LouisianaView

Registration Announcements!

27th Annual Disaster Response Workshop + Geospatial Data Mining Training
June 4-5, 2026

In-person registration closes today, June 1, at 5:00 PM.

Virtual registration closes at 7:00 AM on Thursday, June 4.

Registration - https://arcg.is/0SyTHS1

For more information, contact Rodney Yantis ([email protected]) or Courtney Poirier Chicola
([email protected]).

Register today!

You Come To Learn, Engage, and Eat with Rodney Yantis and Courtney Poirier Chicola Rodney Yantis and Courtney Poirier Chicola from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette return to talk about a disheartening lack of raptors, the origin of the GEOSERVICE workshop series, rising water and its effects in south Louisiana, NASA Aerokats, the various geospatial technologies activities....

New Tech Alert for Rising Waters 2027!

The Regional Application Center at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette is thrilled to bring NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s updated (Science and Technology Education for Land / Life Assessment) 1.2 instrument to next year's Rising Waters Workshop, returning in Summer 2027!

🔍 What is STELLA?
STELLA is a real, hands-on NASA environmental sensing tool built for students, educators, and citizen scientists. The new STELLA‑1.2 measures light in the same way NASA’s Earth‑observing satellites do — giving learners a direct connection between field measurements and observations from space.

😀 What students will experience
Middle & high school participants will use STELLA to:
- Collect real environmental data
- Learn how NASA scientists use remote sensing
- Learn about urban heat islands
- Explore challenges like flooding, drought, land cover change, and plant health
- Understand how Earth science supports resilience here in Louisiana

The RAC team also uses STELLA year‑round for STEM outreach, helping spark curiosity and grow the next generation of scientists and problem‑solvers.

👉 Learn more about STELLA 1.2:
https://science.gsfc.nasa.gov/stella/instruments/stella-1-2/

Want to support this free workshop?

We’re seeking sponsors to help empower the next wave of STEM leaders.
Visit our sponsorship link - https://rac.louisiana.edu/about-us/support-rac

Contact:
📧 Rodney Yantis — [email protected]
📧 Courtney Poirier Chicola — [email protected]



*Disclaimer* The high‐precision, high‐accuracy instruments in the NASA Earth Observing missions cannot be duplicated with inexpensive, off‐the‐shelf components.

Wishing you a wonderful holiday season from the Regional Application Center at UL Lafayette and LouisianaView!

New Publication Alert
🌎Urban Heat Island Disparities: A Geospatial Analysis of Household Income and Land Surface Temperatures in Lafayette, Louisiana.
Journal of Earth Observations and Geospatial Applications
🔎Joseph Kolb, Rodney B. Yantis, and Courtney A. Poirier Chicola
View article - https://journals.westga.edu/index.php/jeoga/article/view/10

Call for Abstracts! Student poster competition at

2026 Student Presentation Competition - Gulf South Region The American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) Gulf South Region will hold its 5th annual Geospatial Conference from April 8–10, 2026 at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, Louisiana. One of the objectives of the Gulf South Region is to advance knowledge in imaging and geos...

The RAC is proud to announce that Dr. Courtney Poirier Chicola and students Billy Poirier and Bree Landry are the recipients of the fourth round of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette Sustainable Development Research Awards, now transitioning to the Louisiana Impact Awards.

The awards are hosted by Dr. Brian Bolton, of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette Graduate School, and the Division of Research, Innovation, and Economic Development.

This round of competition recognizes the work of 11 faculty members and 25 graduate students, as well as several undergraduate students and postdoctoral scholars, for innovative projects spanning disciplines from engineering and computer science to communicative disorders and English.

Dr. Courtney Poirier Chicola – Postdoctoral Researcher, NASA Regional Application Center and Department of Chemistry
🌍 Discovering the Early-Time Photodegradation Mechanisms of Emerging Contaminants in Marine Ecosystems

Billy Poirier, Water Resources & Environmental Engineering major.
🌍 STELLA and Beyond: Replicating NASA Satellite & Sensor Technologies

Bree Landry – Undergraduate Student in Environmental Science, Digital Geography and Researcher with the NASA Regional Application Center
🌎 Tracking Troubled Waters: Community-Based Field Research with the AREN AquaROVER
🌎Roaming with the TerraROVER: Exploring Areas that Can Be Difficult to Access

Faculty Advisors: Rodney Yantis & Dr. Courtney Poirier Chicola

Photo credit: UL Lafayette Graduate School

📢 Big News on Value of Geological Mapping! A recent report from AGI & AASG shows U.S. geological mapping is paying off big time 💰🗺️ — delivering up to 35x return on investment!
From safer roads to smarter energy, these maps are essential for building, planning, and protecting our future 🌍🏗️💡.

Geological maps = smart science + strong economy!

📊 Read the full report 👉 https://profession.americangeosciences.org/reports/geological-mapping-economics

Twenty Years After Katrina, GIS Continues to Support Hurricane Preparedness and Response via Esri.

Read the article - https://www.esri.com/en-us/industries/blog/articles/gis-twenty-years-after-hurricane-katrina

Twenty Years After Katrina, GIS Continues to Support Hurricane Preparedness and Response Twenty Years After Katrina, GIS Continues to Support Hurricane Preparedness and Response Explore how GIS has evolved to support disaster preparedness and response since Hurricane Katrina made landfall 20 years ago.