Isabelle Solórzano secures NASA Internship
Isabelle Solórzano ‘24 (Environmental Science major, Biology minor) recently secured a competitive NASA DEVELOP internship, and will soon start working with NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View. She will join a project researching the impacts of wetland declinations and deforestation on urban heat in Cali, Colombia. They will leverage Earth observations from Landsat 8 and Landsat 9 and partnerships with Fundación Dinamizadores Ambientales and Departamento Administrativo de Gestión del Medio Ambiente to understand the urban heat island effect on Cali communities. Their analysis will combine remote sensing and community partnerships under an environmental justice framework. The team will also develop a tutorial on the methodologies to be transferred to the partners to increase their capacity to use NASA Earth observations and understand the heat disparity in local communities.
Isabelle’s interest in Latin American environmental change issues may have started with many trips back to visit family in Nicaragua and her work for the Environmental Justice and Common Good Initative’s Food and Climate Justice Program and in the Agroecology, Climate Resilience and Food Justice (ACRAF) Lab. In the ACRAF Lab, she helped develop educational workshops, analyze the climate impacts of food consumption, co-author reports, and kick-start a vermiculture pilot program on a project partnering with Sacred Heart Community Service. In addition to Professor Chris Bacon, mentors who have supported Isabelle’s work include Professor Jake Dialesandro, who taught her remote sensing, as well as Professor C.J. Gabbe, and Becca Nelson. Congratulations again, Isabelle. We look forward to seeing where this project takes you - the sky's the limit.