Snacktime with NASA, a NASA video series highlighting the agency’s role in agricultural monitoring and food security, has been nominated for a 2022 People’s Voice Webby Award. The Webby Awards are presented annually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, intended to honor “excellence on the internet.”
Part cooking show, part interview, Snacktime with NASA episodes explore why and how NASA uses satellites to track global food production, monitor water availability, and even grow food in space. Selected for the Education & Discovery group within the Webby Awards’ Social Content Series & Campaigns category, Snacktime with NASA is part of NASA’s efforts to educating the public of its efforts to use science and technology to better the world. Voting is open to the public through Thursday, April 21, 2022.
One of the Snacktime with NASA videos, Chips and Dip, showcases how NASA’s agriculture and food security program area, NASA Harvest, uses satellite imagery to monitor water use and food production around the world, helping to anticipate shortfalls, create transparency for markets, and inform humanitarian response. Produced by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in 2021, the video features Dr. Inbal Becker-Reshef, director of NASA Harvest.
In the video, Becker-Reshef explains how satellite data helps keep track of global food production, a vital task in the face of drought, floods, crop pests like locusts, and the growing threat of climate change. With 30% of the global population in 2020 moderately to severely food insecure, and 10% of the world undernourished according to reports from the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, tracking and improving global food productivity and security is more important than ever.
In the 1958 congressional act that created NASA, the agency was charged with “providing for the widest practicable and appropriate dissemination of information concerning its activities.” In the internet age, NASA has aimed to meet this task by expanding its outreach content across digital platforms, including social media, podcasts, and even an interactive graphic novel. NASA received 8 nominations for the 2022 Webby Awards.
The public can vote for their favorite Webby nominations on the voting page through Thursday, April 21, 2022.
