Uganda : Catherine Nakalembe, a scientist who applies remote sensing to agriculture

Catherine Nakalembe is a Ugandan environmental scientist. She is Assistant Research professor in the Department of Geographical Sciences at the University of Maryland in the United States, and also heads NASA Harvest Africa Program. In 2020, she was awarded the African Food Prize.

Catherine Nakalembe is a scientist who uses satellite remote sensing to generate data to formulate policies and programs to protect farmers from the effects of food failure. In September 2020, the Alliance for the Green Revolution (AGRA) awarded her the African Food Prize for her agricultural research.

When she enrolled at Makerere University in Uganda in 2003 to study environmental science, she could have not imagined that she would receive such recognition years later. Originally, as a badminton enthusiast, she wanted to specialise in sports science. But she had to give up because she did not get the grades allowing her to obtain a scholarship from the government. Years later, her choice would eventually lead her to NASA. 

In 2009, she obtained her Master’s degree in Geography environmental Engineering from The Johns Hopkins University in Maryland, USA. In 2010, she became a teaching assistant in geographical sciences at the University of Maryland. From 2012 to 2017, she was a program assistant for the NASA Land Cover Land Use Program, an interdisciplinary science program in the earth science of the Science mission directorate of NASA. In 2012, she became a Faculty assistant in Geographical Sciences at the University of Maryland until 2018. In 2017, she received her PhD in Geographical Sciences from the University of Maryland where she became an Associate Professor in 2018. The same year, she became Director of NASA Harvest Africa Program.

Thousands of farmers protected from the effects of climate change thanks to her research

Her research interests include satellite remote sensing, land use mapping, water resources and climate change. She also trains farmers in Africa to use remote sensing for agricultural monitoring and research. She uses satellite data to study agriculture and weather conditions which are combined with field data on agricultural crops to enable authorities to set up forecasting policies. The data can also be used to create maps showing whether farms are fertile. They can also be used to know when to irrigate, how much fertilizer to use, and how to respond to disasters, crop failures and flash floods.

Her early research protected 84,000 people in Karamoja, Uganda, from the effects of a variable climate and lack of rainfall. She now travels throughout Africa training governments on how to develop food security programs. She also encourages young African women to study environmental science.

Catherine Nakalembe is the author of several books and scientific articles. She won several prizes and awards. In 2019, she received the Individual Excellence Award from the Group on Earth Observations (GEO). She was also featured in the 2020 book “Women and Geographic information system”. In 2020, she received the University of Maryland Research Excellence Award. The same year, with the Burkinabé scientist André Bationo, she co-won the Alliance for Green revolution (AGRA) African Food Prize.