Francis Kudjoe is a postgraduate of the University of Bremen. He was the first Ghanaian to complete the professional Space Studies Program of 2016 (SSP16) of the International Space University (ISU). He finished his Masters by research in Environmental Physics with a major in Satellite Remote Sensing. At ISU his speciality was Space Applications. He holds MPhil in Physics from the University of Cape Coast. He has a Postgraduate Diploma in Education, with a major in Science Education. He is often fascinated by events in the galaxies and space, and curious to know the reasons behind major space events and their impact on Earth. His passion for Astronomy drove him to complete a basic course in Radio Astronomy in 2019 under the auspices of Development in Africa with Radio Astronomy, (DARA) programme with a scholarship from the Newton’s Fund and the Science and Technology Facilities Council in the UK and the National Research Fund in South Africa. He is a member of the National Astronomy, Space Science and Technology Outreach Team of Ghana Space Science and Technology Institute (2018-Date). He is deeply involved in space science and radio astronomy outreach in schools, on radio and on television. His participation in DARA is inspired by the fact that Astronomy research requires cutting-edge technology and methods and come with skills that are transferable to other areas. He has acquired advanced skills in some programming languages for big data analysis to enhance his computational and analytical skills in his research career in Earth, Atmospheric and Space Sciences. He has a very keen interest in environmental pollution, land degradation and water pollution issues. His suggestion to adopt satellite remote sensing technologies and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to track environmental degradation activities (such as illegal mining) has been published in Ghana’s national newspaper, the Daily Graphic with the title: Using remote sensing to track ‘galamsey’ (illegal mining), a smart solution to a complex problem (Daily Graphic, 20359, 26th April 2017, pp10). The national Daily Graphic publication about an interview with him earned a national award-winning story on small scale mining in 2018. He was recently appointed as a member of the Independent Expert Council of the International Academy of Space Law. He is a member of the Ghana Institute of Physics, Ghana Science Association, Ghana Association Science Teachers, Network for Astronomy School Education (NASE) , American Geophysical Union, Friends of NASA, The Young Earth System Scientists (YESS) Community, European Geosciences Union (ID No.361765) and a scholar of the Heinlein Prize Trust (HPT). He is an Assistant Research Fellow at the Earth Observation Research and Innovation Centre (EORIC) of the University of Energy and Natural Resources. Prior to his appointment at EORIC, he was teaching undergraduate Physics, Satellite Remote Sensing, Meteorology and Atmospheric Physics courses and assisting research activities within the department of Physics from levels 100 to 400 (labs and course work). He has expertise in science communication. His hobbies are reading, football and public speaking.
Areas of Interest
Atmospheric Passive Satellite Remote Sensing, Space Studies and Space Applications, Environmental and Atmospheric Physics, Meteorology, Climate Science and Climate Dynamics, Atmospheric Sciences and Atmospheric Pollution, Space science, Space weather, Space Big Data and High-Performance Computing, Climate Physics, Radiation Physics, Astronomy, Astrophysics, Space Law and Space Policy and Science Education