After a brief summer hiatus we are bringing GeoDC back with a full lineup in September. Check out the speakers, orgs, and talk abstracts below. The event takes place on Wednesday, September 3rd from 6-9pm at Sudhouse DC (1340 U St NW, Washington, DC 20009) with talks starting at 7. Hope to see you there, please remember to RSVP.
Mikel Maron, Earth Genome
AI + Climate + Maps
There's a lot in motion at Earth Genome: using GenAI to drive geospatial analysis for planning biodiversity monitoring, applying geospatial foundation models for user centered search and monitoring and building up open data sets. We are currently searching for 1.5 billion burping cows. Applying earth AI foundation models and human centered applications for transparency on our biggest nature and climate challenges. This talk is about Earth Genome’s work with climate TRACE and Earth Index.
Steve Benzek, Museum of the Palestinian People
Mapping Palestinian Cultural Heritage
We’ve just launched a new Mellon Foundation-funded initiative titled “Bayt wa Balad (Home and Homeland): The Palestinian Cultural Mapping Project.” It’s a two-year effort to preserve and map Palestinian cultural heritage through GIS, historical research, and community storytelling—documenting the journeys of displaced art, from embroidery and manuscripts to oral histories and indigenous traditions.
As we get started, we’re developing procedures for recording the geographic history of each object in our collection: places of origin, movement over time, and present location. We’re also capturing interviews, 360° photography, and 3D scans as part of the digital archive. I will present some of the challenges of documenting the cultural heritage and creating engaging map stories for visitors as well as providing resources for researchers.
John Lesko, GWU Adjunct Professor
On the Beaten Path: Modeling the Physical Impacts of Outdoor Recreation-Caused Trail Degradation Utilizing a Drone-Collected, Remote Sensing Methodology in North-Central New Mexico
The growing popularity of outdoor recreation highlights an urgent need to balance human engagement with nature against its lasting impacts, especially trail degradation. This study presents a novel drone-based remote sensing methodology to model the physical impacts of recreation-induced trail degradation at Philmont Scout Ranch in north-central New Mexico. High-resolution digital surface models (DSMs) and orthomosaic maps were generated from drone imagery to measure key characteristics of trail degradation—trail width, incision, grade, and rugosity. These characteristics were synthesized into a raster-based trail degradation model using multiple criteria evaluation (MCE) techniques. Results demonstrate that drone-collected data can effectively map degradation at centimeter-scale resolution, offering a scalable, cost-effective, and reproducible approach for land managers. By providing both detailed visualizations and quantitative models of trail conditions, this research supports more targeted trail maintenance and conservation efforts, helping to sustain recreational access while mitigating environmental impacts.
