the Pop-Up Project DEVELOP Office
The Pop-Up Project (PUP) office coordinates temporary sites for participants to work with a unique set of advisors and network. The objective is to continue opening opportunities for exploring diverse application areas, reaching participants across the United States, and expanding the DEVELOP network from term to term. PUP hosts 1-2 projects per term (spring, summer, & fall) that offer varying opportunities in different thematic areas and project types, such as disasters and urban development-based tech and innovation projects to water resources and agriculture-based feasibility projects. These projects can take place in-person at volunteer pop-up locations or be virtual. In conjunction with the wide variety of specialties offered by host locations, the PUP team features expertise from within DEVELOP to the exceptional advising at the host locations. With the ability to offer projects at temporary host locations, PUP continues to strive for unique and diverse experiences in the program.
PUP was established in 2022 during the spring term. Unique to previous terms and offerings, the location began presenting virtual projects focusing on technical advancement and innovation. These new project types centered on developing and updating tools for future DEVELOP teams and end users as well as demonstrating current technologies to decision-makers. Following the location’s first term, Pop-Up Projects began to offer in-person experiences hosted at locations like the University of Virginia and University of Wyoming.
Upcoming Project Hosts
Florida Gulf Coast University (Summer 2024): The Florida Gulf Coast University pop-up in Fort Myers, Florida, is housed under the Department of Marine & Earth Sciences. The department focuses on bringing an interdisciplinary perspective to environmental issues by studying the Earth’s biosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and geosphere, tying in interests with natural resources and sustainability. This location includes specialties in hydrogeological modeling, remote sensing, GIS, and hydrology.
Hunter College (Summer 2024): Hunter College is part of the City University of New York system in New York, New York. The pop-up at Hunter College is hosted by the Urban Policy and Planning Department, which is dedicated to improving urban living for all. This host location includes areas of expertise in urban data analytics, urban heat and microclimates, urban policy analysis, and applied GIS.
Texas Tech University (Summer 2024): The DEVELOP Texas Tech University pop-up in Lubbock, Texas, hosted at the Department of Natural Resources Management. This department focuses on natural resources in relation to management decisions and balancing community needs with sustainability for future resource availability. The Texas Tech host location includes expertise in geography, GIScience, and fire ecology exploring how changing patterns of wildfire affect plants, wildlife, and society.
Arizona State University Center for Global Discovery and Conservation Science (Summer 2024): Arizona State University has been a long-time host of the NASA DEVELOP Program and will host the first project out of the Center for Global Discovery and Conservation Science in Hilo, Hawai’i. The center focuses on spatially-explicit scientific research focused on mitigating and adapting to global environmental change.
RECENT PROJECT HOSTS
University of Virginia (Summer 2022, Spring 2023, Summer 2023, & Spring 2024): The University of Virginia pop-up is hosted at the Department of Engineering Systems and Environment in Charlottesville, VA. The Department of Engineering Systems and Environment was founded in 2018 integrating knowledge from the civil and environmental engineering and systems engineering departments to address large and complex problems that decision-makers face. The UVA location includes expertise in global hydrology and water resources focusing on hydrological extremes like floods and droughts.
University of Wyoming (Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Summer 2023, & Spring 2024): The Pop-Up Project location hosted by the University of Wyoming in Laramie, WY. The Wyoming Geographic Information Science Center (WyGISC) is an interdisciplinary center that specializes in a wide range of subjects including geography, community planning, ecology, geology, hydrology, and natural resource management. The location also offers technical specialties including geographic analysis, spatial database decision and development, remote sensing and image processing, software application programming, and GIS program management.
Skidmore College (Summer 2023): The Skidmore GIS Center for Interdisciplinary Research is home to a community of students and faculty with expertise in GIS and geospatial technologies including spatial analysis and modeling, remote sensing, and cartography. The center provides course offerings in GIS and remote sensing, along with a research focus on conservation planning and agricultural land management. Students and faculty regularly partner with local government and non-profit organizations to address pressing social and environmental issues with spatial analysis and digital storytelling.
Interested in hosting a DEVELOP Pop-Up Project?
If you are interested in hosting a PUP team, submit your idea to the DEVELOP National Program Office at NASA-DL-DEVELOP@mail.nasa.gov