Continue reading »]]> Congratulations to Martin, Sue and Anu for passing their PhD dissertation defenses over the past three weeks.

1. Martin Minkowski, PhD (Geography, University at Buffalo):

Title: Incorporating Advancements in Science, Technology, and User Demands into State-of-the-Art Earth-Systems Modeling to Empower Novel-GIS Users in Natural Resource Decision Making: A Geographic Information Science Perspective

Advisor: Dr. Chris Renschler; Committee: Dr. Ling Bian, Dr. Sean Bennett; Outside Reader: Dr. John Laflen

Note: Chris Renschler will hood Dr. Minkowski at the College of Arts and Sciences commencement on May 11th, 2012.

2. Sue Roussie, PhD (Geography, University at Buffalo):

Title: A Framework for Hazard Assessment using an Ecological Indicator Approach: A Spatial and dynamic Analysis of Wetland Resilience in Coastal Louisiana

Advisor: Dr. Chris Renschler; Committee: Dr. David Mark, Dr. Sara Metcalf; Outside Reader: Dr. John Pine

3. Dr. Anusuriya Devaraju (Institute for Geoinformatics, University of Münster):

Title: Representing and Reasoning about Geographic Occurrences in the Sensor Web.

1st Advisor: Dr. Werner Kuhn; 2nd Advisor: Dr. Chris Renschler; Evaluators: Dr. Edzer Plebesma, Dr. Krzysztof Janowicz

Continue reading »]]> Announcement:
2012 Joint Workshop on Disaster Response presented by the
RIT-UB Information Products Laboratory for Emergency Response & UB Center
for Geohazards Studies

Dear fellow scientists, engineers, policy makers, and disaster responders,

The Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) and University at Buffalo (UB) Information Products Laboratory for Emergency Response (IPLER) and the UB Center for Geohazards Studies are pleased to announce a joint workshop on the application of remote sensing for disaster response and the science of geohazards, to be held May 30-June 1, 2012, at the RIT campus in Rochester, NY. Disaster can strike anywhere and at any time and place; however, our ”geospatial response” to disasters can be improved through the use of remote sensing technology and knowledge of geohazard phenomenology. The RIT-UB IPLER program seeks to stimulate innovation in the remote sensing industry by (i) working with the disaster response community to understand their
information needs and operational limitations, (ii) introducing them to the capabilities of remote sensing technology, and (iii) conducting research to improve our response to and mitigation of disaster events.

For more details please see the workshop agenda at http://ipler.cis.rit.edu/node/57

Brief highlights:
1. Keynote speakers from federal agencies and the commercial sector:

• Ms. Brenda Jones (United States Geological Survey; Disaster Response Coordinator)
• Dr. Matthew Pritchard (Cornell University; Earth and Atmospheric Sciences)
• Mr. Ron Eguchi (ImageCat Inc.; President & CEO)
• Mr. Shay Har-Noy (TomNod Inc.; CEO)

2.  Meet fellow attendees from industry, academia, and government
3. Listen to talks and roundtable discussions, including student presentations on their latest research and hear about IPLER remote sensing support to the 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami and recent flooding in New
York State (storms Irene and Lee)
4. Participate in learning workshops dealing with the use of remote sensing systems (selection, tasking, and data processing)
5. Travel by complimentary bus to an on-site workshop, hosted at UB by the Center for Geohazards Studies
6. Observe a demonstration of an airborne remote sensing system, image collection, processing, and dissemination, all in real-time (weather permitting)
7. Free lunch (yes there is such a thing) and dinner will be provided to attendees on Days 1 and 2

Free registration: http://ipler.cis.rit.edu/node/59

We look forward to hosting you in Rochester, NY.

Please contact Dr. Jan van Aardt (vanaardt@cis.rit.edu) or Dr. Greg Valentine(gav4@buffalo.edu).
If you have any questions about the Information Products Laboratory for Emergency Response (IPLER) or the UB Center for Geohazards Studies, respectively.

Continue reading »]]> Shortly after the 2010 earthquake in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, members of LESAM went to work mapping the devastation to aid in recovery efforts. Doctor Chris Renschler submitted the video, created by the University at Buffalo Center for the Arts Video Production Group.

The video competition can be found on the AAG’s Projects & Programs webpage.

The video:

For more information on our work, visit the LESAM Haiti Damage Assessment project page.

Continue reading »]]> January 2010

In the wake of the earthquake in Haiti, University at Buffalo geography students are participating in a global effort to enhance the international response and recovery effort by helping to assess damage, using images hosted by Google Earth and the Virtual Disaster Viewer, which shares imagery of disasters from various sources.

WKBW Channel 7 News Article: http://www.wkbw.com/news/local/84063807.html

Project page: http://lesami.geog.buffalo.edu/projects/haiti-damage-assessment/