Catherine Nakalembe

Catherine Nakalembe
Born
Kampala, Uganda
Alma mater
Known forRemote sensing, food security
AwardsAfrica Food Prize, Ugandan Golden Jubilee medal
Scientific career
FieldsRemote sensing
InstitutionsUniversity of Maryland, NASA
Thesis Agricultural Land Use, Drought Impacts, and Vulnerability: A Regional Case Study for Karamoja, Uganda.[1]

Catherine Lilian Nakalembe[2] is an Ugandan remote sensing scientist and an associate research professor at the University of Maryland (UMD) in the Department of Geographical Sciences and the NASA Harvest Africa program Director.[3][4] Her research includes drought, agriculture and food security.

In 2020, Nakalembe was awarded the Africa Food Prize and in 2022 the Ugandan Golden Jubilee medal.

Education

In 2007, Nakalembe received her undergraduate degree in Environmental Sciences from Makerere University.[5][4]

After undergraduate studies, she received a partial scholarship for the master’s program in geography and environmental engineering at the Johns Hopkins University. She received her Master's degree in 2009.[6][5][7]

Nakalembe received her Ph.D in Geographical Science at the University of Maryland. Her doctoral research aimed to highlight the consequences of drought on land use and on the lives of North Eastern Ugandans. It was the first step in forming the basis of the remote sensing element of the disaster risk financing project which has supported over 75,000 households in the region since initial scaleup in 2017 and saving the Uganda government resources that would otherwise go towards emergency assistance.[4][7][8]

Work

As of 2020, she is the Africa Program Director in the NASA Harvest Program and is known for her work using remote sensing and machine learning technology supporting the development of agriculture and food security across Africa. She pioneered the remote sensing by unmanned aerial vehicles in surveying refugee settlements and landslide mapping in Uganda. She has conducted research in remote sensing of drought, agriculture, and leading the integration of earth observations in agricultural monitoring of small holder agriculture in multiple countries.[9] 84 000 people in Karamoja were able to avoid the worst effects of a lack of rain thanks to her early research.[10]

Nakalembe organizes and leads training on remote sensing tools and data, works with national ministries on their agricultural decision-making processes, and heads initiatives to prevent potentially disastrous impacts of crop failure.[6]

Recognition

She received the Group on Earth Observations first Individual Excellence Award in 2019.[7][11]

In 2020, she shared the Africa Food Prize (AFP) with Dr. André Bationo from Burkina Faso. Olusegun Obasanjo, Chair of the AFP Committee, stated "We need innovative Africans like Dr. Bationo and Dr. Nakalembe to demonstrate the potential of new knowledge and technology together with practical technologies that help improve the value proposition for farmers. These two are indeed exceptional Africans."[12][13][14]

She was a 2020 UMD Research Excellence Honoree.[15] In 2022, she received the Ugandan Golden Jubilee medal. It was presented to her parents by president Yoweri Museveni,[16][17] and is Uganda's highest award given to civilians.[18][a] The same year, she was joint winner with the African Agricultural Technology Foundation of the Al-Sumait Prize for African Development. The award was given "in recognition of their distinguished achievements in [food security] on the African continent."[20][21]

Personal life

Nakalembe and her sister grew up in Kampala, Uganda. She played badminton. Her father is a self-taught car mechanic, and as of 2020 her mother owned and operated a restaurant in Makindye.[9][10] As of 2022, her sister ran sports camps.[22]

Nakalembe entered the environmental science field by chance, as she missed her first preference sports science course when she was enrolling for her undergraduate program at Makerere University early in 2002.[5]

As of 2020, Nakalembe was married to Sebastian Deffner,[2] an associate professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC).[23] They have two children.[9]

Notes

  1. ^ Not counting the Most Excellent Order of the Pearl of Africa, which is given to heads of state and similar.[19]

References

  1. ^ Dupe, Dorcas (7 October 2020). "Nakalembe: Advancing Remote Sensing for Food Security". Space in Africa. Archived from the original on 6 October 2024. Retrieved 23 March 2025.
  2. ^ a b "My work helps improve people's livelihoods". Daily Monitor. 16 October 2020. Archived from the original on 6 November 2020. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  3. ^ "Catherine Nakalembe | Harvest". nasaharvest.org. Archived from the original on 2023-03-24. Retrieved 2021-08-10.
  4. ^ a b c "Nakalembe, Catherine | GEOG | Geographical Sciences Department | University of Maryland". geog.umd.edu. University of Maryland. Archived from the original on 2018-04-29. Retrieved 2020-09-17.
  5. ^ a b c "Dr. Catherine Nakalembe donates USD 100,000 joint food prize for library". www.independent.co.ug. The Independent. September 15, 2020. Archived from the original on 2021-01-25. Retrieved 2020-09-17.
  6. ^ a b "Professor Nakalembe Named as 2020 Africa Food Prize Laureate | BSOS | Behavioral & Social Sciences College | University of Maryland". bsos.umd.edu. University of Maryland. Archived from the original on 2020-09-27. Retrieved 2020-09-17.
  7. ^ a b c "Dr. Catherine Nakalembe Receives Inaugural GEO Individual Excellence Award | GEOG | Geographical Sciences Department | University of Maryland". geog.umd.edu. University of Maryland. Archived from the original on 2020-06-13. Retrieved 2020-09-17.
  8. ^ "Dr. Catherine Nakalembe Named as 2020 Africa Food Prize Laureate | GEOG | Geographical Sciences Department | University of Maryland". geog.umd.edu. University of Maryland. Archived from the original on 2020-09-16. Retrieved 2020-09-17.
  9. ^ a b c Garner, Rob (14 February 2020). "An Innovator in International Food Security". NASA. Archived from the original on 11 August 2020. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  10. ^ a b "How Ugandan Nasa scientist Catherine Nakalembe uses satellites to boost farming". BBC. 27 December 2020. Retrieved 23 March 2025.
  11. ^ "Congratulations to Dr. Catherine Nakalembe on Receiving the Inaugural GEO Individual Excellence Award". nasaharvest.org. 15 November 2019. Archived from the original on 8 December 2023. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  12. ^ "Dr. André Bationo and Dr. Catherine Nakalembe Awarded the 2020 Africa Food Prize (AFP) | Africa Food Prize". Africa Food Prize. 11 September 2020. Archived from the original on 15 June 2021. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  13. ^ "Africa needs productive, policy push to transform agric — Obasanjo". Vanguard News. 2020-09-11. Archived from the original on 2020-09-12. Retrieved 2020-09-17.
  14. ^ "Remote sensing specialist and soil scientist win Africa Food Prize". Devex. 2020-09-11. Retrieved 2020-09-17.
  15. ^ "Drs. Feng, Loboda & Nakalembe Honored at 2020 Maryland Research Excellence Celebration | GEOG | Geographical Sciences Department | University of Maryland". geog.umd.edu. Archived from the original on 2021-07-15. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
  16. ^ "IN THE WEEK PAST: NRM liberation day celebrated at Kololo". New Vision. 30 January 2022. Archived from the original on 3 February 2022. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
  17. ^ "Dr. Nakalembe Honored with the Highest Civilian Award (Golden Jubilee Medal-Civilians) of Uganda". Department of Geographical Sciences. UMBC. Archived from the original on 2023-03-24. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  18. ^ Kisekka, Christopher (10 June 2022). "Firefighter Rewarded for Putting his Life on the Line to Save Others". Uganda Radio Network. Retrieved 25 March 2025.
  19. ^ Barigaba, Julius (27 July 2020). "Uganda gives Aga Khan its highest honour". The EastAfrican. Retrieved 25 March 2025.
  20. ^ "The Board of Trustees of the Al-Sumait Prize for African Development announces the award winners for the year 2022". African Business. 6 November 2023. Archived from the original on 5 December 2024. Retrieved 21 March 2025.
  21. ^ "Minister receives winners of Al-Sumait Prize - kuwaitTimes". Kuwait Times. 12 December 2024. Retrieved 21 March 2025.
  22. ^ From satellites to underwater cameras: The planet-saving tech in Africa. CNN. 5 December 2022. Event occurs at 05:50. Retrieved 23 March 2025.
  23. ^ "Sebastian Deffner". UMBC / Dept Physics / Faculty. University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
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