Panelists

• Hansdeep Khaira is Evaluation Officer in the Independent Office of Evaluation (IOE) of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), an UN agency, in Rome. Since 2016, he has worked on a variety of ex-post evaluations including country program, project and impact evaluations. Previously, he worked in IFAD's Programme Management Department on monitoring, evaluation and performance analysis of development projects. Before joining IFAD, Mr. Khaira worked with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in the areas of policy research and analysis, and statistics. He has participated in missions to over 40 developing countries. He holds a Master’s degree in Agricultural Economics from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) of the University of London and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Mumbai University, India.
• Dr. Argyro Kavvada serves a dual role as Manager of the Earth Sciences Division’s Sustainable Development Goals Activities to extend uses of Earth science and applications in support of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), while also leading Booz Allen Hamilton's project on studies, assessments, and strategic management for the Applied Sciences Program in NASA’s Earth Science Division. She serves as the Executive Secretary for the international Earth Observations for Sustainable Development Goals (EO4SDG) initiative that NASA co-leads, and the NASA representative to the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites SDG Working Group. In this role, she has built a network of thought leaders and collaborators in the Earth observation and international development landscape. Argyro holds a PhD and a MS degree in Atmospheric and Oceanic Science from the University of Maryland, a MS degree in Applied Mathematics and Statistics from Georgetown University, and a BS degree in Physics from the Johns Hopkins University. As part of her doctoral research, Argyro used observational analysis and dynamical modeling to investigate ocean-atmosphere interactions in the subpolar and tropical basins, and the hydroclimate impacts of low-frequency North Atlantic variability on adjacent continents. She is also a certified Change Management Advanced Practitioner (CMAP). Argyro is an expert scientific communicator, with experience ranging from representing NASA in inter-agency groups and delivering multilateral, multi-stakeholder workshops to teaching local community groups about Earth science and climate. She is passionate about applying these skills and experience to promote and accelerate the uptake of Earth observations to address development challenges around the world.
• Dr Diego Silva Ardila has a PhD in Urban Planning and Policy from the University of Illinois in Chicago and Masters in Economics and Master in Political and International Problems. He is an Economist and Historian from Universidad de Los Andes, former Deputy Director of the Colombian National Statistics Institute (DANE), President of the Board Colombian Geographical Institute (IGAC), City Secretary of Culture in Bucaramanga, Colombia, Advisor in International Cooperation at Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Colombia , former member of Bogota Committee of Sister Cities of the City of Chicago, and consults for the United Nations (UN-Habitat, UN Foundation), Inter-American Development Bank, Colombian government and local governments. He served as Professor and Researcher of the School of Economics at Universidad Industrial de Santander (UIS) in Bucaramanga and as Academic Peer of the National Accreditation Council of the Ministry of Education. He was Director of the Guatiguará Science and Technology Park (PTG) at Universidad Industrial de Santander in Piedecuesta. Today, Dr  Diego Silva Ardila works as Professor at the Urban Studies Program at Universidad del Rosario in Bogotá and coordinates the development of Cepei's Datalab for United Nations COVID-19 Multi-partner Trust Fund´s Center of Data and Innovation.
• Dr. Minoo Rathnasabapathy is a Research Engineer within the Space Enabled Research Group at the MIT Media Lab. In this role, she helps coordinate projects in collaboration with international development organizations, national governments and entrepreneurial companies to apply space technology in support of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. Previously, Dr. Rathnasabapathy served as the Executive Director of the Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC), a global non-governmental organization which acts in support of the United Nations Programme on Space Applications, based in Vienna, Austria. Dr. Rathnasabapathy was responsible for leading the operations, business development, strategy, and policy output for SGAC. Dr. Rathnasabapathy earned her PhD in Aerospace Engineering from RMIT University, researching the impact dynamics of novel materials used in aerospace structures. Dr. Rathnasabapathy serves as a Vice President of the Bureau of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF), and is a member of the World Economic Forum Global Future Council on Space Technology.

Event Co-organizers:

This event is co-organized by the Space Enabled research group and Secure World Foundation