NASA Honors Research Professor Louis Giglio With Prestigious Public Leadership Medal

Recognized for Decades of Leadership in Wildfire Monitoring and Satellite-Based Fire Detection

NASA has announced this year’s recipients of its Honor Awards, recognizing exceptional contributions across the agency. Among them is Louis Giglio, a research professor at the Department of Geographical Sciences, who has received the Outstanding Public Leadership Medal.

This medal honors nongovernment individuals for sustained, high-impact leadership that significantly advances NASA’s mission and image. Recipients are recognized for delivering meaningful results, modeling NASA’s core values, fostering collaboration and influencing lasting change.

Giglio was celebrated for his leadership in global-scale wildfire monitoring and burned area mapping and for serving as a role model to the next generation of wildfire scientists.

“Louis’ contribution to satellite-based observations of fire cannot be exaggerated,” said GEOG Professor and Chair Tatiana Loboda. “Since the launch of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) in 1999, Louis Giglio's name has been synonymous with global fire monitoring. For the past quarter century, the entire world has been relying on the datasets Louis has been delivering to support fire monitoring, suppression and fire science in general.”

Building on his work with MODIS, Giglio played a key role in advancing fire monitoring capabilities for the Suomi NPP and NOAA VIIRS missions. He also developed fire detection algorithms for older sensors that pre-date MODIS and later ASTER, which helped validate the global MODIS product. His contributions have earned him international recognition, including leadership roles in the CEOS Land Product Validation Fire Focus Group and the GOFC–GOLD Fire Implementation Team. More recently, he has supported the development of fire monitoring products for Europe’s Sentinel-3 satellite and has contributed to planning for Canada’s upcoming WildFireSat mission.

In addition to his technical achievements, Giglio has demonstrated sustained leadership in satellite-based fire detection and has served as a mentor to early-career scientists. His work has helped shape the current landscape of wildfire monitoring and laid the groundwork for future innovations in fire monitoring that will continue to protect lives and ecosystems for generations to come, wrote Jenny Hewson and Diane Davies of NASA’s Land, Atmosphere Near real-time Capability for EOS (LANCE) in his nomination.

"I truly appreciate this great honor,” Giglio said. “The announcement came as a complete surprise, and I am immensely grateful to NASA and to my colleagues who took the time to nominate me."

Image: Louis Giglio presents at a conference. Credit: Luigi Boschetti.

Published on Mon, 06/09/2025 - 13:43