Dear colleagues and friends,

Sometimes I find myself grumbling about the "young people today." But then I remind myself that these young individuals are passionate, caring, curious, bright, and, most importantly, they dream of a better future. They ARE the future. In just a short 25 years or so, they will be running the world and taking care of us, humanity and our planet. 

The best thing we can do is help them learn as much as possible about the challenges we are facing today and what they will face tomorrow. We should also give them all the tools they need to tackle those challenges and train them how to use these tools most effectively. 

Since nobody outside of our discipline knows what geographers do these days, it takes us an extra step (or 10) to find the young talent and nurture it. Geospatial data science is one of the fastest-growing fields with employment opportunities across all sectors of the economy. “Employment opportunities” really mean that those skills are needed just about everywhere from disaster recovery to supply chain management to building smart cities to making sure we take care of the only habitable planet we know. 

Our Young Researchers Fund supports different activities that recognize the talent in high school students and provide them with opportunities to learn more about geographical sciences, using satellite data, and geospatial data science. Please help us invest in as many young people as possible so that when their time comes to run the world, we all will look at a brighter future.

Starting at 12 a.m. this Wednesday, March 6, you can make your donation through: 

Thank you,

Tatiana Loboda