We are thrilled to announce that Ph.D. candidate Jesse Kisembe, under the supervision of Dr. Berry Wen, has been selected for funding through NASA’s Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology (FINESST) program.
The FINESST program is one of the most competitive early-career research opportunities in the geosciences. It supports graduate student–led research projects that advance the science, technology, and exploration goals of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate.
Jesse’s proposal, titled “Delineating and Characterizing Dry Spell Events in the Horn of Africa,” was one of only 54 proposals selected from 539 submissions to the Earth Science Division under the ROSES-2024 Research Announcement. The award includes $100,000 in total funding and is expected to begin on January 1, 2026.
This funding will support Jesse’s doctoral research, which tackles one of the most urgent challenges in climate science and food security: understanding how dry spell events are evolving in a warming world. In the Horn of Africa—where millions rely on rain-fed agriculture—increasingly frequent and intense dry spells threaten livelihoods, food systems, and regional stability.
We congratulate Jesse on this remarkable achievement and look forward to the impact of his research as part of NASA’s Earth Science Early Career Research team.