Ph.D. Student Xin Dong Receives Summer Research Fellowship to Advance Malaria Research

PhD student Xin Dong has been awarded UMD Graduate School’s Summer Research Fellowship 2026, supporting a key phase of her geospatial health dissertation on infectious disease modeling, including malaria.

Congrats, Xin 👏👏👏
go.umd.edu/2aci

Maryland Day @ DC Climate Week · Luma The University of Maryland is hosting several events on Tuesday, April 21st during DC Climate Week. Events are happening across campus, but most are…

🌎 The University of Maryland is joining DC Climate Week on April 21 with a full day of events—including this seminar by Assoc Res Prof Adrián Pascual representing GEOG.

🛰 “Satellite Embeddings to Support Conservation”
🕒 3–3:45 p.m.
📍 Stamp Student Union, Jimenez Room ⤵️

luma.com/4x8wq5zc

Full path traversal Dinas Emrys to Dinorwig YouTube video by Terrain_Man

Seabrook's project: youtu.be/u1pHEYpFo_0?...

MSGIS Student Peter Seabrook Nominated for Esri Innovation Program Award

🎉 Congrats to MSGIS student Peter Seabrook, named UMD Esri Innovation Program Student of the Year!

His project, “The Temporal Twin,” uses ArcGIS Pro, Unity + ArcGIS Maps SDK for Unity to create a 3D environment where GIS data informs both space & time.

Check out the project: go.umd.edu/2a3i

Five hexagons, each with a different image: large pools with equipment to handle waste, an aerial view of green land, an energy powerplant, several cows on a green field, and a large bucket pouring heated metal into a mold. The text, "Greenhouse Gas Inventory and Analysis for the United States 1990-2024" is in the top left corner.

Robust GHG data are central for making good policy at national, subnational, and international levels. @ctrglobsust.bsky.social's new annual GHG inventory and analysis for the United States provides needed clarity on emissions tracking. Learn more at: ghgi.cgs.umd.edu

Regional Workshop Empowers Nine African Nations With AI-Driven Crop Yield Forecasting

🌍🛰️Training led by Assist Prof Catherine Nakalembe in Nairobi is helping national teams across 9 African countries turn Earth observation data into real-time food security insights.

go.umd.edu/2a21

Proud🤩 to share an article published on @science.org by Jérôme M. W. Gippet, first author and postdoc at the Bacher lab @unifrbiology.bsky.social, in collaboration with @yalesph.bsky.social, @uidaho.bsky.social and @umdgeography.bsky.social

Associate Professor Taylor Oshan, Doctoral Student Honored at AAG Annual Meeting

At #AAG2026: Associate Professor Taylor Oshan earned national recognition for advancing spatial analysis, and PhD student Victor Irekponor took top honors.

This is the second straight year one of Oshan's students has won first place in the paper competition✨

geog.umd.edu/featured-con...

Graphic promoting the Artificial Intelligence Interdisciplinary Institute at Maryland's AIM Research & Learning Symposium on Tuesday, May 5, 2026 in Stamp Student Union

Join us for the AIM Research & Learning Symposium on Tuesday, May 5! The symposium will feature talks by world-renowned #AI leaders, poster sessions and collaborative networking.

Register to attend ➡️ go.umd.edu/symposium-26

Seminar: John Armston, "Looking Ahead to NASA's Earth Dynamics Geodetic Explorer (EDGE)" Join us at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 16 in River Road Room 325 for the seminar "Looking Ahead to NASA's Earth Dynamics Geodetic Explorer (EDGE)" with Associate Professor John Armston. The three-dim...

🗓️ Join us April 16, 3:30 pm, River Road Room 325 for “Looking Ahead to NASA’s Earth Dynamics Geodetic Explorer (EDGE)” with Assoc Prof John Armston.

Learn how next-gen lidar will transform how we measure forests, ice and Earth’s changing ecosystems 🌍

go.umd.edu/29y2

Study: Wildlife Trade Raises Risk of Disease Spread to Humans Professor Meredith Gore Helps Find That Traded Mammals Are More Likely to Share Pathogens With Humans

What did four decades of wildlife trade data reveal? 🦠🐾

A study coauthored by Prof Meredith Gore w/ @fbm-unil.bsky.social found traded wild mammals are significantly more likely to share pathogens with humans in @science.org.

Learn more: geog.umd.edu/featured-con...

Wildlife trade drives animal-to-human pathogen transmission over 40 years The wildlife trade affects a quarter of terrestrial vertebrates and creates opportunities for cross-species pathogen transmission, but its precise role in shaping animal-human pathogen exchange remains unclear. In our analysis of 40 years of global ...

Published in @science.org in collaboration with @unifrbiology.bsky.social @yalesph.bsky.social
@uidaho.bsky.social @umdgeography.bsky.social

Read also the original article 🔗 doi.org/10.1126/scie...

🎉 2 PhD students earn dissertation fellowship 🎓

Jiaxun Sun + Zhili Li have received the Ann G. Wylie Dissertation Fellowship, which provides funding, tuition support & dedicated time to complete high-impact research in energy policy + geospatial AI.

go.umd.edu/29so

Ph.D. Student Student Receives American Geographical Society Fellowship

👏Ph.D. student Monojit Saha has received an AGS Council Fellowship from the American Geographical Society, supporting his research on improving satellite observations of Arctic coastal sea ice.
geog.umd.edu/featured-con...

Complications Lurk Behind Surging Interest in Biofuels, Land-Use Expert Says

#ICYMI Associate Research Professor Louise Chini spoke with Maryland Today about tracking switchgrass, a biofuel crop that’s replacing food fields.

Her fieldwork shows how energy crops may help fuel the world while affecting farmland 🌾 go.umd.edu/29on

Seminar: Weston Anderson, "Climate Science for Sustainable Food Systems" Join us at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 9 in River Room 325 for the seminar "Climate Science for Sustainable Food Systems" with Assistant Research Professor Weston Anderson.

🗓 Join us for “Climate Science for Sustainable Food Systems” with Asst Research Prof Weston Anderson.

How can climate science support more resilient food systems in the face of growing extremes and data gaps?

👉Apr 9, 3:30 PM | River Room 325 & Zoom
🔗 go.umd.edu/29m8

NASA-Funded Project Adds AI Expertise to Improve Disease Forecasting

GEOG Chair/Prof Tatiana Loboda is leading a NASA-backed effort to forecast malaria & dengue in Indonesia.

With AI partner IMACS on board, the project aims to deliver high-res outbreak predictions to help local health authorities act faster. 🌍🦟

go.umd.edu/29ht

Get ahead with Geospatial Intelligence!

Join us for a virtual session about our Master of Science and Graduate Certificate in GEOINT

📅 Wednesday, April 22
🕛 12 PM EDT

Register now: umd.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

The banner image for the March 2026 GEOG Newsletter, featuring the brick and pillared facade of Samuel J. LeFrak Hall at the University of Maryland through a screen of budding yellow spring blossoms.

🌸 Happy Spring! 🌸

Our latest GEOG newsletter is here 📩
Catch all the exciting updates, stories and highlights from our department!

👉 Read & subscribe: conta.cc/3PZSQyh

Seminar: Tatiana Loboda, "Earth-Observations-Driven Malaria and Dengue Early Warning System ..." Join us Thursday, April 2 at 3:30 p.m. in River Road 325 for the seminar "Earth-Observations-Driven Malaria and Dengue Early Warning System for ClimateSmart Indonesia" with GEOG Chair and Professor Ta...

🗓️ Join us Thursday, April 2 at 3:30 p.m. in River Rd 325 for a seminar w/ GEOG Chair Tatiana Loboda: “Earth-Observations-Driven Malaria & Dengue Early Warning System for ClimateSmart Indonesia”

Learn how climate + data are shaping disease forecasting and response: geog.umd.edu/event/semina...

New High-Resolution Maps Reveal Greater Details of Crop Fields Across the U.S.

🔎Zoom in on U.S. crops: New 10-meter maps show crop fields in stunning detail, helping scientists track yields, spot trends, and boost food security.

Via UMD's GLAD team and publicly available 🌽🌱
go.umd.edu/2989

Assistant Professor Danghan Xie’s Path to Coastal Resilience

✨New Faculty spotlight: Assistant Professor Danghan Xie path to UMD started in Putian, China, where frequent typhoons shut down daily life.

Now, he uses geospatial science, remote sensing + modeling to better understand coastal hazards & help prepare for rising water 🌊

go.umd.edu/295s

Information Session: Master of Science in GIS and Graduate Certificate in GIS or Remote Sensing Position yourself for success! Join us for a virtual info session about our Master of Science in GIS, Graduate Certificate in GIS, and Graduate Certificate in Remote Sensing.

🛰️ Position yourself for success in geospatial? 🌎

Join our virtual info session on the MS in GIS, GIS Certificate and Remote Sensing Certificate. Learn about spatial analysis, programming, remote sensing and more.

📅 April 15
🕛 12 PM EDT

RSVP: geog.umd.edu/event/inform...

High School Students Discover How Forests Are Measured From Space

How are forests measured from space?🌲🚀

Students at Eleanor Roosevelt High School learned from the Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI), who shared insights about #GEDImission + demonstrated lidar with a live 3D scan of the auditorium ⤵️

🔗 geog.umd.edu/featured-con...

New NASA DART Mission Data Reveals that Asteroids Throw ‘Cosmic Snowballs’ at Each Other | College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences | University of Maryland Astronomers found evidence that rocks continuously travel between Didymos and its smaller moon Dimorphos, reshap

Astronomy's Jessica Sunshine and Tony Farnham discovered surprising asteroid behavior after analyzing NASA's #DARTMission data ☄️

The team found fan-shaped streaks on the asteroid moon Dimorphos' surface—the first visual evidence of rocks and dust naturally traveling between asteroids. 🔭

Seminar: "Mapping Infrastructure and Its Interactions with the Environment in the Arctic" Join us at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 5, for a special seminar with Vera Kuklina, Indigenous scholar, Arctic and cold regions expert.

🗓️ Join us at 3:30 p.m. this Thursday, March 5, for a hybrid seminar with Vera Kuklina, Indigenous scholar, Arctic and cold regions expert.
Details: geog.umd.edu/event/semina...

Global Land Programme Celebrates 20 Years with New Look, Opportunities

📰 The latest @globallandprog.bsky.social newsletter is packed full of news! Read about the new website glp.earth, new interactive member space (GLP Hub) and new logo!
geog.umd.edu/featured-con...

Creating Communities to Help Interdisciplinary Scientists Thrive - Eos Solving complex challenges often requires diverse expertise, but skepticism remains within traditional academic institutions and mindsets regarding interdisciplinary science and scientists.

For interdisciplinary scientists lacking a home, one path forward is building a new community of researchers with shared interests, say Laura Vang Rasmussen, @rachgarr.bsky.social, @sofiananni.bsky.social, @nramankutty.bsky.social, & Ariane de Bremond @glp-earth.bsky.social. eos.org/opinions/cre...

📌Two weeks until Giving Day!

Join us in standing with GEOG. Together, we fuel student success, hands-on learning and research that makes a difference locally and globally.

Stay tuned for ways to give. Join us. Stand with GEOG.

#UMDGivingDay

GEOG Seminar: "NASA Data Science Group and Foundation Models for Science" Join us at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 19 in River Road 325 or via Zoom for this seminar with Mark Carroll, research scientist and Data Science Group lead at NASA GSFC.

🗓️ Join us at 3:30 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 19, in River Road 325 or via Zoom for a seminar with Mark Carroll, research scientist and Data Science Group lead at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

More info: geog.umd.edu/event/geog-s...