RSCA in Five: Faculty Short Talks on Climate Science and Adaptations

Extreme weather events, intensified by climate change, underscore the need for adaptation strategies. From resilient infrastructure to community preparedness plans, adapting to these events is critical to minimizing social, economic, and environmental impacts. Join 菠菜网lol正规平台 faculty as they discuss climate science, adaptation activities, and general challenges.

When: Friday, December 1, 2023, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Where: Student Union 2A and B
Format: In-person event — lunch will be served

Register for the event on our RSVP form.

View the live stream on Vimeo.

菠菜网lol正规平台 welcomes the following faculty who will be presenting their research.

Yuqi HeYuqi He

Engineering and Data Services Librarian, University Library

Talk Title: How Information Worlds Shape Our Response to Climate Change: A Nationwide Survey in a Divided America

Interests: Information literacy, information behaviors, user experience, aging and technology

Yuqi He earned her PhD in Information Studies from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 2019. Her master's in library and information science is from the University of Pittsburgh. Before joining 菠菜网lol正规平台, she held the position of an adjunct instructor for computer science and library science courses at UW-Madison for three years. Additionally, she served as a librarian assistant at the Information School Library on that campus for five years. Furthermore, she contributed her skills as a data analyst for a tech start-up in Mountain View, CA. Her research pursuits encompass areas such as information literacy and information behaviors.

Education

  • PhD in Information Studies, University of Wisconson–Madison
  • MLIS, University of Pittsburgh

Ross ClarkRoss Clark

Director of Central Coast Wetlands Group, Moss Landing Marine Labs

Talk Title: Coastal climate resiliency planning and evaluation of project efficacy

Ross Clark is the Director of CCWG, a Coastal Ecologist with 25 years of experience in coastal ecosystem restoration and resilience to climate change impacts from sea level rise and coastal adaptation research and planning. Ross has led the drafting of 4 municipal coastal climate vulnerability and adaptation planning efforts and designed and implemented a coastal sand dune resiliency project in Monterey County. 

Education

  • Master of Marine Ecology, Moss Landing Marine Labs

Recent Publications

  • Dawson, J., Orescanin, M. M., Clark, R., O'Connor, K. (2023). Spatiotemporal variability of dissolved oxygen in response to morphological state in a central California coast bar-built estuary. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science. 
  • Clark, R. and O’Connor, K. (2019).  A systematic survey of bar-built estuaries along the California coast. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science.
  • Lower Salinas Valley Managed Retreat Strategy (2023)
  • Earth Matters, Santa Cruz Sentinel monthly article 2012-2022
  • Moro Cojo Slough Restoration and Enhancement Plan Status Review (2022)
  • Salinas River State Beach Dune Restoration and Management Plan (2021)
  • City of Santa Cruz Beaches - Urban Climate Adaptation Policy Implication & Response Strategy Evaluation Technical Report (2020)

Bo YangBo Yang

Assistant Professor of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Department of Urban and Regional Planning, College of Social Sciences

Talk Title: Remote Sensing for Prescribed Fire and Home Ignition Research

Dr. Bo Yang is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Urban & Regional Planning, Associate Director of 菠菜网lol正规平台 Spatial Analytics and Visualization Institute (SAVi) and Faculty of Wildfire Interdisciplinary Research Center (WIRC). Dr. Yang's interdisciplinary educational background in mathematics and programming facilitate his research focus on cutting-edge technologies in GIS and remote sensing, including machine learning and AI in GIS, UAV remote sensing, coastal seagrass monitoring, wildfire mapping, and urban data science. He has published about 40 papers in peer-reviewed journals. Yang’s research has been widely funded by NSF, NASA, and USDOT.

Education

  • Ph.D. in Geography, University of Cincinnati

Recent Publications

  • Yang et al. (2023). Low-Altitude UAV Imaging Accurately Quantifies Eelgrass Wasting Disease from Alaska to California. Geophysical Research Letters. DOI: 10.1029/2022GL101985
  • Yang et al. (2021). Spatio-temporal Cokriging method for blending and downscaling multi-scale remote sensing data. Remote Sensing of Environment. 112190. DOI: 10.1016/j.rse.2020.112190
  • Yang et al. (2020). Developing an Introductory UAV/Drone Mapping Training Program for Seagrass Monitoring and Research. Drones, 4, 70.  DOI: 10.3390/drones4040070

Ali MehranAli Mehran

Assistant Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Charles W. Davidson College of Engineering

Talk Title: Dynamics of Socioeconomic Droughts in Regulated Basins

Ali Mehran is an assistant professor at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the College of Engineering and Director of the Autonomous Remote Sensing and Surveying (ARAS) research lab/club. Ali's educational background is in civil engineering, water resources management, hydrology and his research is focused in climate change, socioeconomic drought, environmental remote sensing and machine learning methods to detect water quality parameters.

Education

  • PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Irvine

Recent Publications

  • Dehkordi, A., Zoej, M., Mehran, A. (2023). Improved Water Chlorophyll-A Retrieval Method Based On Mixture Density Networks Using In-Situ Hyperspectral Remote Sensing Data. IGARSS 2023-2023 IEEE. DOI: 10.1109/IGARSS52108.2023.10283009
  • AghaKouchak, A., Huning, L., ..., Mehran, A. (2023). Toward impact-based monitoring of drought and its cascading hazards. Nature Reviews Earth and Environment. DOI: 10.1038/s43017-023-00457-2

Weile WangWeile Wang

Research Scientist, NASA Ames Research Center, Earth Science Division, Biospheric Science Branch

Talk Title: Resolving Diurnal Cycles of Vegetation Processes with NASA Hyperteomporal Global Geostationary Products

Dr. Weile Wang is a research scientist at NASA Ames Research Center since 2006. His research interests include remote sensing, ecosystem modeling, and climate change. His current research focuses on developing Earth observation products from global geostationary satellites, developing data products and algorithms for the future hyperspectral SBG mission, and developing multi-sensor (GEO-LEO-Hyperspectral) data fusion algorithms and modeling tools. He has been a member of the NASA Earth Exchange team since the project was founded in 2008/2009.

Education

  • Ph.D. in Geophysics, Boston University

Recent Publications

  • Wang et al. (2023). Ames Global Hyperspectral Synthetic Dataset: Surface Bidirectional Distribution Function. JGR-Biogeosciences.
  • Wang, W., et al. (2022). A novel atmospheric correction algorithm exploiting the diurnal variability of geostationary observations. Remote Sensing.
  • Wang et al. (2020). An introduction to the Geostationary-NASA Earth Exchange (GeoNEX) Products: 1. Top-of-Atmosphere Reflectance and Brightness Temperature. Remote Sensing.

Juan Torres-PerezJuan L. Torres-Perez

NASA Ames Research Center, Earth Science Division

Talk Title: OCEANOS: A Science Activation initiative to engage Hispanic/Latinos in STEM

Dr. Torres-Perez is a civil servant with the NASA Ames Research Center Earth Science Division. He has a background in bio-optical oceanography and has studied anthropogenic effects on shallow tropical coastal marine ecosystems (coral reefs, seagrass beds) for more than two decades. He is one of NASA’s Advanced Remote Sensing Training Program (ARSET) trainers and was the NASA DEVELOP Science Advisor at Ames for the past nine years. He is currently the PI of two NASA-funded projects: OCEANOS (Ocean Community Engagement and Awareness with NASA Observations and Science for Hispanic/Latino Students) and Water2Coasts (Watersheds, Water Quality and Coastal Communities in Puerto Rico.

Education

  • PhD in Biological Oceanography, University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez

Recent Publications

  • Torres-Perez et al. (2021). River Streamflow, Remotely Sensed Water Quality, and Benthic Composition of Previously Undescribed Nearshore Coral Reefs in Northern Puerto Rico. Frontiers in Marine Science, 8. DOI: 10.3389/fmars.2021.720712