About Dr. Nakalembe
Dr. Nakalembe is an Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland, currently serving as the Africa Director under NASA Harvest and a member of the NASA SERVIR Applied Sciences Team, where she serves as the Agriculture and Food Security Thematic Lead. Her responsibilities include driving innovations in Earth observation (EO) technologies to improve monitoring, food security, and agricultural productivity in Africa.
Dr. Nakalembe's research interests span various topics, including satellite remote sensing, machine learning, land use and land-use change mapping, humanitarian mapping, and climate change. Her work has been instrumental in developing methods and systems for smallholder agriculture in Africa using remote sensing and machine learning. This has led to establishing satellite EO-based crop monitoring initiatives in multiple African countries.
Educational Background
Ph.D. Geographical Science from the University of Maryland
Master's Geography and Environmental Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore Maryland
B.Sc. Environmental Science from Makerere University Kampala, Uganda
Honors and Recognition
Her honors include a 2022 Golden Jubilee Gold Medal, the Highest Civilian Award of Uganda, awarded by President Yoweri Museveni, the 2020 Africa Food Prize from Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), and the 2019 Individual Excellence Award from the Group on Earth Observations (GEO), Geneva, Switzerland.
2023
Fellow, B-Wel (Black Women in Executive Leadership)
Africa's Top 100 Most Influential African Leaders, Africa Tech Festival and Connecting Africa
AL Sumait Prize for African Development(Nominee)
2022
Golden Jubilee Gold Medal, Highest Civilian Award, Uganda
10 Women Scientists Leading the Fight Against the Climate Crisis- Global Citizen
2021
UK Humantarian Hub Fellowship
15 Women Leading the ML4EO Community, Radiant Earth Foundation
2020
Africa Food Prize, Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)
ClimateChangeAI TEDx Speaker
An Innovator in International Food Security, NASA
2020 Maryland Research Excellence Honoree of University of Maryland, College Park
2020 Women and GIS, Volume 2: Stars of Spatial Science, Esri Press.
2019
Individual Excellence Award from Group on Earth Observations (GEO), Geneva, Switzerland
2012
O.E. Baker Award: Outstanding Graduate Student, Geographical Sciences Uni. of Maryland
2012 Special Excellence as a Teaching Assistant, Geographical Sciences, University of Maryland
