Chelle Gentemann

Biography

Chelle Gentemann, PhD, is a Senior Program Executive at ICSI on Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) assignment to NASA as the Open Science Program Scientist in the Office of the Chief Science Data Officer since 2022. She also is a member of NOAA’s Science Advisory Board (SAB). 

Her research focuses on data production and analysis to understand and monitor changes in our weather and climate. She uses cutting-edge technologies to bring sweeping changes to how we approach science, specifically working to increase data accessibility and participation in science.  For 30 years, she has worked on passive microwave satellite missions, both domestically and internationally, from launch through decommission, leading research on open science, cloud computing, and remote sensing. 

Dr. Gentemann has led a series of groundbreaking initiatives in the field of open science and space research. In 2023, she helped create NASA’s Year of Open Science and co-chaired the OSTP Subcommittee on Open Science Sub-Working Group, working with the White House and 16 federal agencies. As lead scientist for NASA’s $40 million Transform to Open Science (TOPS) project in 2022, she co-authored NASA’s Open Science 101 curriculum. She also served as principal investigator for NASA’s Butterfly satellite mission proposal, which received top marks, and ensured the science section was made publicly available. She also co-created one of NASA’s first cloud-optimized public datasets, testified before the House Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics, and co-authored the Best Practices for a Future Open Code Policy for NASA Space Studies.

Dr. Gentemann earned a BS in Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences from MIT, an MS in Physical Oceanography from UCSD Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and a PhD in Meteorology and Physical Oceanography from the University of Miami.

Publications

Selected Honors & Awards

• AGU’s Open Science Prize (2025)
• AGU’s Falkenberg Award (2013)
• Named one of 15 Leading Women in Machine Learning for Earth Observation by the Radiant Earth Foundation (2021)

Selected Leadership Activities

• Co-Chair, White House Office for Science, Technology, and Policy National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Subgroup on Engagement, within the Subcommittee on Open Science
• Current Board Member, NOAA Science Advisory Board, Strategic Research Guidance Memorandum (SRGM) 2026 Tiger Team, SAB liaison for Climate Working Group (2021- )
• Current Committee Member, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Intelligence Science and Technology Experts Group (ISTEG) (2015- )
• Co-Chair, White House Office for Science, Technology, and Policy National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Subgroup on Year of Open Science, within the Subcommittee on Open Science (2022-2023)
• Steering Committee, NASA Open-Source Science for the Earth System Observatory Mission Data Processing Study (2021-2023)
• Committee Member (2012-2020) and Co-Chair (2018-2020), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Standing Committee on Earth Science & Applications from Space (CESAS)
• Co-Chair, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Committee on Best Practices for a Future Open Code Policy for NASA Space Studies report (2017-2018)
• Committee Member, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Committee on a Framework for Analyzing the Needs for Continuity of NASA-Sustained Remote Sensing Observations of the Earth from Space report (2013-2015)
• Associate Editor, American Geophysical Union Earth and Space Science (2020-2024)
• Science Team, US Clivar Working Group: Uncertainty Quantification (2020-2022)
• Steering Council, Pangeo (2020-2022)
• Science Team and Advisory Council Member (2001-2022) and Chair (2016-2017), Advisory Council Group for high resolution SST (GHRSST) Science Team
• Member (2013-2018) and Chair (2018-2020), NOAA Science Advisory Board (SAB): Data Access and Archiving Requirements Working Group (DAARWG)
• Committee Member (2014-2019) and Chair (2016-2019), AGU Falkenberg Award Committee
• Team member, NASA PO.DAAC Early Cloud Adopters Program (2019-2022)
• Science Team, JAXA AMSR3 (2019-2022)
• Chair, NASA GHRC User Working Group (2014-2015)
• Team Member (2006-2013) and Chair (2011-2013), NASA PO.DAAC User Working Group
• Science Team, JAXA GCOM-W AMSR2 Science Team (2009-2016)
• Science Team, NASA Sea Surface Temperature Science Team (2010-2020)
• Member, MIT Educational Council (1998-2020)
• Team Member, NASA Satellite Ocean Atlas Team (1998-2001)

Areas of Expertise

• Robotics, Autonomous Systems, and Control
• AI for Climate Change, Energy, and Environmental Sustainability
• GeoAI and Spatial Data Science Applications
• Remote Sensing, Satellite Imaging, and Earth Observation
• Algorithms, Complexity Theory, and Computability
• Big Data Analytics, Pipelines, and Infrastructure
• Technology Policy, Standards, and Global Governance
• Open Data, FAIR Data Principles, and Research Transparency
• Open-Source Software, Tools, and Collaborative Platforms
• Reproducibility, Replicability, and Benchmarking in Research
• Open Access Publishing, Preprints, and Knowledge Repositories
• Collaborative Platforms, Citizen Science, and Crowdsourcing
• Open Licensing, Governance, and Sustainability of Projects
• Interoperability, Standards, and Data Sharing Frameworks

ICSI Activity