National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Implementing the U.S. Greenhouse Gas Center

About the Talk The U.S. Greenhouse Gas Center (US GHG Center) is a multiagency effort that aims to facilitate coordination across federal and non-federal, domestic and international entities to integrate and enhance GHG data and modeling capabilities from USG and non-USG sources for scalable impact. In Phase I (prototype phase), the Center focuses on three initial focus areas to develop best practices for enabling science integration and dissemination of mature capabilities, providing a foundation for future efforts on additional focus areas. The panel will present on these initial focus areas and discuss capabilities currently shared via the US GHG Center beta portal. It will also discuss links to the national GHG strategy, developed by the Greenhouse Gas Monitoring, and Measurement Interagency Working Group, as well as links to other interagency and international efforts to support enhancements to, and coordination of, GHG measurement, monitoring, and information provisioning.

About the Speakers Dr. Argyro Kavvada is the U.S. Greenhouse Gas Center Manager (US GHG Center) for Earth Science at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Headquarters in Washington, D.C. In her role, she leads the US GHG Center in achieving its mission and goals, promoting and accelerating the use of Earth science data and information to increase confidence in setting, assessing, and meeting climate mitigation goals. She provides overall leadership for the Center, including strategic direction, budget planning and execution, and overall management for the Center's portfolio, from science and applications integration, data system development and operations, technology, mission engagement, and partnerships. Prior to this role, Dr. Kavvada served as program manager of NASA's Earth Sciences Division's Sustainable Development Goals initiative to extend uses of Earth science and applications in support of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. She is the founding executive director for the international Earth Observations for Sustainable Development Goals initiative. In 2022, Argyro led the development of a new book published in the American Geopshysical Union's Geophysical Monograph Series titled Earth Observation Applications and Global Policy Frameworks. Argyro also served as the technical project manager for Booz Allen Hamilton's contract in NASA's Earth Science Division Applied Sciences Program, leading staff development and oversight, contract financials, schedules, and product delivery. Argyro holds a PhD and a MS degree in Atmospheric and Oceanic Science from the University of Maryland, a MS degree in Applied Mathematics and Statistics from Georgetown University, and a BS degree in Physics from the Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Lesley Ott is a climate scientist with 20 years experience studying air pollution and greenhouse gases. She received her PhD in atmospheric science from the University of Maryland in 2006 and has been working at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center ever since. She currently leads the carbon group within the Global Modeling and Assimilation Office, NASA's center for understanding contemporary weather and climate using a family of advanced Earth system modeling tools. Her work focuses on using a combination of satellite data and numerical models to better understand the sources and sinks of greenhouse gases and how the processes that control them may change over time. She also coordinates a group of university and government scientists that aims to inform how future satellite missions can improve understanding of carbon pollution and public policy. Dr. Erin McDuffie is an atmospheric scientist in the Climate Change Division in the Office of Atmospheric Protection at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. She received her PhD in atmospheric chemistry from the University of Colorado Boulder, and has over 10 years experience working on issues related to air quality, climate change, and environmental policy. In 2022 Erin completed a AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellowship at the U.S. EPA where she worked directly with the U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory team. In her current position, Erin continues to support methane-emissions research relevant to the U.S. GHG Inventory and U.S. GHG Center portal, including on gridded methane emissions, as well as on research to better understand and communicate the wide range of physical and economic impacts of future climate change under various GHG policy scenarios.

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