The 2008 Global Dialogues on Emerging Science and Technology (GDEST) Conference was held during March 17-19 in Cape Town, South Africa. The GDEST conference series was conceived and initiated by the Office of the Science and Technology Adviser to the Secretary of State in liaison with the National Academies to promote mutually beneficial scientific exchanges between American researchers and their foreign counterparts on new or emerging research themes. A number of GDEST conferences have been held over the past few years, each one focusing on a single area of research, and the venue located in a relevant foreign country. Click here for additional information. The theme of this year’s conference was: “Geospatial Sciences for Sustainable Development in Africa”. About 100 participants, representative of geospatial-science related researchers and practitioners from the US and about 15 African countries, were in attendance notable among whom was Dr. Nina Fedoroff, the Science and Technology Adviser to the Secretary of State. There were about 41 oral and 19 poster presentations, as well as a number of collaborative dialogues, discussions, and displays on issues of relevance to geospatial activities in Africa, including remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS) research and applications. Climate & Radiation Branch member Charles Ichoku (UMD-ESSIC) was one of the participants, and presented a paper entitled “Satellite Characterization of Biomass Burning and Smoke Emissions in Africa”.

(submitted by Charles Ichoku, UMD-ESSIC)