Listed below are upcoming seminars, workshops and other events of interest to the staff of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies and to our research partners.
Note that due to security regulations, as described elsewhere on this page, presentations on the GISS premises are not open to the general public. Please consult with the event host/contact for connection details if you wish to remotely join any event marked as "Virtual" or "Hybrid".
This event listing was last updated 2025-04-23. All times shown are New York City local.
- April 21, 2025
- 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. — 603 Schermerhorn
- Maggie DeLessio Dissertation Defense
- Topic: Brown Carbon in an Earth System Model: A Scheme to Study Biomass Burning Aerosols
- Location: 603 Schermerhorn
- Host/Contact: Maggie DeLessio
- April 23, 2025
- 1 p.m. to 2:15 p.m.— Hybrid
- GISS Lunch Seminar
- Topic: The model is the message: Machine learning applied to planetary and astrobiological data
- Speaker: Caleb Scharf (NASA/Ames)
- More info: Abstract
- Host/Contact: Nicolas Leitmann-Niimi
GISS Lunch Seminar
Speaker: Caleb Scharf (NASA/Ames)
Title: The model is the message: Machine learning applied to planetary and astrobiological data
This is a hybrid presentation, presented both in-person and on-line. Please consult with event host Nicolas Leitmann-Niimi for connection details if you wish to virtually attend.
Abstract:
I'll very briefly review NASA's Ames Research Center astrobiology efforts and some new directions in AI and machine learning. As an example, I'll describe a project applying a deep learning technique (convolutional autoencoding) to reconstruct planetary imaging data with severe destructive noise. An initial experiment on Perseverance scene imagery demonstrates that useful reconstructions can be made when over 90% of an image is destroyed, using a "lightweight" model. I'll discuss caveats, and the need for easily deployable, understandable models in scienctific exploration and ask whether traditional approaches to handling raw data can be updated in the era of machine learning.
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- April 28, 2025
- 12:45 p.m. to 2:15 p.m.
- ROCKE-3D Seminar
- Topic: Evidence that Plate Tectonic-Like Processes Once Operated on Venus
- Speaker: Paul Byrne (Washington University in St. Louis)
- Host/Contact: Michael Way
- May 5, 2025
- 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.— Hybrid
- Extreme Events in Climate
- Host/Contact: Anastasia Romanou
- May 6, 2025
- 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.— Hybrid
- Extreme Events in Climate
- Host/Contact: Anastasia Romanou
- May 6, 2025
- 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. — Virtual
- Sea Level Rise Seminar
- Topic: Ice sheet hydrology
- Speaker: Jessica Mejia (Syracuse Univ)
- Host/Contact: Patrick Alexander
- May 7, 2025
- 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.— Hybrid
- Extreme Events in Climate
- Host/Contact: Anastasia Romanou
- May 8, 2025
- 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.— Hybrid
- Extreme Events in Climate
- Host/Contact: Anastasia Romanou
- May 9, 2025
- 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.— Hybrid
- Extreme Events in Climate
- Host/Contact: Anastasia Romanou
- May 13, 2025
- 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. — Virtual
- Sea Level Rise Seminar
- Topic: Antarctic coastal ocean heat budget
- Speaker: Ruth Moorman (Caltech)
- Host/Contact: Patrick Alexander
- May 20, 2025
- 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. — Virtual
- Sea Level Rise Seminar
- Topic: Thwaites glacier grounding line melt
- Speaker: Mainak Mondal (NYU)
- Host/Contact: Patrick Alexander
- May 21, 2025
- 11 a.m. to 12 p.m.— Hybrid
- IRI Climate Forecast Briefing
- Host/Contact: Andrew W. Robertson
- May 21, 2025
- 1 p.m. to 2:15 p.m.— Hybrid
- GISS Lunch Seminar
- Topic: How should we parameterize atmospheric ice formation? Experimental viewpoints guiding interpretation of field observations and cloud modeling
- Speaker: Daniel Knopf (SUNY Stonybrook)
- More info: Abstract
- Host/Contact: Nicolas Leitmann-Niimi
GISS Lunch Seminar
Speaker: Daniel Knopf (SUNY Stonybrook)
Title: How should we parameterize atmospheric ice formation? Experimental viewpoints guiding interpretation of field observations and cloud modeling
This is a hybrid presentation, presented both in-person and on-line. Please consult with event host Nicolas Leitmann-Niimi for connection details if you wish to virtually attend.
Abstract:
Atmospheric ice formation is considered one of the grand challenges in the atmospheric sciences. Ice crystal formation impacts the radiative forcing of mixed-phase and cirrus clouds, precipitation, and water vapor transport into the lower stratosphere. In this seminar experiments of primary ice production pathways will be introduced and discussed in terms of suitable freezing parameterizations. The contrasting viewpoint, and its origin, of describing ice formation by a deterministic (non-time dependent) approach compared to classical nucleation theory (CNT) that accounts for the stochastic nature of nucleation, will be outlined. The consequences of choice of freezing parameterizations will be showcased for the cases of laboratory experiments, aerosol-ice formation closure studies, and application to a 1D large eddy simulation informed aerosol-cloud model, probabilistic particle-based (super-droplet) cloud microphysics model, and gravity-wave induced cirrus formation. We will demonstrate that parameterizations that represent the ice nucleation experiment equally well can yield orders of magnitude different ice crystal number concentrations when applied to ambient aerosol or in models. We will conclude with a summary and suggestions on how to observe ambient ice-nucleating particles and represent primary ice formation in models.
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- June 18, 2025
- 11 a.m. to 12 p.m.— Hybrid
- IRI Climate Forecast Briefing
- Host/Contact: Andrew W. Robertson
- July 16, 2025
- 11 a.m. to 12 p.m.— Hybrid
- IRI Climate Forecast Briefing
- Host/Contact: Andrew W. Robertson
- August 4, 2025
- 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
- Miriam Nielsen Dissertation Defense
- Speaker: Miriam Nielsen (Columbia Univ)
- Host/Contact: Kate Marvel
- August 20, 2025
- 11 a.m. to 12 p.m.— Hybrid
- IRI Climate Forecast Briefing
- Host/Contact: Andrew W. Robertson
Meetings and Workshops
Forthcoming meetings, workshops, and other special events that will be hosted by GISS staff include the following:
Extreme Events in Climate
May 5-9, 2025. For information, contact Anastasia Romanou.
Seminars and Colloquia
Informal Lunch Seminars take place at GISS on Wednesdays at 1 p.m. two or three times per month, mostly during the academic year. These events are usually "hybrid", i.e., they are presented in person at GISS but may be attended remotely by obtaining connection details from the event host.
ROCKE-3D Seminars discussing topics of interest to exoplanetary and paleoclimate researchers are held from time to time, sometimes "virtual" and sometimes "hybrid".
GISS staff also organize a series of Sea Level Rise Seminars on Tuesday mornings at 11 a.m., with presentations by scientists from numerous research institutions. This seminar is almost always "virtual" and occurs two or three times per month, year-round.
Other Special Seminars are held from time to time depending on the schedules of visiting scientists.
Videos of past seminar presentations and other presentations may be found on the GISS YouTube channel.
Security Note
Federal regulations require that visitors to NASA/GISS arrange in advance for a building pass. Persons planning to attend a GISS seminar or colloquium held on-site at the institute should contact the event host several days in advance of the event for assistance.
Persons who are not U.S. citizens or U.S. permanent residents and who may be planning a visit to GISS require that special arrangements be made. Please co-ordinate with your GISS host on this at least three weeks before your visit.
Due to implementation of the REAL ID Act (2005), a passport, state driver's license or state identification card is required for admittance to the GISS premises, which is considered a federal facility. Please note that we expect that in May 2025 a state-issued license or ID will need to be REAL-ID compliant in order to be accepted.
All visitors can expect to have their bags searched upon entry to GISS. This may include having to answer questions about personal items, including any medication the visitor may be carrying.
