Christoph Aubrecht

Christoph Aubrecht manages the European Space Agency’s new Global Development Assistance (GDA) program after having served as ESA Representative and Senior Advisor at the World Bank HQ in Washington DC between 2016-2020. GDA is part of the ‘Space in support of International Development Assistance’ (Space for IDA) initiative, jointly implemented with WB and ADB. Chris also currently serves on the GEF and GPSDD Technical Advisory Groups.

Chris has lived and worked on 3 continents and gained experience across academia, public and private as well as intergovernmental institutions including World Bank, GFDRR, NOAA, Astrium, and the Austrian Institute of Technology. He has guest lectured on dynamic spatial modeling and Earth Observation for Sustainable Development at universities in Europe, North America, and Asia, incl. an appointment as visiting professor at University of Vienna. Chris holds a PhD in integrated GI science and remote sensing from Vienna University of Technology, a prior Master’s degree in geography and GI science from the University of Vienna, and certificates in executive leadership and management development from Harvard University.