UMD- Department of Geographical Sciences-Students & Alumni

This summer, high school students in UMD’s Terp Young Scholars program explored remote sensing, satellite imagery and geographical science through GEOG 172: Earth From Space, with Associate Research Professor Evan Andrew Ellicott.

Students used real satellite data to track wildfire smoke before it reached the D.C. region, examine tornado damage, identify wildfire hotspots and investigate how landscapes change over time.

Read what the students had to say about the class, what surprised them and how it’s shaping the way they think about their futures.

And learn more about Terp Young Scholars w/ Extended Studies - University of Maryland

High School Students Saw the Wildfire Smoke Coming From a UMD Classroom High School Students Saw the Wildfire Smoke Coming From a UMD Classroom Breadcrumb Home Featured Content High School Students Saw The Wildfire Smoke Coming From a UMD Classroom A GEOG summer course is teaching them to read satellite imagery, while exploring how geospatial science connects to their i...

Did you attend last week?

You may have seen GEOG PhD students Atreyi Guin, Adebowale Daniel Adebayo & Sumi Lee, volunteering with the conference's publicity team, Zhen Liu and Monojit Saha , presenting research, among others 🤩

From AI and satellite imagery to climate resilience and environmental sustainability, 12 high school students from across the region spent six weeks conducting real-world research through our Geographical Sciences’ High School Internship Program (HIP).

Their projects explored:

🛰️ Cloud segmentation with machine learning
🌳 Detecting new tree plantings
🏗️ Data center site selection
☁️ Cloud height estimation
🌊 Chesapeake Bay storm surge risk
🔥 Wildfire-related transmission line exposure
🚚 Miami-Dade supply chain flood risks
🗺️ Cultural risk on Majuli Island

A huge thank you to all the students, mentors, faculty and research staff who made this internship program possible! 👏

High School Interns Tackle Real-World Challenges Through AI, Remote Sensing and Geospatial Research High School Interns Tackle Real-World Challenges Through AI, Remote Sensing and Geospatial Research Breadcrumb Home Featured Content High School Interns Tackle Real-World Challenges Through AI, Remote Sensing and Geospatial Research The summer program gave high school students the opportunity to con...

Can warmer temperatures and drought affect tropical forests in very different ways? 🌳

A study in Nature led by Assistant Professor Matheus Henrique Nunes finds that local conditions shape how forests respond to climate change across the Amazon, Congo Basin & Southeast Asia.

Learn more:

UMD Study: Climate Has Unequal Impacts on Different Tropical Forests UMD Study: Climate Has Unequal Impacts on Different Tropical Forests Breadcrumb Home Featured Content UMD Study: Climate Has Unequal Impacts On Different Tropical Forests Geographical sciences researchers show warmer temperatures and drought have worse impacts on some areas than others. A new study....

What if making a rare species harder to obtain makes it more desirable?

A new study by UMD-Criminology's Greg Midgette and GEOG Professor Meredith Gore finds that scarcity can drive demand in some illegal wildlife markets, potentially making conventional strategies like trade bans counterproductive.

Published in PNAS, the study introduces a framework for understanding how different wildlife markets operate—and why conservation strategies should be tailored to each market.

Read more:

Study Challenges One-Size-Fits-All Policies for Illegal Wildlife Trade Study Challenges One-Size-Fits-All Policies for Illegal Wildlife Trade Breadcrumb Home Featured Content Study Challenges One-Size-Fits-All Policies For Illegal Wildlife Trade GEOG Professor Meredith Gore co-authors paper showing how scarcity drives demand for rare species and why dominant policy res...

Don't miss this hybrid seminar next Wed, Aug. 12!

USP - Universidade de São Paulo Prof Matheus Pinheiro Ferreira will talk about forest monitoring & applied remote sensing projects in Brazil.

Details: https://geog.umd.edu/event/seminar-deep-learning-based-fusion-optical-and-sar-imagery-canopy-height-mapping-brazil

What happens when a protected forest ends at its legal boundary? 🌳

New research published in shows that while Indigenous Lands in the Brazilian Amazon remain highly effective at preventing deforestation, the forests surrounding them face growing pressure from illegal land occupation and resource exploitation.

The international study, co-authored by Assistant Research Professors André Lima and Matheus Henrique Nunes, found that deforestation in the 200-kilometer zone surrounding the Vale do Javari Indigenous Land was 187.5 times higher than inside the protected territory in 2022.

The findings reinforce decades of evidence that Indigenous Lands are among the world's most effective conservation strategies. But they also highlight the need for stronger legal protections beyond territorial boundaries.

The researchers propose establishing buffer zones around Indigenous territories to help reduce external pressures, conserve biodiversity, protect Indigenous communities and preserve the Amazon's critical role in regulating the global climate.

Read more about the study:

New Study Calls for Legal Protection Around Indigenous Lands to Safeguard the Amazon New Study Calls for Legal Protection Around Indigenous Lands to Safeguard the Amazon Breadcrumb Home Featured Content New Study Calls For Legal Protection Around Indigenous Lands To Safeguard The Amazon Research shows that Indigenous Lands remain highly effective at protecting forests, but surroundi...

🌲 Forests haven’t stopped growing, but satellites may be missing part of the story.

New research from the Department of Geographical Sciences and the found a blind spot in how we monitor one of Earth’s most important carbon sinks.

Published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, the study shows that mature forests across the United States continue accumulating carbon long after widely used satellite observations suggest their growth has slowed.

Led by Assistant Research Professor Lei Ma, the research team combined airborne lidar measurements, U.S. Forest Service forest inventory data, and NASA’s Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) observations to uncover continued increases in forest structure and biomass.

The findings show that some satellite-based estimates may underestimate the strength of forests as a carbon sink — not because forests have stopped storing carbon, but because current observations can miss changes in mature forests.

“Once forests reach canopy closure, the satellite signals become much less responsive even though trees continue accumulating biomass and storing carbon,” Ma said.

The study highlights the importance of integrating multiple sources of data to better understand how forests are changing and how much carbon they continue to remove from the atmosphere.

Read the full article:

UMD Study: Satellites Overlook Widespread Carbon Accumulation in Mature Forests UMD Study: Satellites Overlook Widespread Carbon Accumulation in Mature Forests Breadcrumb Home Featured Content UMD Study: Satellites Overlook Widespread Carbon Accumulation In Mature Forests New research identifies a blind spot in satellite observations that systematically underestimates continued...

Research co-led by postdoctoral researcher Amelia Holcomb is helping improve how countries measure and report carbon stored in tropical forests.

The international collaboration synthesized data from 146 tropical forest studies, creating a comprehensive database that strengthens greenhouse gas reporting while highlighting the value of protecting degraded forests.

The findings show that degraded forests can recover carbon much faster than forests regrowing after complete clearing, underscoring their importance for climate mitigation. 🌎🌿

Learn more: https://go.umd.edu/2ctv

New Database Improves Carbon Accounting for Tropical Forests New Database Improves Carbon Accounting for Tropical Forests Breadcrumb Home Featured Content New Database Improves Carbon Accounting For Tropical Forests Postdoctoral researcher Amelia Holcomb co-led a 41-researcher collaboration that synthesized data from 146 tropical forest studies. A new interna...

Our MS program was excited to be part of the 2026 Esri User Conference in San Diego!

Senior Faculty Specialist Erin Jacobs represented the program at the Esri Academic Fair, connecting with prospective students, alumni and members of the hashtag community.

It was also a wonderful opportunity to catch up with current students Peter Seabrook and Allen Yuan, welcome incoming student Charles Arnold, and reconnect with alumni.

Thank you to everyone who stopped by to say hello 🌎🐢

📸 Erin Jacobs, Peter Seabrook, Allen Yuan and Jun Yang (alum)
📸 Charles Arnold, Erin and Peter
📸 Erin and Allen
📸 Jun and Erin (Peter in the background)

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