Sahba El-Shawa

• Space Epistemology and Ethics
• Earth Observation for Environmental and Societal Applications
• AI and Emerging Technologies for Climate and Sustainability
• Space Policy and Governance

Bio
Sahba El-Shawa is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Advanced Computing team of the Institute for Earth Observation at Eurac Research. 

Sahba holds a BASc in Mechanical Engineering from the University of British Columbia, an MSc in Space Studies from the International Space University, and a PhD in Sustainable Development and Climate Change from IUSS Pavia. Her doctoral research explored how experiential and intellectual knowledge derived from space, including EO data, can contribute to sustainability on Earth. It integrated systems engineering with ethical and epistemological frameworks, examining how emerging technologies like VR and AI can enhance accessibility to space-derived knowledge and inform environmental governance and policy. Her work emphasizes the importance of bridging technical expertise with social and environmental responsibility, promoting epistemic justice and equitable decision-making.

Alongside her academic work, Sahba has hands-on technical experience from her roles as a systems AIT engineer at ISISPACE and as a verification engineer at Intel. During her studies, she has also worked with the European Space Agency (ESA) and German Aerospace Centre (DLR) in various capacities. Her undergraduate research included two collaborations with DLR focusing on human-robot interaction and aerospace manufacturing automation. As a systems engineering trainee at the ESA Clean Space initiative during her master's, she focused on assessing the environmental impacts of space activities, and as a visiting researcher at the ESA Φ-lab during her PhD, she developed AI-based EO frameworks for environmental monitoring and ecoregion delineation in the Eastern Mediterranean region of the Middle East.

Beyond research, Sahba is the Founding Director of the Jordan Space Research Initiative (JSRI), which bridges space exploration with sustainability through technology transfer frameworks and local capacity-building, as well as the Palestine Space Institute (PSI), a think tank and advocacy platform dedicated to reimagining space exploration as a tool for peace, sustainability, and decolonial futures, focusing on demilitarization and ethical governance in space policy.

Her work has been recognized with multiple awards, including the International Astronautical Federation’s Emerging Space Leaders Award. Sahba is deeply committed to research that creates real impact, using technical innovation to support social and environmental justice, advance policy, and promote inclusive global cooperation.

Links

Personal Website: www.sahba.space

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/selshawa/