NASA Data Hackathon Inspires Community Action ...Middle East

On Jan. 31, students, library staff, researchers, and community members gathered at the University of Florida’s (UF) Marston Science Library for the Environmental Monitoring through Education, Research, and Geospatial Engagement (EMERGE) NASA Data Hackathon. This initiative empowers libraries, educators, and individuals to engage in public health and environmental science using real-world data tools and citizen science. At the center of EMERGE is NASA’s Global Learning & Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Observer app, which allows anyone with a smartphone to collect and explore data on mosquito habitats, land cover, clouds, and more.

From morning workshops to an end-of-day sprint, participants spent the day transforming real environmental data into maps, dashboards, infographics, and practical insights supporting public health and environmental decision-making. The event was hosted by the Geospatial Digital Informatics Lab (part of the Geography Department at UF), SciStarter (the world’s largest citizen science database), and Florida Community Innovation (a civic technology nonprofit), with support from NASA and UF Libraries.

The hackathon gave participants a chance to work directly with these volunteer-collected datasets and see how local observations connect to global research. Participants had access to a digital textbook created by the GeoDI Lab that explains how to download, process, visualize, and analyze GLOBE Observer data. At the hackathon, 13 teams came together to build projects analyzing GLOBE data or reenvisioning data collection for the app. You can explore the gallery of projects online here!

Celebrating Hackathon Winners

The following participants won honors in their categories.

APP IMPROVEMENT TRACK

Winner — Mosquito TrackerMatheus Kunzler MaldanerHoang Anh MaiLuana Kunzler MaldanerNicolas MurguiaAlfred Navarro

Honorable Mention — App Improvement BriefKelly MumaSeth Paul

User Interface Recognition — GLOBE Observer, SimplifiedKaushal ThotaSparsh Mogha

ADVANCED TRACK

Winner — Epidemiological Vector Mapping System Aseel IsmailShreya ShanmugamDevadarshini DhandapaniShivani Chandrasekar

Winner — GeoDudeSiddharth NaharAnushri N RAvantika HollaMatthew Losito

Honorable Mention — Mosquito Habitat Observations and Wildfire Hazard in FloridaNancy MurphyPhilippa Burgess

Mapping Recognition — Mosquitos Worldwide ProjectAyesha Malligai M.

INTERMEDIATE TRACK

Winner — Swarm SenseIsabella BodeaEvan MullinsAashita Rai

Honorable Mention — Mosquito Risk MappingRamyaLakshmi KSDelilah PenateThomas BarbatoAmit Rajpurkar

Data Analysis Recognition — Bias and Uncertainty in Reported Mosquito Habitat DataGabriel Dos SantosSatyabrata DasMatthew WhiteDylan Aaron

BEGINNER TRACK

Winner — Beginner Track EMERGE ProjectBreanna BlackwoodDemitri TuMasha BelyaevaElizabeth NguyenTommy Lin

Honorable Mention — Mosquito Predicting with Globe Observer DataNovaarcoid Rajpurkar

FIELD TRACK

Winner — Field Track Data Collection for Mosquito HabitatWei LiuYichan Li

How You Can Get Involved 

If you’re interested in civic tech, public-interest data, and community-centered research, you’re invited to get involved with Florida Community Innovation (FCI), one of the Hackathon partners. The FCI works year-round with students and community partners to build accessible tools, maps, and public resources and welcomes new collaborators from a wide range of backgrounds. Get started with FCI by visiting floridainnovation.org, and email [email protected] to join one of their Wednesday meetings at 6 p.m. EDT to be matched with a project (like building games for Miami-Dade’s Recyclepedia app, helping create an AI tool for social workers in Orlando, and more).

Interested in shaping future EMERGE events? Apply to join a planning committee to help design the next hackathon! Committee members will help think through formats, tracks, accessibility, and community partnerships, with the goal of keeping future events welcoming, practical, and responsive to local needs. Organizers will receive a small honorarium. For more information, send an email to Caroline Nickerson: [email protected]

To start doing NASA science from your own neighborhood or backyard, you can also download the GLOBE Observer app! This app makes it possible for anyone to collect and explore data on mosquito habitats, land cover, and more!

The EMERGE program is made possible with the support of NASA through the Citizen Science Seed Funding Program, with the goal of enabling more scientists to develop and use citizen science techniques in their work.

geoemerge.com/nasa-at-uf

Learn More and Get Involved

GLOBE Observer

Choose from several different projects to help scientists learn about planet Earth. For anyone with a smartphone. Kid friendly!

Share

Details

Related Terms

Explore More

Hail Yeah! NASA Researchers Use Volunteer Observations for Hail Estimates

The bigger the hailstone, the more damage it can cause. But scientists find that predicting…

Volunteers Find Oddly High Solar Flare Rates

Extra Extra! Extra Data Stream Added to the Daily Minor Planet!

The Daily Minor Planet citizen science project is expanding! In addition to data received nightly…

Hence then, the article about nasa data hackathon inspires community action was published today ( Tuesday 24/03/2026 - 01:22 AM ) and is available on NASA ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.

Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( NASA Data Hackathon Inspires Community Action )

Also on site :

• Celine Dion to Make Concert Comeback in Paris
• Hacks' Deborah Vance Fights To Reclaim The Spotlight In Final Season Trailer — Plus, Get Premiere Date
• How Chuck Norris Created the Manosphere