Umesh Haritashya from the University of Dayton joins us to talk about trying to major in zoology and ending up in geology instead, then trying to get into petroleum and ending up in remote sensing instead, ASTER data evaluation and the Global Land Ice Measurement from Space project, glacier datasets that paved the way for modern geospatial studies of the cryosphere, research in Nepal, the long trek to Lake Imja, the advantages of learning through field work, studying changes to glaciers in relation to climate, the impact of glaciers on freshwater resources, the effects of melting glaciers, using DEMs and field measurements for measuring glacial changes, scenario modeling of lake outburst floods, machine learning applications, and much more. Show notes and photos are available at: https://americaview.substack.com

Morgan Crowley from the Great Lakes Forestry Centre joins us to talk about growing up with maps and aerial images, Russ Congalton’s mentorship of Morgan at the University of New Hampshire, Ladies of Landsat, WildFireSat, fire monitoring, Canadian wildfires, Morgan’s co-editing a book on Google Earth Engine, deep learning models, trusting data, using remote sensing data for fire management and monitoring, science outreach, knowledge exchange, and much more. Show notes and photos are available at: https://americaview.substack.com

Ramesh Sivanpillai from the University of Wyoming joins us to talk about his taking a mandatory remote sensing class for his physics degree, remote sensing data access, how Wyoming and Kazakhstan look striking similar, the 25th anniversary of WyomingView, training the future workforce, students connecting satellite imagery to what’s on the ground, Congressional outreach, Ramesh’s time on the AmericaView Board of Directors, Ramesh’s work with disaster management as Project Manager for the International Charter, student involvement with disaster activations, and much more. Show notes and photos are available at: https://americaview.substack.com

Anita Simic-Milas from Bowling Green State University joins us to talk about her encounter with GIS and Unix in her very last course as an undergraduate student, GRASS GIS software, developing net primary productivity maps, Anita’s time working at the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing (CCRS), groundwater modeling with remote sensing, the development of SPLIT, the SPLIT summer programs and field data collection, OhioView, students learning from their peers, remote sensing connecting science and art, and much more. Show notes and photos are available at: https://americaview.substack.com

John McGee from Virginia Tech University returns to talk about the state of the union about drones today, the advantages to data collection with drones as “data on demand,” the lack of cost-effective drone options for basic entry-level mapping drones, the importance of sensors in data collection, the drone cage at Virginia Tech, teacher trainings for drones and Part 107, data-driven decisions, multi-platform sensors, agricultural applications of remote sensing, real-time management with data collection, drone delivery of packages and people, and much more. Show notes and photos are available at: https://americaview.substack.com/.

Sarah Slack from Intermediate School (IS) 223 in Brooklyn, NY joins us to talk about termite flatulence, joining the New York City Teaching Fellows program, teaching science, changes to Earth’s climate, Sarah’s traveling to Antarctica with PolarTREC, being on an icebreaker at the onset of the Covid pandemic, GIS class on a boat while going through Drake Passage, Sarah’s experience as an Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow, examining urban heat island effects, the Landsat Explorer app, the Climate Education Leadership Team, building pathways for students to enter the earth sciences as a career path, student engagement with collecting temperature and analyzing urban heat data, science as a way of thinking rather than just facts, applications of online remote sensing and GIS apps in the classroom, the Geospatial Semester at JMU, and much more. Show notes and photos are available at: https://americaview.substack.com

Joseph Ortiz from Kent State University returns to talk about remote sensing of Mars, Joseph’s work with his collaborators on a National Geographic funded project at Vaal Dam in South Africa, water quantity issues in a semi-arid environment, a time when the region came within five days of running out of water, a water level drop of one to two stories, microcystis, water quality issues, renewable energy sources, boat problems at night with a lack of fuel and a shoal, measuring different types of algae with a multichannel fluorometer, Joseph working with students from Wits University, open source software for hyperspectral imagery analysis of South Africa, Whitebox tools for lidar analysis, MultiSpec, analyzing harmful algal blooms, the red edge bands from Sentinel, and much more. Show notes and photos are available at: https://americaview.substack.com/.

Caiyun Zhang from Florida Atlantic University joins us to talk about a competitive college test, being randomly placed into the Ocean University of China to study Geology, being introduced to GIS and aerial photography in graduate school, hyperspectral lidar, Caiyun’s love of all things Florida, the birth of FloridaView, Alaskan permafrost assessment and studies, wetland mapping in the Everglades, working with the National Park Service at Canaveral National Seashore for assessing damage from hurricanes, community mapping for flood estimation, and much more. Show notes and photos are available at: https://americaview.substack.com