Workforce Development

  • Why This Matters

    A competitive workforce creates economic mobility and is essential to establishing a sustainable agricultural future. As innovation continues to impact agriculture, current and future farmers, workers, and scientists must learn to work together and use more advanced technologies and communication tools that draw from a broader base of scientific knowledge. Workforce development programs aim to help current and future workers and scientists meet the demands of highly skilled positions.

  • Our Commitment

    NASA Acres is committed to supporting a stable agricultural workforce. A huge constraint to addressing the world’s most pressing challenges – increasing agricultural production to feed a growing population and increasing industrial demand despite most natural resources being fully utilized – is growth in human talent.

  • What We Are Doing

    NASA Acres supports the recruitment and training of scholars and agriculture professionals through internships, mentoring, toolkits, research, and seed grants that elevate transformative and sustainable opportunities through workforce development. Consortium partners are provided leadership development and resources that create, sustain, and retain a viable workforce that meets the needs of the current and future workforce.

This webpage is a work in progress, please continue to check back for new opportunities, resources, and updates regarding NASA Acres and Workforce Development!

Reach out to Basia at skudrzyk@umd.edu with any questions

Summer Professional Development Opportunity

Boosting Representation of African Americans in the Geosciences (BRAAG) Summer Research Experience

The UC Merced program is in collaboration with Historically black colleges and universities (HBCU) partners from Kentucky State University, Tennessee State University and Howard University. BRAAG provides students with a summer research opportunities and graduate admission support. It is an immersive and enriching 8-week program where research and professional development activities will be provided in collaboration with several UC Merced and neighboring research facilities.

Explore Career Paths in Space and Earth Sciences with Dr. Karen St. Germain, NASA’s Director of Earth Science

Other NASA Resources:

For K-12

NASA Science Activation https://science.nasa.gov/learn/

GLOBE STEM Network https://www.globe.gov/web/globe-international-stem-network

STELLA: NASA’s DIY Educational Gadget for Measuring Plant Health https://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/stella/

NASA Citizen Science Projects http://science.nasa.gov/citizenscience

For Undergraduate Students, Graduate Students, and Early Career Professionals

Read about NASA Science in Action:

Learn About NASA’s Landsat Missions: https://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov

OpenET Study Helps Water Managers and Farmers Put Landsat to Work
https://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/article/openet-study-helps-water-managers-and-farmers-put-landsat-to-work/

Space for Ag: How Satellites Aid Water and Food Security
https://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/article/space-for-ag-how-satellites-aid-water-and-food-security/

From Seeds to Satellites
https://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/article/from-seeds-to-satellites/

Landsat In Your Hands: STEM Adventures with a DIY Instrument
https://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/article/landsat-in-your-hands-stem-adventures-with-a-diy-instrument/

Learn about STELLA: NASA’s DIY Educational Gadget for Measuring Plant Health:
https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/goddard/stella-nasas-diy-educational-gadget-for-measuring-plant-health/