Defense Presentation Title: Facilitating Civic Engagement in Rapidly Urbanizing Regions through Geospatial Participatory Modeling Co-Advisors: Dr. Helena Mitasova, Associate Director of Earth and Environmental Sciences Applications, Center for Geospatial Analytics; Dr. Ross Meentemeyer, Director, Center for Geospatial Analytics Abstract: Rapid urbanization and the increasing frequency of extreme precipitation events are leading to communities vulnerable to flooding and…

Defense Presentation Title: Linking Forests and Freshwater across the Southern Appalachian Forest Landscape Advisor: Dr. Katherine Martin, faculty fellow and assistant professor in the Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources Abstract: Forests act as natural water towers, provisioning freshwater downstream to support aquatic biodiversity and supply drinking water, agriculture and energy. Understanding how climate change…

Defense Presentation Title:The Role of Bridgehead Effects on the Global Spatiotemporal Spread of Invasive Insects Advisor: Dr. Ross Meentemeyer, Ph.D. Graduate Program Director and Director, Center for Geospatial Analytics

Defense Presentation Title: The Geography of Participation: A Geospatial Analysis of Socio-spatial Gaps in US Participatory Science Advisor: Dr. Caren Cooper, faculty fellow and professor in the Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources Abstract: Popular participatory science projects generate big data that advances scientific research, informs natural resource management and policy, and produces outcomes benefiting participants. Hundreds of…

Defense Presentation Title: Advancing Climate-Resilient Agriculture and Disaster Management: Applications of Remote Sensing and Machine Learning in Data-Scarce Bangladesh Advisor: Dr. Mirela Tulbure, faculty fellow and professor in the Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources Abstract: Timely, accurate, and high-resolution flood maps are essential for estimating the impact of flooding on agriculture and infrastructure. In Bangladesh,…

Defense Presentation Title:Interacting effects of disturbance, management, and climate drive landscape-scale change across contrasting temperate forest types in the 21st century Advisor: Dr. Robert Scheller, faculty fellow and Associate Dean for Research in the College of Natural Resources Abstract: Long-term resilience and function of temperate forests in the United States will be challenged by novel climate futures…

Defense Presentation Title: Dancing with Data: Geospatial Analytics for Tracing Innovation in Urban Dance Culture Advisors: Dr. Aaron Hipp, faculty fellow and professor in the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management and Dr. Laura Tateosian, faculty fellow and associate teaching professor in the Center for Geospatial Analytics Abstract: Culturally innovative dance forms convey identity…

Presentation Title: Quantifying the Ephemeral: Tracking Wetland Inundation from Space to Understand Methane Dynamics Advisor: Dr. Josh Gray, faculty fellow and associate professor in the Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources Abstract: Small-scale, ephemeral inundation events drive substantial variability in wetland methane emissions. However, existing satellite products often lack the spatial and temporal resolution needed to…

Defense Presentation Title: Policy, Place, and Practice: Mapping Data into Decisions for Environmental Investment Advisor: Dr. Bethany Cutts, faculty fellow and associate professor in the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management Abstract: Data gives us the power to understand environmental challenges and the decisions we make to address them. Yet gaps and misalignments between how…

Defense Presentation Title: What’s all this then?: Managing Piedmont forests for balanced ecosystem service delivery Advisor: Dr. Robert Scheller, faculty fellow and associate dean for research in the College of Natural Resources Abstract: Ecosystem services are the goods and services that nature provides to society and the wider ecosystem. Tradeoffs are inherent in any ecosystem, but attempts…

Title: Geospatial distribution and dynamics of swine diseases in the United States Advisors: Dr. Gustavo Machado, faculty fellow and associate professor in the Department of Population Health and Pathobiology & Dr. Chris Jones, faculty fellow and senior research scholar in the Center for Geospatial Analytics Abstract: This defense examines how geospatial modeling contributes to understanding…