Faculty
Jonathan Greenberg
Dr. Greenberg's research centers on addressing questions of the impacts of climate change and land use/land cover change on vegetated ecosystems using remote sensing data. My research ranges across scales from individual plants to the globe, across many terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and utilizes state-of-the-art remote sensing imagery including hyperspectral, hyperspatial, multi-temporal, thermal, and LiDAR data.
Dr. Greenberg's research centers on addressing questions of the impacts of climate change and land use/land cover change on vegetated ecosystems using remote sensing data. My research ranges across scales from individual plants to the globe, across many terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and utilizes state-of-the-art remote sensing imagery including hyperspectral, hyperspatial, multi-temporal, thermal, and LiDAR data.
Postdoctoral scholars
Nikki Inglis
Dr. Nikki C. Inglis is a geospatial data scientist based in Truckee, CA. She earned an M.S. in Applied Marine and Watershed Science from California State University, Monterey Bay in 2018 and a Ph.D. in Geospatial Analytics at North Carolina State University in 2021, where she built data visualization apps and studied the relationship between visual amenities and land change in social-ecological mountain systems. Her research interests include spatially explicit land change models (from fire behavior to urban growth), data visualization and storytelling, LiDAR-based wildfire fuels analysis, and remote sensing.
Dr. Nikki C. Inglis is a geospatial data scientist based in Truckee, CA. She earned an M.S. in Applied Marine and Watershed Science from California State University, Monterey Bay in 2018 and a Ph.D. in Geospatial Analytics at North Carolina State University in 2021, where she built data visualization apps and studied the relationship between visual amenities and land change in social-ecological mountain systems. Her research interests include spatially explicit land change models (from fire behavior to urban growth), data visualization and storytelling, LiDAR-based wildfire fuels analysis, and remote sensing.
Graduate Students
Taylor Brown
Taylor Brown is a Ph.D. student in the Natural Resources and Environmental Science program at the University of Nevada, Reno. She received a B.S. in Biology and a minor in Geographic Information Systems at Eastern Connecticut State University. Taylor is interested in using spatial modeling to predict the impacts of global change on vulnerable ecosystems. She is working on the California Air Resources Board (CARB) project to produce a simplified quantification methodology tool for calculating forest health based on fuel reduction activities.
Taylor Brown is a Ph.D. student in the Natural Resources and Environmental Science program at the University of Nevada, Reno. She received a B.S. in Biology and a minor in Geographic Information Systems at Eastern Connecticut State University. Taylor is interested in using spatial modeling to predict the impacts of global change on vulnerable ecosystems. She is working on the California Air Resources Board (CARB) project to produce a simplified quantification methodology tool for calculating forest health based on fuel reduction activities.
Theo Hartsook
Theo is a PhD student in the Natural Resources & Environmental Science program at the University of Nevada, Reno. He completed his MS in NRES at UNR in 2021, and his B.S. in Environmental Science at Queens of Charlotte in North Carolina. His research focuses on using TLS and UAV data to assess and monitor change in Sierra Nevada forests.
Theo is a PhD student in the Natural Resources & Environmental Science program at the University of Nevada, Reno. He completed his MS in NRES at UNR in 2021, and his B.S. in Environmental Science at Queens of Charlotte in North Carolina. His research focuses on using TLS and UAV data to assess and monitor change in Sierra Nevada forests.
Johanson Onyegbula
Johanson Onyegbula is an MS student in the Natural Resources and Environmental Science program at the University of Nevada, Reno. He completed his B.Sc. in Surveying and Geoinformatics from the University of Lagos, Nigeria. His research interest lies at the intersection of Machine Learning and Remote Sensing. Before joining GEARS Lab as an MS student, Johanson worked as a software engineer. He is also interested in big data and cloud computing of large scale remote sensing datasets.
Johanson Onyegbula is an MS student in the Natural Resources and Environmental Science program at the University of Nevada, Reno. He completed his B.Sc. in Surveying and Geoinformatics from the University of Lagos, Nigeria. His research interest lies at the intersection of Machine Learning and Remote Sensing. Before joining GEARS Lab as an MS student, Johanson worked as a software engineer. He is also interested in big data and cloud computing of large scale remote sensing datasets.
Gunner Stone
Gunner Stone is a PhD student in Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Nevada, Reno. His area of research is in Machine Learning with a focus in Deep Learning. Gunner is interested in the applications of deep learning and point cloud processing in their ability to solve the problem of tree species classification from unstructured TLS/ALS point clouds. Gunner is co-advised by Alireza Tavakkoli (CSE) and Jonathan Greenberg.
Gunner Stone is a PhD student in Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Nevada, Reno. His area of research is in Machine Learning with a focus in Deep Learning. Gunner is interested in the applications of deep learning and point cloud processing in their ability to solve the problem of tree species classification from unstructured TLS/ALS point clouds. Gunner is co-advised by Alireza Tavakkoli (CSE) and Jonathan Greenberg.
Staff
Adriano Matos
Adriano is a Geospatial Lab Technician for the GEARS lab and received his B.S. in Environmental Science. A former student majoring in Computer Science and Computer Engineering, he switched to Environmental Science to narrow his focus on the use of geotechnologies to assess and solve problems. While still having that narrower focus, Adriano’s interests range between both fields of study.
Adriano is a Geospatial Lab Technician for the GEARS lab and received his B.S. in Environmental Science. A former student majoring in Computer Science and Computer Engineering, he switched to Environmental Science to narrow his focus on the use of geotechnologies to assess and solve problems. While still having that narrower focus, Adriano’s interests range between both fields of study.
Alumni
FOrmer Graduate Students
Bailey D. Morrison
Bailey earned her PhD in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2018. Bailey's dissertation was entitled “Potential past and future tree migration responses to climate change”. Bailey currently works as a post-doctoral research associate at the University of California, Merced with Dr. Erin Hestir.
Bailey earned her PhD in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2018. Bailey's dissertation was entitled “Potential past and future tree migration responses to climate change”. Bailey currently works as a post-doctoral research associate at the University of California, Merced with Dr. Erin Hestir.
Adriana Parra
Adriana earned her PhD in the Evolution, Ecology and Conservation Biology program (EECB) at the University of Nevada, Reno in 2021. She is from Colombia, where she completed her B.S. in Environmental Engineering and her Master studies in Earth Sciences. Adriana is interested in assessing the effects of anthropogenic activities and climate change in the composition and ecological services of mangrove ecosystems. Adriana currently works as a post-doctoral research associate at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) with Dr. Marc Simard.
Adriana earned her PhD in the Evolution, Ecology and Conservation Biology program (EECB) at the University of Nevada, Reno in 2021. She is from Colombia, where she completed her B.S. in Environmental Engineering and her Master studies in Earth Sciences. Adriana is interested in assessing the effects of anthropogenic activities and climate change in the composition and ecological services of mangrove ecosystems. Adriana currently works as a post-doctoral research associate at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) with Dr. Marc Simard.
Nathan Pavlovic
Nathan earned his MS in Geography and Geographic Information Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2015. His thesis was entitled "“Burning questions: a geospatial analysis of fire regime change in Côte d’Ivoire, 1984-2014”. Nathan currently works as the Lead Geospatial Data Scientist at Sonoma Technology, Inc.
Nathan earned his MS in Geography and Geographic Information Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2015. His thesis was entitled "“Burning questions: a geospatial analysis of fire regime change in Côte d’Ivoire, 1984-2014”. Nathan currently works as the Lead Geospatial Data Scientist at Sonoma Technology, Inc.
Courtney Reents
Courtney earned her MS in Geography and Geographic Information Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2016. Her thesis was entitled “Detection and characterization of forest disturbances in California”. Courtney is currently employed as a GIS Analyst at Trotter and Associates, Inc.
Courtney earned her MS in Geography and Geographic Information Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2016. Her thesis was entitled “Detection and characterization of forest disturbances in California”. Courtney is currently employed as a GIS Analyst at Trotter and Associates, Inc.
Laura Wade
Laura Wade earned her MS in the Natural Resources and Environmental Science program at the University of Nevada, Reno. She completed a B.S. in Marine Biology from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Her interest diverted to forestry through different ecological field technician jobs. Before joining the GEARS Lab as an MS student, Laura worked as a TLS field technician.
Laura Wade earned her MS in the Natural Resources and Environmental Science program at the University of Nevada, Reno. She completed a B.S. in Marine Biology from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Her interest diverted to forestry through different ecological field technician jobs. Before joining the GEARS Lab as an MS student, Laura worked as a TLS field technician.
Yi Zou
Yi earned her MS in Geography and Geographic Information Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2015. Her thesis was entitled “A contextual classification approach for forest land cover mapping using high spatial resolution multispectral satellite imagery: a case study in Lake Tahoe, California”. Yi is currently employed as the Senior User Experience Designer at the Expedia Group.
Yi earned her MS in Geography and Geographic Information Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2015. Her thesis was entitled “A contextual classification approach for forest land cover mapping using high spatial resolution multispectral satellite imagery: a case study in Lake Tahoe, California”. Yi is currently employed as the Senior User Experience Designer at the Expedia Group.
Former Postdoctoral Scholars
Zhengyang Hou
Zhengyang Hou was a postdoctoral researcher in the GEARS Lab at the University of Nevada, Reno, from 2017 to 2018. Dr. Hou is currently employed as an Associate Professor at Beijing Forestry University.
Zhengyang Hou was a postdoctoral researcher in the GEARS Lab at the University of Nevada, Reno, from 2017 to 2018. Dr. Hou is currently employed as an Associate Professor at Beijing Forestry University.
Qing Xu
Qing Xu was a postdoctoral researcher in the GEARS Lab, first at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and then at the University of Nevada, Reno from 2015 to 2019. Dr. Xu is currently employed at the International Bamboo and Rattan Organisation (INBAR).
Qing Xu was a postdoctoral researcher in the GEARS Lab, first at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and then at the University of Nevada, Reno from 2015 to 2019. Dr. Xu is currently employed at the International Bamboo and Rattan Organisation (INBAR).
FORMER Staff Members
Katelyn Josifko
Katelyn was a field and laboratory technician in the GEARS Lab, focusing on the collection, preprocessing and analysis of terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) data. Katelyn completed her B.S. in Ecohydrology at the University of Nevada, Reno in 2019.
Katelyn was a field and laboratory technician in the GEARS Lab, focusing on the collection, preprocessing and analysis of terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) data. Katelyn completed her B.S. in Ecohydrology at the University of Nevada, Reno in 2019.