SERVIR Profile of Kelsey Herndon
Name: Kelsey Herndon
Affiliation: NASA/SERVIR SCO
Role/Title: Graduate Research Assistant
Year you joined SERVIR: 2016
Please introduce yourself. What are you passionate about?
I am a graduate student in Earth System Science at the University of Alabama in Huntsville and a Graduate Research Assistant with the SERVIR Science Coordination Office, supporting the SERVIR-West Africa hub that is located in Niamey, Niger. My passion is understanding how complex political, economic, and cultural matters come to bear on environmental issues and how we can use a spatial way of thinking alongside our knowledge of these topics to reduce conflict, improve livelihoods, and increase sustainability. My current research addresses these themes in central Niger, where I use satellite remote sensing to monitor changing patterns in the availability of scarce water resources, which are essential to the livelihoods of smallholder farmers and nomadic pastoralists.
What initially attracted you to this field of work?
The initial appeal of joining SERVIR was definitely the potential to make a tangible impact in the lives of people around the globe. I was also excited by the challenge offered by not only participating in cutting edge research, but also putting that research to the test by using it to solve real world problems. Applied science can be especially challenging; when people's lives and livelihoods are at stake, you really have to be willing to put your money where your mouth is.
What SERVIR activity are you currently working on?
I am currently finishing up my thesis work, which involves evaluating some methodological issues that accompany the use of satellite remote sensing to monitor ephemeral water body dynamics in the West African Sahel. I am also working to build a historic time series of surface water dynamics in Niger that stretches back to the 1970s and 80s in order to better understand how changes in climatic variables are impacting the availability of surface water.
How does your work generate positive change?
I hope that my work will be able to generate positive change by: 1) calling attention to complex environmental issues in marginal environments, and 2) by providing decision makers with the tools and information necessary to make well-informed decisions.