and accelerate solutions to meet urgent challenges facing our society. NASA, USAID, the Department of State, and Nike joined to form LAUNCH in an effort to identify, showcase and support innovative approaches to global challenges through a series of forums.

There also will be a question-and-answer session with students from area high schools and universities with the NASA and USAID administrators.

For more information on SERVIR, visit  http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/servir/index.html.

For more information on LAUNCH, visit http://launch.org/.

For NASA TV streaming video, downlink and scheduling information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/ntv.

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