Geospatial Forum

Lecture

Speaker: Dr. Matt Dannenberg, Associate Professor, School of Earth, Environment, and Sustainability, University of Iowa

Hosted by: Dr. Chris Jones, Senior Research Staff and Faculty Fellow, Center for Geospatial Analytics, NC State

Summary: Drylands make up ~40% of Earth’s land surface and are home to >2 billion people and numerous rare and endemic organisms. Their large size and dependence on intermittent water availability also make drylands important regulators of the global carbon cycle, but monitoring dryland ecosystem function with remote sensing poses many challenges not encountered in more humid regions. In this talk, Matt discusses the potential for multi-source and multi-resolution remote sensing of dryland primary production (carbon fixation through photosynthesis) and evapotranspiration, ranging from near-surface sensors at individual sites to global-scale satellite-based approaches.

About the speaker: Dr. Matt Dannenberg is a global change ecologist specializing in responses of forests and drylands to climate variability and change, especially to human-caused changes in the water cycle. He received both his M.A. and Ph.D. in Geography just a short drive down I-40 (UNC Chapel Hill) and then did his postdoctoral research at the University of Arizona, where he discovered his love for drylands. He’s been a professor at the University of Iowa since 2019. In Matt’s free time, he enjoys building things, playing disc golf and Magic: The Gathering, reading sci-fi/fantasy novels, and listening to death metal.

Lecture

Speaker: Mr. Jason J. Roberts, Associate in Research, Marine Geospatial Ecology Lab, Duke University

Hosted by: Dr. DelWayne Bohnenstiehl, Professor in the Department of Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, and CGA Faculty Fellow

Summary: Species distribution models increasingly drive regulatory and policy decisions for the ocean by providing data needed to balance ecological and economic priorities. This trend will only accelerate as additional satellites and drones come online, providing new modes of remote sensing and ever-expanding coverage. In this talk, Jason will discuss his career transition from a software engineer focused on operating system development to a marine ecologist who specializes in modeling spatial distributions of marine megafauna. Jason will describe what he does, what he’s learned on this journey so far, and how he thinks the field will continue to develop.

About the speaker: Originally a software engineer with a passion for scuba diving and other marine hobbies, Jason left Microsoft in 2003 to pursue a full time career in marine research and conservation. At the Duke Marine Geospatial Ecology Lab since 2006, Jason splits his time between writing software tools and conducting scientific research. Jason’s interests include facilitating progress in marine ecology and conservation by developing, applying, and helping others apply advanced software tools, statistical methods, and modeling approaches. Currently, Jason spends most of his time developing species distribution models for the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale and other marine mammals that inhabit the western North Atlantic.

Lecture POSTPONED due to the federal government shutdown

Speaker: Dr. Christa Brelsford, Research Scientist, Los Alamos National Laboratory

Hosted by: Dr. Mollie Gaines, Postdoctoral Research Scholar, FER

Summary: How do we measure connectivity in urban environments? How much heterogeneity in urban environments is to be expected? To what extent is the built environment shaped by socioeconomic processes, and vice versa? In this talk, Dr. Brelsford will present research exploring the causes, consequences, and determinants of the urban built environment and urban heterogeneity. She will describe a handful of methods useful for quantifying urban heterogeneity, present an example of a multi-objective optimization framework for describing risk along hydrologic, economic, and social dimensions, and then demonstrate an approach for quantifying trade-offs between different objectives when designing observation networks of the system.

About the speaker: Christa Brelsford is a Research Scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Previously, she was the Liane Russell Fellow at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Santa Fe Institute. She obtained her Ph.D. from the School of Sustainability at Arizona State University in 2014 for research on the determinants of residential water demand. Brelsford’s core research focus is on developing empirical methods to understand interactions between human and physical systems, especially in urban contexts.

Lecture

Speaker: Dr. Jacelyn Rice-Boayue, Assistant Professor, NC State’s Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, and CGA Faculty Fellow

Introduction by: Dr. Georgina Sanchez, CGA’s Director of Research Engagement

Summary: Municipal wastewater discharges are an increasingly important resource amid climate-driven water stress, but also a significant source of contaminants that threaten ecosystems and public health. This talk presents geospatial frameworks for watershed-scale surveillance of emerging contaminants, with a focus on down-the-drain pesticides and antibiotics. In California, a Pesticide Vulnerability Index integrating hydrology, climate, and pollution sources identified elevated pesticide risks overlapping endangered species habitats. In parallel, a National Antibiotic Pollution Vulnerability Index was developed to assess antibiotic pollution and resistance risks nationwide. Together, these frameworks support targeted monitoring and inform policy to protect ecosystems from wastewater-derived contaminants.

About the speaker: Dr. Jacelyn Rice-Boayue is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering at North Carolina State University. Previously, she was a Fulbright Scholar at the International Institute of Water and Environmental Engineering in Burkina Faso and a postdoctoral research fellow at Duke University’s Center for the Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology. Dr. Rice-Boayue earned her Ph.D. in Civil, Sustainable, and Environmental Engineering from Arizona State University. Her research group focuses on advancing sustainable water resource management by integrating modeling, laboratory, and field studies, as well as social science approaches. Her work examines water quality, focusing on anthropogenic drivers of emerging contaminants in urban water systems, providing insights to guide effective management strategies.

Lecture

Speaker: Dr. Enbal Shacham, Professor and Associate Dean for Research at the College for Public Health and Social Justice at Saint Louis University

Hosted by: NC State’s Geospatial Graduate Student Organization

Summary: Geospatial science has transformed our understanding of how people navigate their communities, making it easier to analyze movement patterns and opening new avenues for improving public health practices. Dr. Shacham’s research identifies and addresses the inequities rooted in place, recognizing that where we are born often shapes the opportunities available to us. In this talk, she discusses how her work aims to create more equitable neighborhoods that foster healthier outcomes for all.

About the speaker: Dr. Enbal Shacham is a professor and Associate Dean for Research at the College for Public Health and Social Justice at Saint Louis University. She has been intersecting health and geospatial research throughout her career. Her research has explored social and physical environmental factors and their impact on infectious and chronic diseases with the goal of leveraging technological advancements and data to improve health equity. The research she conducts is committed to growing insightful methods to better understand and provide real-time data, analyses, and interventions for improving health equity across communities both domestically and internationally. She also serves on the U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Foundation Board of Directors, the St. Louis City Board of Health and Hospitals, and the Ashrei Foundation Board of Directors.

Symposium: Virtual with posters viewable online 2pm Dec 10 until 2pm Dec 11.

The MGIST Digital Symposium is an opportunity for our graduating professional master’s students to present their Capstone projects to the geospatial community at NC State and beyond. This includes student peers, alumni, faculty and staff from across the university, and our community and industry partners.

This semester’s symposium will be completely virtual with student posters viewable online from 2pm Dec 10 until 2pm Dec 11. Check back here for a link to view student posters when they become available.