GIS for Resilient and Secure Communities

Dr. Jason Knowles is the CEO and founder of GeoAcuity, a geospatial consulting firm that specializes in providing high quality geographic information systems (GIS), remote sensing, and geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) solutions to the environmental, municipal and Federal sectors. His expertise includes skills in 3D modeling and visualization, pattern and predictive analytics, UAS data collection and analysis, complex geospatial modeling and design, spatio-temporal and multi-variate analysis, cost surface modeling, remote sensing (air photo and satellite imagery) analysis, cartographic visualization, field GPS data collection and support, GEOINT analysis and enterprise GIS design and implementation.

Dr. Yi Qi is an Associate Professor (Teaching) of Spatial Sciences with the Spatial Sciences Institute at the University of Southern California.

His research integrates remote sensing, geographic information systems and spatial data science in ecological monitoring, environmental studies and natural resource management.

He focuses on satellite and airborne remote sensing, computational models, field work, and AI to address how climate and human practices affect crop productivity and ecosystem functioning.

Prior to joining the Spatial Sciences Institute in August 2022, Dr. Qi was an Assistant Professor at the University of Nebraska Lincoln. From 2014-2018, he was a Senior Spatial Scientist with Brown University.

He has published over thirty papers and has led over ten grants in the total amount of two million dollars.

Dr. Qi serves as a reviewer for numerous journals, including Remote Sensing of Environment, GIScience and Remote Sensing, ASPRS Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, and ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing.

He is a member of the American Geophysical Union, the Ecological Society of America, and the American Association of Geographers.

Dr. Debbie Fugate is the Senior GEOINT Authority (SGA) for Geography and Cartography for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. In this role she serves as the NGA expert for all GEOINT data collection, analysis, and technical activities associated with the Geographic Sciences. She is also the principal advisor to the National System for Geospatial Intelligence and to the GEOINT Functional Manager. The SGA fosters mission integration by cultivating relationships with senior-level stakeholders, developing strategic plans for the functional mission area in alignment with NGA strategies, and supporting prioritization of investments in sources, technology, innovation, and research and development.

Cathy Power has worked on lidar production and lidar-derived analytics for over 14 years. She has broad experience in managing processing workflows for value-added products used in hydrological modeling (hydro-flattened and hydro-enforced products) and stream network analyses. She has been involved NV5’s elevation derived hydrography program from its inception and serves as its technical lead. Her strong technical skills combined with diligent project supervision and workflow oversight have led to the successful extraction of hydrography data for over 70,000 square miles of area in a wide variety of diverse landscapes. She leads the NV5 Geospatial 3D Hydrography program for USGS.