People
Our group brings together researchers working across geospatial data science, climate adaptation, urban analytics, conservation, and participatory environmental decision-making.
Principal Investigator
Derek Van Berkel, PhD
Derek is a geographer and geospatial data scientist whose research examines climate adaptation and migration, urban and landscape change, participatory mapping, conservation, and environmental decision-making. He is Principal Investigator of GLISA, CLARS, and CHIRRP/PUMP-COR.
Research interests: geospatial data science · climate adaptation · GeoAI · participatory GIS · landscape change · conservation
In 2026, he is a North America Visiting Fellow at the University of Helsinki, hosted by Prof. Enrico Di Minin.
Postdoctoral researchers
Md Didarul Islam
Research: GeoAI, remote sensing, spatial machine learning, and environmental applications.
Lisa Maillard
Research: actionable climate knowledge, engaged research, climate adaptation, and the scaling of decision support.
Graduate researchers
Xiaohao Yang
Research: GeoAI, computer vision, street-level imagery, urban analytics, and landscape perception.
Jiayuan Jiang
Research: geospatial applications, web development, and data infrastructure for participatory decision-support tools.
Myel Zuberi
Research: data science and computational research.
Research staff & collaborators
Nilay Gautam
Research: machine learning, computational environmental research, and PIVOT.
Recent PhD graduates
David Grace, PhD
Doctoral research on how values, beliefs, religion, and institutions shape sustainability outcomes and forest decision-making.
Devin Gill, PhD
Doctoral research on actionable climate knowledge, equity, co-production, and the scaling of community engagement in climate adaptation.
Alumni
