WASHINGTON – On Wednesday, Dec. 12, NASA’s Deputy Administrator Shana Dale will join NASA researchers to brief reporters about the agency’s Earth sciences activities in Central America and their benefits to the region. The briefing will begin at 10:30 a.m. CST at the Intercontinental Hotel in Guatemala City. Reporters should contact the U.S. embassy at 011-502-2326-4483 for more information.

While in Guatemala, Dale will visit the Mayan archaeological sites in Peten. NASA’s remote sensing data were used to locate and interpret the remains of the ancient Mayan civilization.

On Thursday in Panama City, Dale will visit the facility for Mesoamerican Regional Visualization and Monitoring System, known by its Spanish acronym SERVIR. SERVIR has supported responses to fires in Guatemala, floods in Panama, red tides and an erupting volcano in El Salvador and hurricanes in Belize, Honduras and Nicaragua.

For complete biographical information about Dale, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/dale_bio.html

For more information about Mayan archaeological research, visit:

http://weather.msfc.nasa.gov/archeology/peten.html

For more information about SERVIR, visit:

http://servir.nsstc.nasa.gov/

For more information about NASA and agency programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov