Geography of Changing Lands and Seas

Presented by

Robert Gilmore Pontius

Professor of Geography

Gil Pontius specializes in statistics, land change science, and geographical information science. He has served as associate director of geography and as chair of the University’s Committee on Personnel. For decades, the Long Term Ecological Research network of the National Science Foundation has funded his research at Plum Island Ecosystems. Pontius’ newest research grant is to create methods and software to analyze land change in Brazil. He derives mathematical methods, which Clark Labs incorporates into the TerrSet software. This year, Pontius is publishing a solo-authored book, “Metrics That Make a Difference: How to Analyze Change and Error.” Gil has advised nine dissertations, 86 master’s projects, and 15 undergraduate honors theses since joining Clark University in 1998.

Karen Frey

Professor of Geography

Karen Frey’s research interests involve the combined use of field measurements, satellite remote sensing, and GIScience to study large-scale linkages between land, atmosphere, ocean, and ice in polar environments. Over the past decade, she has conducted field-based research in West and East Siberia, the North Slope of Alaska, as well as the Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort Seas. Her most recent work focuses on the hydrological and biogeochemical impacts of terrestrial permafrost degradation across Siberia as well as the biological and biogeochemical impacts of sea ice decline in polar shelf environments. Frey was the lead author of “Arctic Ocean Primary Productivity: The Response of Marine Algae to Climate Warming and Sea Ice Decline” in the 16th Arctic Report Card, released in December 2021; she has served as a lead author on the annual Report Card since 2011.

Lyndon Estes

Associate Professor of Geography

Lyndon Estes is an environmental scientist who investigates the drivers and impacts of agricultural change, with a particular focus on Africa. He conducts his research using new Earth Observation technologies and a range of modeling techniques, and works within interdisciplinary projects that involve economists, agronomists, human geographers, decision scientists, hydrologists, climatologists, and computer scientists. Estes joined Clark in 2017 after eight years as a research scientist at Princeton University. He holds a B.A. in English from Georgetown University, an M.Phil. in conservation biology from the University of Cape Town, and a Ph.D. in environmental science from the University of Virginia. Prior to his academic career, Estes spent nearly nine years working in protected area management and environmental consulting in Southern Africa.

John Rogan

Professor of Geography

John Rogan coordinates the Master’s in Geographic Information Science (GIS) and Human-Environment Regional Observatory (HERO) programs at Clark and co-directs the Clark Center for the Study of Natural Resource Extraction and Society (Extractives@Clark). His research specializes in remote sensing applications in landscape ecology, urban forestry, fire ecology, and land change. His most recent funded research, with the U.S. Forest Service and the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, studies the impact of urban heat island dynamics on environmental justice communities in relation to tree canopy and impervious surfaces. Rogan earned his Ph.D. from the joint doctoral program of the University of California, Santa Barbara and San Diego State University.

Deborah Martin

Professor of Geography

Deborah “Deb” Martin is an urban geographer with interests in place identity, local politics, legal geography, qualitative methodologies, and neighborhood activism. Recent projects include an examination of housing Community Land Trusts in the Twin Cities metro region of Minnesota, and ongoing work with colleague John Rogan in Clark’s Human-Environment Regional Observatory (HERO) program, which engages graduate and undergraduate students in team-based research. The HERO program’s current focus is on the socio-ecological dimensions of tree planting programs in Massachusetts. Martin teaches urban geography and research design at all levels of the curriculum, and created a first-year intensive (FYI) field-trip-based course entitled “Discover Worcester!” She advises Ph.D. students working on a range of topics, including urban politics and activism, place, social theory, and qualitative research.