2026 July ESIP Meeting: Full Schedule

We are a home for Earth science data and computing professionals. Our sessions bring together the community for hands-on, interdisciplinary deep dives as we explore "Bridging Divides: Data, Technology, Community" this year. Learn more about this theme on the ESIP Meetings page.

Session and plenary recordings will be published on the ESIP YouTube Channel.

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8:30am CDT

Build an MCP Server for AWS Open Data Using Vibe Coding with Kiro (Part 1)

Wednesday July 29, 2026 8:30am - 10:00am CDT

RH 4.308

Collaborative Notes

In this hands-on workshop, participants learn how to build a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that can access the Registry of Open Data, using Vibe Coding with Kiro — with no manual coding required. Part 1 introduces MCP servers and the Registry of Open Data, demonstrates how conversations with Kiro become working code using vibe coding, and begins building tools to search and discover imagery and data. The workshop leverages features of the Registry of Open Data including searching by mission and by tags and fetching imagery. Part 2 (following session slot) continues building with a capstone project created and deployed entirely by Kiro.

Audience
Data scientists, developers, data analysts, technical managers

Speakers

Chris Stoner

AWS Open Environmental and Geospatial Data Lead, Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Wednesday July 29, 2026 8:30am - 10:00am CDT
RH 4.308

AI & Intelligent Systems

11:00am CDT

Build an MCP Server for AWS Open Data Using Vibe Coding with Kiro (Part 2)

Wednesday July 29, 2026 11:00am - 12:30pm CDT

RH 4.308

Collaborative Notes

Continuation of the hands-on MCP server workshop. Part 2 deepens the work begun in Part 1, expanding the MCP server's capabilities to search and discover imagery and data from the Registry of Open Data. Participants continue using Vibe Coding with Kiro to build tools (like STAC) that allow searching and discovering data without writing any code. The session concludes with a capstone project created and deployed entirely by Kiro. No manual coding required. Participants are encouraged to check out the Registry of Open Data in advance: https://registry.opendata.aws/

Stay for the entire session to receive 500 Kiro credits!

Audience
Data scientists, developers, data analysts, technical managers

Speakers

Chris Stoner

AWS Open Environmental and Geospatial Data Lead, Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Wednesday July 29, 2026 11:00am - 12:30pm CDT
RH 4.308

AI & Intelligent Systems

2:00pm CDT

Bridging Divides and Getting to Yes

Wednesday July 29, 2026 2:00pm - 3:30pm CDT

RH 4.308

Collaborative Notes

Good ideas do not become reality on their own. Bridging divides often requires bringing together different perspectives, aligning priorities, and overcoming what can feel like intractable inertia. Through personal stories and practical lessons, speakers will reflect on the often unseen work of building support, creating momentum, and getting from "maybe" to "yes."

Audience
Participants across all career stages and areas of expertise

Speakers

Julia Lowndes

Director, Openscapes

Dr. Julia Stewart Lowndes is Openscapes founding director and co-leads NASA Openscapes and NOAA Fisheries Openscapes projects. I am a marine ecologist working at the intersection of actionable science, data science, and open science. My main focus is mentoring teams to develop technical... Read More →

Eli Holmes

NMFS Open Science lead, NOAA Fisheries

I have been involved in training in statistics and ocean data computing for most of my career. I am currently lead of NMFS Open Science and in this role, I facilitate and run trainings in computing, data access and statistics for NOAA Fisheries. I am co-lead of the Inter-agency... Read More →

Mike Liddel

NOAA Assistant Chief Data Officer for Fisheries, NOAA/NMFS

Michele Thornton

Geospatial Professional, ORNL

https://www.ornl.gov/staff-profile/michele-m-thornton

Erin Robinson

CEO, Metadata Game Changers LLC

Erin works at the intersection of community informatics, Earth science and non-profit management. Over the last 10+ years, she has honed an eclectic skill set both technical and managerial, creating communities and programs with lasting impact around science, data, and technology... Read More →

Wednesday July 29, 2026 2:00pm - 3:30pm CDT
RH 4.308

Community, Education, & Capacity Building

4:00pm CDT

earthaccess: Five Years of Open Source Science Leadership at NASA

Wednesday July 29, 2026 4:00pm - 5:30pm CDT

RH 4.308

Collaborative Notes

earthaccess is a powerful model for open-source tool sustainability and user-driven development: widely used not only because it solves real user problems, but because it has been intentionally developed openly and amplified via storytelling. This session shares several short stories and includes an open mic: what earthaccess is and its current impact; how the community works via hackdays (ESIP FUNding Friday followup!); open governance (JOSS publication, move to earthaccess-dev); current focus on virtualizing and AI-preparation; untold enabling stories; and an open mic for attendees to share their own earthaccess experiences and contributions.

Audience
Anyone who wants to become part of the earthaccess story, get involved as contributors (users are contributors!), or learn about the python library and open science infrastructure

Speakers

Julia Lowndes

Director, Openscapes

Luis Lopez

Research Software Engineer, NSIDC

Luis Lopez is a Research Software Engineer at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) in Boulder, Colorado. He is a passionate advocate of open science and has contributed to open source projects such as Apache Nutch, PyLDAVis, earthaccess and virtualizarr.

Amy Steiker

DAAC Tools and Services Manager, National Snow and Ice Data Center

Ian Carroll

Associate Research Scientist, NASA/GSFC, UMBC

Dr. Ian Carroll is an Associate Research Scientist at the University of Maryland Baltimore County working at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center on phytoplankton community ecology and data science. Phytoplankton are a diverse collection of photosynthetic organisms, found in all water... Read More →