Day 2: Planetary Sunshade Foundation meetup

After the first day’s energy (and late night gala!) we settled in for day two. I came do a deeper appreciation for just how much important work there is to do in connecting new satellite data to end-users who can plan around wildfires, droughts, algae blooms, deforestation, etc, etc. Public private partnerships like Norway’s International Climate and Forest Initiative make data available to forested countries to fight illegal logging. 

The big highlight today, though, was the social hour with the ‘sunshaders’.  I had emailed with Swedish astronaut Christer Fuglesang who had originally planned to attend, and even though he couldn’t make it, he asked me to say ‘hi’ to all the ‘sunshaders’. It’s the first time I’ve seen that term used, but I think it’s going to stick. 

We convened a Social Hour for everyone working on or interested in the Sunshade. What an amazing group! Staff of the German Space Agency and Airbus joined with graduate students and Phd candidates alongside climate and environmental activists.

I shared a bit about how this network is extraordinary, how the work that each of us are doing really enhances and supports each other. We talked about how we can support each other to get research funding. We planned the next gatherings. But mostly we talked about the reasons why each of us are involved in this effort. 

Eystein suggested we head up to the 21st floor of the Radisson Blue Scandinavia to the top-floor bar, and the view did not disappoint! Brand new members of the community joined with long-time members to build the connections that will last years. 

Smiling faces at the end of two long conference days.