About
Dr. Catherine Nakalembe is an Assistant Professor of Geospatial AI at the University of Maryland and founder of the Xylem Lab and Xylem Institute, translating geospatial AI into policy-ready intelligence for food security, climate adaptation, and environmental decision-making. As Africa Lead for NASA Harvest and former Agriculture and Food Security Lead on NASA's SERVIR team, she applies remote sensing and AI to advance agricultural monitoring, land-use mapping, disaster response, and climate resilience across Africa.
She holds degrees from the University of Maryland (Ph.D., Geographical Science), Johns Hopkins University (M.S., Geography & Environmental Engineering), and Makerere University, Uganda (B.Sc., Environmental Science). Her honors include the Al Sumait Prize, Uganda's Golden Jubilee Medal, the Africa Food Prize, and a GEO Individual Excellence Award. She is a TED Fellow, a National Geographic Explorer, and a MacArthur Foundation/Op-Ed Project Public Voices Fellow.
