Barbara J. Ryan has been honored with the 2018 Pecora Award. The award, sponsored by the USGS and NASA, recognizes Ryan for “her outstanding contributions as a scientist and visionary leader for advancing the global use of remote sensing through championing data democratization.”
The annual award has been presented since 1974 and honors the memory of William T. Pecora, former USGS director and Department of the Interior undersecretary.
Ryan has contributed to the field as a scientist, associate director of the USGS, and through executive positions with the World Meteorological Organization and the Group on Earth Observations. She was the force behind opening up of the Landsat archive to the general public, allowing scientists, planners and policy makers to make better-informed decisions on problems that transcend political boundaries.
This video was made by Geospatial World in 2017 when she was serving as the Secretariat Director of the intergovernmental Group on Earth Observations (GEO).
