Since 2012 multi-disciplinary researchers, faculty and students have been exposed to geospatial technology. Their participation in research projects, applications of geospatial technology in their respective domains have increased visibility about geospatial technology and its applications. Geospatial technology has been used to map pollution, site selection, mapping epidemiology, STEM transfers, urbanization studies, land cover mapping, gentrification studies, spatial accessibility of fresh food to name a few projects. Federal and private grants have enabled teams of faculty and students to work on collaborative projects. BGCCCI’s affiliated faculty, researchers and collaborators has grown steadily and is expected to grow more with more grant funding from NSF, NASA. In addition to affiliated faculty, student researchers and Interns from BCC-CUNY and other institutions have been on the rise. The number of guest lectures from experts in the geospatial industry have also been on the rise. Today BGCCCI is a consortium of expert faculty, talented undergraduates and graduates from the region.
Aaron Socha [Center for Sustainable Energy]
Aaron has been at BCC since 2011 and began at CSE in 2013. His early career focused on drug discovery from marine microbes. As an NSF postdoctoral fellow, Aaron researched microbial lipid production and developed a fascination with biodiesel and renewable fuels. He now works closely with Sandia National Laboratories and the Joint BioEnergy Institute to develop and test novel ionic liquids for biomass pretreatment. He holds patents in these areas and is interested in small molecule research and business development at the Center for Sustainable Energy. Aaron received his B.S. from Fordham University and his Ph.D. from University of Rhode Island College of Pharmacy. When not in a lab coat, he enjoys playing competitive squash, leisurely surfing and bicycling.
Amrutha Elamparuthy [Data Manager at United States Global Change Research Program]
Amrutha Elamparuthy is a GIS analyst who lives in Washington DC. She obtained her Bachelor of Technology degree in Geotechnology and Geoinformatics from Centre of Remote Sensing, Bharathidasan University, India and Master of Professional Studies in Geographic Information Systems from the University of Maryland Baltimore County. In 2012, she submitted the results of a study of the decadal change in the volume of Chandra basin glaciers of Indian Himalayas using remote sensing data and GIS techniques at the School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, India. She also presented papers related to environmental issues such as soil erosion and reservoir siltation. Having a special interest in hyperspectral remote sensing, she analyzed rocks and minerals and presented a paper about her analysis at Anna University, India. In 2014, she worked for a humanitarian organization in Washington, D.C. and made situation reports/maps of the crisis in Iraq and Syria.
Ashok Samal [Faculty – Mathematics University of Nebraska]
Professor, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Nebraska – Lincoln. His interest is in geospatial data analysis and spatial data mining. He has developed techniques to extract these structures in their geographic contexts and exploit them for important problems including conflation and satellite image retrieval.
Asif Zaman [GIS Analyst – Eversource Energy]
A versatile GIS analyst, an environmental professional, and an educator with diverse skill sets. Adept in map design, spatial and data analytics, data visualization techniques, web map/web app design, data management, data manipulation, research and report generation through the use of powerful industry suite of applications and languages including ArcGIS, PowerBI, SQL, R, and working knowledge of Python.
Atiqur Rahman [Faculty Geospatial Technology – University of Delhi, India]
Atiqur Rahman is an Associate Professor of Geography, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Jamia Millia Islamia University, Delhi, India. He is an urban geographer by training. His research uses remote sensing satellite data, socio-economic data, secondary and field observation for GIS analysis and modeling for issues of urban environmental management. His has also studied urban water resources. Since 2008, he has served on the Steering Committee of the Population-Environment Research Network (PERN). He has been a member of the Scientific Research Team of NASA UEM project on Urban Ecology and Sustainability since 2004. He has worked as a Post Doctoral Fellow at UFZ-Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig, Germany and also as a Co-PI Indo-German (DST-DAAD) joint research project on urban environmental management. At present he is involved with two major Indo-Canadian projects on urbanization and health issues in India. He is the recipient of prestigious Young Scientist project grant award from India’s Ministry of Science and Technology and has been awarded another grant from the Ministry of Environment and Forest to work on the use of remote sensing and GIS for arsenic monitoring. He has written more than forty peer-reviewed research papers and six books on using remote sensing and GIS for urban environmental issues.
Cheila Avalon Cullen [Geospatial Technology – NASA Maryland]
Dr. Cheila Avalon Cullen is an Assistant Professor at the Chemistry and Chemical Technology Department at BCC currently teaching Environmental Science. She received a B.S. in 2006, and an M.S. in 2010 from City College. She received her Ph.D. in Earth and Environmental Sciences at the CUNY Graduate Center in 2016. Dr. Cullen comes to BCC with an extensive research background working with the outstanding scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Center for Earth System Sciences and Remote Sensing Technology (NOAA-CREST) in CUNY. Her research interests focus on natural disasters, resilience, sustainable development, and water issues and security. One of her latest works introduces a Shallow Landslide Index (SLI) as the first implementation of remotely sensed antecedent soil moisture conditions for the hazard analysis of shallow rainfall-induced landslides. Dr. Cullen has published in peer-reviewed journals, and has extensive experience working with tools such as remote sensing techniques, statistical methods, logistic regression and Geo Information Systems applications.
Dhruvkumar Sanjay Bhatt [GIS Analyst – City of Myrtle Beach]
A graduate student at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, Dhruv Bhatt is working on his Master of Professional Studies in Geographical Information Systems. He earned a bachelor’s degree in environmental science from Sardar Patel University, India and a master’s in geoinformatics from Birla Institute of Technology, India. Last summer he completed an internship under Dr. Sunil Bhaskaran’s supervision. His research interests include using geospatial technologies in the study of climate change, hydrology, environmental impact assessment and disaster management.
David Kraiker [ U.S. Census]
David Kraiker is a Geography Coordinator at the U.S. Census Bureau. David is tasked with outreach for schools, and delivers workshops on census databases and their applications.
Eugene Adams [Bronx Cooperative Center]
Mr. Eugene Adams has over 30 years of corporate, non-profit and education leadership experience. His experiences in these areas are tempered by a strong history as a community activist, entrepreneur and youth advocate. At present, Mr. Adams is the Director of Collaborative Education Programs at Bronx Community College. In this capacity, Mr. Adams leads the College’s efforts in developing and strengthening Bronx-wide educational partnerships with elementary, middle and high schools. He has participated in Bronx Community College partnerships with universities and schools in Senegal and South Africa and has used African international education and service learning experiences as a tool to empower New York’s urban youth by coordinating trips for high school and college age students.
Grace Campagna [Faculty – Sociology]
Grace is an Assistant Professor of Psychology in the Department of Social Sciences at BCC. Her research deals with how individual cognition is affected by the interaction of physical and social settings. One recent focus has been the development of statistical models of how housing quality at the level of the dwelling influences one’s perceptions of self-efficacy and stress. Grace obtained a PhD in Environmental Psychology from the CUNY Graduate Center in 2012. She also has a Bachelor of Architecture degree from City College and a Master of Business Administration degree from New York University. Before joining BCC in 2006, she had almost two decades’ experience in various sectors of New York City government.
Jim Barry – [Industry – ESRI]
Jim Barry is a 25-year GIS professional currently working as a GeoDeveloper Advocate with Esri, supporting developers, students, startups, and others building maps, data, apps, and systems on the ArcGIS platform. At Esri he served as a developer support analyst, wrote and instructed GIS training courses, directed global technical support, as well as created and evolved Esri’s developer community support and outreach program. In 2013, BoundlessGeo recognized Jim as one of the Top 10 influencers in the geospatial technology industry. For BGCCCI, Jim is a liaison with Esri to pull in resources where they can be put to good use, especially with opportunities for internships and employment. Jim will contribute his ideas and efforts into helping develop courses, coordinate guest lectures, and other strategic inputs for preparing students for productive employment, or to help fuel their innovative ideas that might grow into startup businesses. Jim received a B.A. from Rutgers University, earned an M.S. in Geography from Central Connecticut State University, and can be followed on Twitter, @JimBarry.
Paul Trevillion [Industry – ESRI]
Paul Trevillion is a member of Esri’s Education Services team, and is based in New York City. Paul teaches foundation as well as advanced GIS courses, primarily those in the realm of web GIS, plus courses in Land Records and Utility Networks management. Paul has a BA in Geography from the University of British Columbia and an Advanced Diploma in GIS from the British Columbia Institute of Technology. He is interested in helping you to craft practical, reliable systems for your operations.
Paul Fisher [Vice President Langan Engineering]
Paul Fisher is the Vice President at Langan Engineering and has 29 years of experience which have exposed him to all phases of land surveying, including topographic, boundary, subdivision, construction stake-out, and photo control. Paul has extensive experience in GPS surveying, and has also spearheaded his companies foray into laser scan based surveying. His principal focus is on laser scanning and modeling, and providing solutions for difficult surveying tasks such as tunnel surveying, subsurface surveys, and detailed mapping of historic structures. Paul has also developed educational programs on laser scanning and general surveying which he has presented to a wide array of architects, engineers, construction managers and attorneys. His responsibilities include management of the New Jersey survey office, which services Langan’s New Jersey, Connecticut, and New York clientele.
Michael Georgalas [Langan Engineering]
Michael is a Senior GIS Analyst at Langan Engineering. He has 15 years of experience in Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping and analysis to support government, urban planning, environmental, survey, geotechnical and site/civil projects. He is passionate about taking on new challenges and building the skills necessary to successfully complete them.
Michelle Ho [CARTO]
Michelle Ho is a Data Scientist at CARTO. She manages projects that uses census data at CARTO.
Dr. John Lauermann
Dr. John Lauermann holds a PhD (2014) from the Graduate School of Geography at Clark University. Dr. Lauermann is a tenure-track faculty member and Geography program coordinator at CUNY-Medgar Evers College. Dr. Lauermann is an urban geographer who researches the planning and impacts of urban mega-projects. His work has been funded by the National Science Foundation, and has been published in a book, nearly 20 peer-reviewed articles, and numerous chapters and essays. Dr. Lauermann’s geospatial scholarship explores the urban applications of GIS, including built environment analysis, geodesign, and participatory GIS.
Dr. Geoffrey Fouad
Degree: Ph.D., Joint Doctoral Program in Geography, San Diego State University and the University of California, Santa Barbara
Dr. Geoffrey Fouad is Lecture (Geography) at Hunter College. He is currently authoring a textbook for the use of GIS in homeland security and emergency management, and conducts research in the application of GIS and remote sensing in water resource management. This work includes publications in the Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies, the International Journal of Remote Sensing, and government publications for Tampa Bay Water and the US Geological Survey. He is currently conducting funded research on the hydrologic connectivity and inundation potential of wetlands north of Tampa Bay, Florida. In addition, Geoff is passionate about introducing students to geospatial technology, and designs educational programs for high school students in and around the New York area.
Dr. Jin Shin (Professor Medgar Evers)
Karen Taylor [Faculty – Mathematics, BCC-CUNY]
Karen Taylor is an Associate Professor in the Mathematics and Computer Science Department at Bronx Community College. Karen earned a Ph.D. in mathematics in 2006 from Temple University and completed a two year postdoctoral position at the University of Nottingham. Her research is in analytic number theory. As a math educator, she is interested in partnerships that encourage and develop the mathematical abilities of underserved youth. She is interested in the mathematics of GPS as a pedagogical tool.
Kealey Dias [Faculty – Mathematics, BCC-CUNY]
Kealey Dias, Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Bronx Community College. She is educated in both pure and applied mathematics and has experience with the mathematical modeling of industrial problems.
Matthew Pearce [NASA-EO, Goddard Flight Center, New York]
With over 22 years of leadership, administrative and science teaching experience at all levels of academia, Pearce is currently employed as an education program specialist by the NASA Goddard Office of Education at the Goddard Institute for Space Studies on the campus of Columbia University. He served as a founding science department chair of a new school for seven years, worked for NASA for 10 years as a prestigious NASA-NEAT educator and provided services as an educational consultant to schools and media organizations. Pearce also has extensive curriculum development and leadership experience in online instruction and medical, life and the physical sciences. A published author in genetics, neuroscience, anatomy and physiology and health science, he has received awards for excellence in science teaching from the National Science Foundation, NASA and Nobel Laureate Dr. Francis Crick.
Neal Phillip [Chairperson and Faculty Chemistry, BCC-CUNY]
Neal Phillip is the chairperson of the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Technology at Bronx Community College. Most recently the Interim Associate Dean of Academic Affairs for Student Success at BCC, Dr. Phillip holds a Ph.D. in environmental engineering, a master’s in environmental engineering and bachelor’s degrees in chemistry and meteorology. He has published journal articles on atmospheric pollution, water and wastewater pollution and pedagogical educational research. Dr. Phillip established the Earth Systems and Environmental Science A.S. curriculum and the ESE courses in 2004 and has further developed the Environmental Technology curriculum and the ENV11 and other ENV courses. He created the BCC Weather Station and most recently the Greenhouse Gas Monitoring program at the college through a $50,000 grant from the CUNY Office of Research. Dr. Phillip has worked as an engineering advisor at Savin Engineers in Pleasantville, New York, to develop design specifications for the retrofit of the four Westchester County water pollution control plants and on the implementation of nutrient removal from wastewater in New York City water pollution control plants through novel biological and chemical processes. Dr. Phillip is currently engaged in work on sustainability and climate change resilience/adaptation with the City of Townsville in Queensland, Australia. Townsville is the winner of an IBM Smarter Cities award and is one of seven cities in Australia designated as a solar city.
Pawan Kumar Joshi [Faculty – Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, India]
P K Joshi is professor and head of the Department of Natural Resources at TERI University, New Delhi. He trained originally as an environmentalist. Then, as an ecologist, he developed skills in remote sensing and GIS. Prior to joining TERI University, Dr. Joshi spent a decade with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) posted at Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS), Dehradun. During this time, he was also an adjunct faculty member at the Centre for Space Science and Technology Education in Asia and the Pacific (CSSTEAP), a UN affiliated institution. He was visiting faculty to the Department of Geography, University of Helsinki, Finland (Spring 2009), the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, New Haven (Spring 2011) and the University of Freiburg, Germany (2011/12). His research focuses on applications of RS & GIS for vegetation analysis, including landscape and biodiversity characterization and climate change studies. He has immensely contributed in ISRO-GBP, TREES I/II, DOS-DBT, ISRO/NRR, ESPA-SSA and similar programs. His recent interests are ecosystem dynamics in climate change scenarios, assessment of AR-CDM, REDD plus, renewable energy and application of RS & GIS in frontier areas. Dr. Joshi’s research contributions have been recognized by the Indian National Science Academy (INSA) and National Academy of Sciences India (NASI) through the award of their highly prestigious Young Scientist Medal in 2006 and 2009. He has supervised and evaluated graduate research students at Ph.D. and master’s levels worldwide. At the TERI University, he teaches courses in deoinformatics (RS & GIS) and landscape ecology.
Quanlei (Shelley) Fang [Faculty – Mathematics, BCC-CUNY]
Quanlei (Shelley) Fang is from the Bronx Community College Department of Mathematics and Computer Science. She received her Ph.D. in Mathematics from Virginia Tech. Before coming to BCC, she held a visiting position at SUNY-Buffalo. Her research is in the area of operator theory and functional analysis.
Ratan Dhar [Faculty – Environmental Sciences – York College]
Ratan Dhar is interested in investigating the predictions of metal and metalloid transport processes in natural systems, a critical aspect of decision-making in risk assessment, and remediation strategies. He aims to advance our understanding of how physical, chemical and biological factors interact and control the mobilization of trace metals in the natural environment. His research is focused on the local hydrological and geochemical controls in the mobilization of heavy metals and nutrients in natural waters. Specifically, he investigates the potential role of microbes and dissolved organic matter in the mobilization of trace metals in groundwater of contaminated area. Field sampling program and laboratory measurements are combined to study behaviors of these elements in both sea and fresh water environment.
Rositsa T. Ilieva [Director of Food Policy Monitor at CUNY Urban Food Policy Institute, Hunter College]
Dr. Rositsa T. Ilieva is an architect-urban planner and an expert in policies, planning, and design for sustainable cities and urban food systems. At present, she is an adjunct faculty at the Parsons School of Design and the Milano School of International Affairs, Management, and Urban Policy at The New School University in New York. Dr. Ilieva is a former Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in Urban Food Systems at the Tishman Environment and Design Center (TEDC) of The New School, where she taught courses and conducted research in urban food policy and planning for sustainable cities with Dr. Nevin Cohen, and investigated applications of social media data to the study of urban park use at the Urban Ecology Lab of Dr. Timon McPhearson. Dr. Ilieva holds a B.S. and a M.S. degrees in Architecture Cum Laude and a Ph.D. in Spatial Planning and Urban Development Cum Laude from the Polytechnic University of Milan, Italy. She has presented her research at numerous international research conferences and is author of “Urban Food Planning: Seeds of Transition in the Global North” (Routledge, 2016). Dr. Ilieva is conducting collaborative research with the BCC Geospatial Center of the CUNY CREST Institute under Professor Sunil Bhaskaran’s supervision. She will use advanced geospatial tools to conduct research on healthy food access and study its determinants for different communities in the Borough of Bronx, NY. This research aims to lay the groundwork for a larger comparative analysis project including international cases. Dr. Rositsa is enrolled in the graduate GIS Certificate Program at Hunter College, CUNY that will commence in the fall 2017
Sanjiv Bhatia [Faculty – University of Missouri]
Sanjiv Bhatia is a professor in the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at the University of Missouri – St. Louis. His primary areas of research are image databases, digital image processing and computer vision. He has published several papers on image databases and computer vision, as well as processing of satellite imagery.
Sunil Bhaskaran [Geospatial Technology – Director and Professor – BCC-CUNY]
Sunil Bhaskaran has a Ph.D. (2003) from the School of Geomatic Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney. His research interests are in spatial analysis, image analysis, modeling, data integration and decision support systems. Sunil has over 16 years of experience in teaching GIS and remote sensing at the undergraduate, post graduate and graduate levels at universities in Australia and the U.S. He has authored over 50 research papers and technical reports. Currently, Sunil coordinates the Earth Science and Environmental Technology program at BCC and teaches and conducts research in applied geomatics at Bronx Community College of The City University of New York. Sunil has been awarded over $700,000 in research grants both from federal agencies and industry. A professor and the director of the BGCCCI, he spearheaded the geospatial technology initiative at BCC and was pivotal in bringing geospatial technology to the College and University. He was honored by The City University of New York for securing major institutional grants and contributions to education and service. Sunil serves on the NYC Mayor’s Committee on Urban Heat Island Mitigation since 2013.
Sheldon Skaggs [Faculty – Geosciences]
Sheldon Skaggs is a geoarchaeologist in the BCC Department of Chemistry. He earned a B.A. in Anthropology and a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Washington and a Ph.D. in Geology from the University of Georgia. Before coming to Bronx Community College, he held a temporary faculty position at Georgia Southern University. His research interests include using geophysical methods like ground penetrating radar and magnetometry with GIS to help delineate Maya, Roman, and prehistoric archaeological sites; integration of GPS coordinates with metal detector finds on historical archaeological sites; determination of source and type of materials used to manufacture stony archaeological artifacts; development of geology and geoarchaeology curricula for undergraduate students. –Sheldon.Skaggs@bcc.cuny.edu
Tanzina Ahmed [Faculty – Sociology]
Tanzina Ahmed is a Ph.D. candidate in the Developmental Psychology program at the Graduate Center CUNY, working under Dr. Colette Daiute. Her research uses narrative analysis and mixed-method techniques to investigate how community college students’ perspectives on college life relate to and predict their academic success. She teaches at Bronx Community College as a substitute lecturer and leads workshops for the New York City Department of Youth and Community Development.
Therese Soosairaj [Faculty – Chemistry Department]
Soosairaj Therese is an Assistant Professor of Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Technology at Bronx Community College (BCC). She completed her Ph.D. in Chemistry at the CUNY Graduate School during 2011 and joined BCC as a full-time faculty. Dr. Soosairaj has been heavily involved in sustainable and renewable energy research and curriculum development. She has participated in NSF funded study abroad of capacity building in Costa Rica and South Africa to install solar panels. Dr. Therese also participated in the Salzburg Global Seminar ISP 54, Salzburg, Austria, to help create innovative teaching techniques to promote global learning in the classroom. Her other research interests are bio-diesel synthesis from waste oils and synthesis and analysis of materials for lithium ion batteries. She has recently published a paper in Nature Communication. Dr. Soosairaj is also actively involved in the CUNY Numeracy Infusion Course for Higher Education (NICHE).
Tim Paglione [Faculty – Earth and Physical Sciences, York College]
Tim Paglione is a professor of physics and astronomy and chair of the Department. of Earth and Physical Sciences at CUNY, York College. He received his Ph.D. in astronomy from Boston University and his B.S. in Physics from Stevens Institute of Technology. Dr. Paglione is an observational astronomer, traveling the world or utilizing satellites to gather data on molecular clouds in nearby galaxies and our own Milky Way. He likes to work the ends of the spectrum, studying the radio emission of massive, star-forming clouds in starburst galaxies, as well as their very high-energy gamma-ray emission. He and his students also study the gamma ray emission from clouds in the Sun’s neighborhood to probe both cloud structure and the properties of the very energetic particles (cosmic rays) that excite this emission. Dr. Paglione is also the lead of two undergraduate student-mentoring projects that aim to increase the participation of under-represented students in astronomy and other STEM fields. The NSF AstroCom NYC, which is run out of the American Museum of Natural History, aims to improve the number of minorities entering astrophysics graduate school. The NASA NY Space Grant Community College Partnership aims to improve graduation and transfer rates of minority community college STEM students. Both programs achieve these goals by engaging students in research and immersing them in the research environment.
Dr. Khila Dahal [ Geospatial Technology – Temple University]
A computational urban geographer and GIScientist by academic training, Khila Raj Dahal is a postdoctoral scientist in The New School, New York. He is also an Adjunct GIS faculty at Bronx Community College and an affiliate at the BGCCCI. Following his Ph.D. in geography from Texas State University, Khila worked as a postdoc researcher at Boise State University as part of a statewide project called Idaho-EPSCoR funded by the National Science Foundation. His major responsibility included implementation of geosimulation models, geospatial techniques, advanced GIS tools and geo-computation methods to study urban growth, identify its drivers, predict future growth scenarios, and investigate the multifaceted impacts on human and natural systems. Urban growth, landscape change, risk and hazards, urban sustainability, GIS, Geo-computation, spatial statistics, cellular automata, and agent-based modeling are his major research interests. He has published more than a dozen journal articles and technical reports.
Stephanie Rodriguez (Faculty Geospatial Technology )
Stephanie Rodriguez teaches Geographic Information Systems (GIS) at Bronx Community College. She is also an affiliated faculty at the BCC Geospatial Center of the CUNY CREST Institute (BGCCCI) and an instructor for Geospatial Workshops sponsored by the National Science Foundation- Advanced Technological Education (NSF-ATE) program. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Earth and Environmental Science at Brooklyn College and is currently pursuing her masters in Environmental Science at Brooklyn as well. Stephanie’s research involves using Geospatial Technology in the fields of Geology and Environmental Science. She has been worked on various projects such as geologic mapping, environmental risk assessments, paleobiogeography and habitat mapping. She is currently working on her thesis research on urban flood mapping in Brooklyn and Queens, NY. Stephanie continues to expand her knowledge and expertise in the natural sciences and continues to educate and inspire her student’s every day.
Steven Nacinovich [GIS Analyst – NYC Department of Information Technology and Communications]
Steven joined the BCC Geospatial Center in the Fall of 2018. As an undergraduate, he studied at SUNY New Paltz earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Geography with a minor in Geology. Focusing on Geographic Information Systems(GIS) and applications, Steven has interned at both the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the Fire Department of New York, where he used his Geospatial knowledge to create maps for both field and office use. As a former Outstanding Graduate and current workshop instructor at the Geospatial Center, Steven is looking to further his educational career by pursuing a Master’s Degree in the Geospatial realm. When Steven isn’t analyzing data through maps, he enjoys playing basketball and football, going for the occasional run, and exploring the city he calls home.
