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.

11:00am CDT

Data Preservation in a Time of Uncertainty

Tuesday July 28, 2026 11:00am - 12:30pm CDT

RH 4.308

Collaborative Notes

The Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) at UT Austin supports large-scale compute and data storage across all areas of science, with the NSF-supported Leadership Class Computing Facility (LCCF) now coming online. NCAR approached TACC to implement a more effective disaster recovery approach than storing tapes in a fireproof vault, leading to a transfer of 15 PB of data over R&E networks beginning February 2026. This session details the preliminary design work, technological tradeoffs weighed, and how transfers of this scale can be accomplished and become commonplace. It will also discuss how TACC resources are available to the broader ESIP community.

Audience
Council of Data Facilities representatives; researchers or project leads working with significant data resources; representatives from high performance networking providers, NSF-sponsored computing centers, and universities with large-scale computing centers and data repositories

Speakers

Jennifer Schopf

Science Liaison, Leadership Class Computing Facility, University of Texas at Austin / TACC

Dr. Jennifer M. Schopf, Science Liaison for the LCCF, has been a member of the TACC leadership team since 2022. In her previous role at Indiana University, she built the team that ensured international data sharing was fast and effective for a broad range of major facility partnerships... Read More →

Thomas Cram

Software Engineer, NCAR

Doug Schuster

Interim Director, Computational and Information Systems Lab, NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research

Tuesday July 28, 2026 11:00am - 12:30pm CDT
RH 4.308

Data Stewardship, Governance, & Resilience

2:00pm CDT

Virtual Stores: Bridging Archival Formats with Cloud-Native Access (Part 1)

Tuesday July 28, 2026 2:00pm - 3:30pm CDT

RH 4.308

Collaborative Notes

Virtual store technology enables network-optimized access to archival file formats and is gaining traction at large data providers such as NASA. This two-part session focuses on knowledge sharing and community building for anyone adopting virtual store technology.

Part 1 will feature the following presentations on virtual store technology:

Tom Nicholas — Virtual Stores: From theory to production
Eli Holmes — NOAA ocean model use case + tooling for scientists
Hailiang Zhang – VirtualiZarr Evaluation and Deployment at GES DISC
Max Jones — Metadata considerations in building stores
Luis Lopez — Accessibility for end users via earthaccess
James Gallagher and Miguel Jimenez — Exploring chunk manifests in the Cloud Computing Cluster

We also hope you will join us for the Part 2 working session.

Audience: Data engineers, data-related program managers, cloud data users

Speakers

Aimee Barciauskas

Software Engineer, Development Seed

Owen Littlejohns

Transformation Train System Architect, NASA EED-3 / INNOVIM

Daniel Kaufman

TEMPO Lead Data Scientist, NASA ASDC / Booz Allen Hamilton

Chris Battisto

Max Jones

Cloud Engineer, Development Seed

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 →

Tuesday July 28, 2026 2:00pm - 3:30pm CDT
RH 4.308

Cloud-Native & Data Infrastructure

4:00pm CDT

Virtual Stores: Bridging Archival Formats with Cloud-Native Access (Part 2)

Tuesday July 28, 2026 4:00pm - 5:30pm CDT

RH 4.308

Collaborative Notes

Virtual stores enable network-optimized access to archival file formats and are gaining traction at large data providers such as NASA. The goal of this session is knowledge sharing and community building for anyone adopting virtual store technology.

Part 2 of the 2-part Virtual Stores session will be a working session. Groups will form around the following topics: agentic coding for the development of virtual stores (led by Rich Signell), ask me anything (AMA) with Max Jones and Tom Nicholas, and a discussion about how virtual stores fit into the data system for large data providers such as those present at ESIP (facilitated by Aimee Barciauskas). Space will also be given to walk-on topics.

Audience
Data engineers, data-related program managers, cloud data users

Speakers

Aimee Barciauskas

Software Engineer, Development Seed

Rich Signell

Principal, Open Science Computing, LLC

Tom Nicholas

Max Jones

Cloud Engineer, Development Seed

Tuesday July 28, 2026 4:00pm - 5:30pm CDT
RH 4.308

Cloud-Native & Data Infrastructure

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

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 →

Daniel Kaufman

TEMPO Lead Data Scientist, NASA ASDC / Booz Allen Hamilton

Justin Rice

NASA/ESDIS, NASA/ESDIS

Wednesday July 29, 2026 4:00pm - 5:30pm CDT
RH 4.308

Cloud-Native & Data Infrastructure

11:00am CDT

Inform NASA Earthdata Progression and Utility for Earth Science Data Users

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

RH 4.308

Collaborative Notes

This session provides an interactive environment to inform updates for the gateway to NASA's freely available and openly accessible Earth science data repository. Finding the right Earth science data can be overwhelming given the volume of tools and technologies available for accessing petabytes of data. The session is designed for feedback but is rooted in discovery — participants may also learn new ways to find, access, and visualize data through the interactive session. Participants are encouraged to explore earthdata.nasa.gov in advance. Responses from session participants will inform the work plan for near-future feature development and content curation of NASA Earthdata.

Audience
Data novices, Earth science researchers, app developers, interdisciplinary scientists

Speakers

Tim Frankstone

User Development Specialist, SSAI/NASA

Paul Przyborski

Development Lead, NASA GSFC/SSAI

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

Data Stewardship, Governance, & Resilience

2:15pm CDT

Unconference: Visioning Openscapes mentors/open science in ESDIS 3.0

Thursday July 30, 2026 2:15pm - 3:30pm CDT

RH 4.308

Collaborative Notes

Open unconference session — topics and format to be determined collaboratively by attendees on the day. All five rooms are available. Participants self-organize into groups around topics of shared interest and report back to the broader group.

Audience
All meeting attendees

Thursday July 30, 2026 2:15pm - 3:30pm CDT
RH 4.308

General

4:00pm CDT

ESDIS vs NESDIS

Thursday July 30, 2026 4:00pm - 5:30pm CDT

RH 4.308

Collaborative Notes

This session gives attendees an opportunity to learn more about two key earth observation programs in the US Federal Government: NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS) Project and NOAA's National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS). Join us to explore how both programs operate fleets of Earth-observing satellites—and how they differ in mission focus, platforms and instruments, and ways of finding and accessing data. We’ll also highlight how NASA and NOAA team up to deliver the data and information that help us understand the global environment. Expect a lively session: a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it quiz with prizes, a panel discussion, and plenty of agency and satellite-mission swag.

Presenters
NESDIS: Gian Villamil-Otero, Dean Carter
ESDIS: Chris Durachka

Panel Participants
NESDIS: Gian Villamil-Otero, Dean Carter, Evan McQuinn (Moderator)
ESDIS: Justin Rice, Sara Lubkin

Audience
ESIP members who use earth observation data from either or both agencies or anyone who is interested in learning more about these programs.

Speakers

Inger Kittle

Physical Scientist, NOAA/NESDIS

NESDIS Office of Common Services Product Implementation Branch - Data Management and Implementation Lead - Supporting science algorithm development and migration through cloud services.

Angela Brown

Data Management Specialist, NESDIS OCS/Cloud Management Branch

Christopher Durachka

Thursday July 30, 2026 4:00pm - 5:30pm CDT
RH 4.308

Cloud-Native & Data Infrastructure

9:00am CDT

FAIR Sailing: Mapping Oceanographic Data from Ship to Shore

Friday July 31, 2026 9:00am - 10:30am CDT

RH 4.308

Collaborative Notes

This workshop-style session explores the question: how easy or possible is it to locate all of the data from a single research cruise? And can we digitally recreate the cruise as a footprint of the data collected? The session begins with an introduction and lightning presentations, then moves into a working session, and closes with lessons learned and next steps. Research cruises are expensive opportunities for scientists to deploy multiple instruments from multiple funding sources. Due to the heterogeneity of oceanographic sampling equipment — from sediment cores to water collection to sensor-based observations — the session will attempt to bridge the divide between technologies and guide the marine data community on how to better facilitate discoverability and interoperability of these valuable data resources.

Audience
Coders, data managers interested in practical interoperability of marine data

Speakers

Mathew Biddle

Physical Scientist, NOAA/IOOS

Matt works as a physical scientist in the Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) office, improving access to data and information by working on data management and ensuring the products put out by IOOS are easily accessible to the public.