Paul Racette

Biographical Sketch As an adventurous adolescent, Paul grew up chasing severe thunderstorms across the plains of Kansas. And so he was quite excited after joining the Goddard Space Flight Center in July 1990 to learn that his first assignment was to prepare and install a suite of sensors on a DC-8 aircraft for an experiment to study typhoons. That fall while stationed at Kadena Airbase in Okinawa, Japan, he flew for the first time through the eye of a category 5 typhoon. That experience was the beginning of an exciting and fruitful career developing and deploying microwave remote sensors for studying Earth�s environment. Since then, Paul has been the principal engineer responsible for the overall instrument concept, development and deployment for five highly-innovative remote sensing instruments. Each of these instruments has produced unique, scientifically rich data. Paul has participated in more than fifteen major field experiments around the world pioneering techniques to observe the Earth. As a member of the senior technical staff at Goddard, he has initiated technology developments, research projects, and international collaborations that have advanced the state of the art in microwave remote sensing and instrument calibration. For these efforts and accomplishments Paul received the NASA Medal for Exceptional Service and was the first recipient of Goddard�s Engineering Achievement Award established to publicly recognize Goddard�s highest achieving engineers. In 2005 he completed the requirements for his Doctor of Science in electrical engineering from The George Washington University. Recognizing the critical needs in education and a desire to seek new adventures, Paul applied and was accepted into the NASA Administrator�s Fellowship Program. As a NAFP fellow he returned to his home state to serve as a guest faculty at the Haskell Indian Nations University during the 2005 � 2006 academic year. Paul recently competed the second year of his fellowship working at NASA Headquarters as Special Assistant to the Deputy Assistant Administrator in the Office of Education. Paul is highly commited to serving the public through professional activities. Paul has served the IEEE in many capacities including secretary of the University of Kansas� IEEE student chapter, the Geoscience and Remote Sensing Socieity�s New Technology Directions Committee Representative, Chair of the Instrumentation and Future Technologies Committee, and Professional Activities Committee for Engineers Representative. He now serves as Editor-In-Chief for Earthzine.

Hurricane Katrina Damaged Forests Become Major Carbon Source

Originally Published by NASA Earth Observatory

Damaged forests in the Pearl River Basin along the Louisiana-Mississippi border Hurricane Katrina damaged 320 million large trees which has weakened the role the forests play in storing carbon and has led to these forests releasing large quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Posted on November 15th, 2007
Disasters, Ecosystems

Low-Guilt Potato Chips

Originally Published by NYT > Environment

Frito-Lay is redesigning a potato-chip factory with the aim to reduce the energy it consumes and waste it creates. The goal is to remove chip factory from the power grid and run it almost entirely on renewable fuels and recycled water.

Posted on November 15th, 2007
Economy, Would You Believe?

Six of Eight Bear Species Threatened With Extinction

Originally Published by New Scientist - Earth

Six of the eight bear species in the world   are threatened by extinction: Giant panda, Sun Bear, Asiatic Black Bear, Sloth Bear, Andean Bear and Polar Bear.

Posted on November 13th, 2007
Biodiversity

Earth Observations Used To Predict and Prevent Pandemic Outbreaks

Originally Published by Earth Today

The ability of infectious diseases to thrive depends on changes in the Earth’s environment such as the climate, precipitation and vegetation of an area. NASA scientists have used Earth observations to help predict and prevent infectious disease outbreaks around the world. Remote sensing technologies are used for predicting the outbreak of some of the most common and deadly infectious diseases today such as Ebola, West Nile virus and Rift Valley Fever.

Posted on November 12th, 2007
Earth Observation, Health, Technology

James Hansen: Earth’s Temperature Tracker

Originally Published by NASA Earth Observatory

This article profiles the career and research of James Hansen, Director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies and leading climate expert.

Posted on November 12th, 2007
People

Company Seeds Plankton Growth to Capture CO2

Originally Published by NYT > Environment

Environmental snake oil or an effective approach to blunt the growth in carbon dioxide? Companies seek to spread the growth of plankton blooms as a commercial venture into the global market for carbon offsets.

Posted on November 12th, 2007
Climate, Would You Believe?

Bush dealt first veto override on water resources bill

Originally Published by GovExec.com Top News

Legislation authorizes billions of dollars worth of Army Corps of Engineers water projects including $7 billion for Louisiana coastal restoration and hurricane protection and about $2 billion for the Florida Everglades.

Posted on November 11th, 2007
Politics

New Delhi Air Quality Is Worsening, Group Says

Originally Published by NYT > Environment

Air quality in New Delhi has deteriorated significantly in the past two years, exposing the capital’s residents to heightened risk of a range of respiratory diseases, a leading environmental research group warns.

Posted on November 11th, 2007
Health

Shrinking ice means Greenland is rising fast

Originally Published by New Scientist - Earth

Greenland’s landmass is rising up to 4 centimeters per year. The accelerated rate of its rise is attributed to its shrinking ice dome.

Posted on November 10th, 2007
Climate, Water

Scientists Warn That Species Extinction Could Reduce Productivity of Plants on Earth by Half

Originally Published by Earth Today

An international team of scientists has published a new analysis showing that as plant species around the world go extinct, natural habitats become less productive and contain fewer total plants — a situation that could ultimately compromise important benefits that humans get from nature.

Posted on November 10th, 2007
Biodiversity, Ecosystems