Dr. Charles Ichoku is the Assistant Chief, Climate & Radiation Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland. He attended the University of Nigeria Enugu Campus (UNEC), earning both a Bachelor of Science degree in Surveying, Geodesy & Photogrammetry (1982) and a Master of Science degree in Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (1987). He then earned both a Master of Philosophy in Remote Sensing (1989) and a PhD in Earth Sciences (1993) at the Université Pierre & Marie Curie (UPMC), Paris, France.

His research portfolio includes the quantitative evaluation and utilization of satellite retrievals of land-surface and atmospheric products, particularly fires and aerosols, for important environmental research and applications. He led the team that conducted an independent pre-launch evaluation of the MODIS fire detection algorithm that has been delivering spectacular fire products to the world, and has since proceeded to lead the development of cutting-edge smoke emission products from satellite measurements of fire radiative power (FRP). However, his activities over the years have included developing and applying both experimental and remote sensing approaches to research in various branches of the earth sciences, including geology and geodynamics, hydrology, and atmospheric studies. He has won several NASA individual and group achievement awards, and has published more than 60 papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals.