Dr. Catherine Nakalembe is a renowned expert in crop mapping and monitoring using remote sensing and computational machine learning. She also leads the NASA Harvest Africa program at the University of Maryland, which provides methods, systems and capacity development for smallholder farmers in Africa.
Her accomplishments include the development of the Disaster Risk Financing Program (DRF) for the Ugandan Government, utilizing satellite data to predict crop failure. She has applied the same program in several African countries, improving the lives of smallholder farmers by using satellite and computational machine learning technologies,
She has also fostered partnerships with universities to develop capacities through research and training in the areas of disaster monitoring and forecasting,
Through the applications of cutting-edge technologies to smallholder farmers, the main actors in African agriculture she has demonstrably improved food security on the African continent.