We're excited to announce that Sam Taylor from SEES has been selected as a finalist in the University of Iowa's 2026 Three Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition! Come show your support on Friday, November 6, from 1:30–3:00 p.m. in the IMU International Ballroom, where Sam will present his research in just three minutes alongside other outstanding graduate researchers from across campus. Enjoy hot apple cider and seasonal treats while learning about the exciting research happening at Iowa. Audience members will also vote for their favorite presentations for the People's Choice Awards.

The drone of cicadas has always been one of the sounds of summer in Iowa. Annual cicada populations are holding their own, but periodical cicadas — a species that emerges every 13 to 17 years — are in trouble. On this episode, we talk with University of Iowa biologist Andrew Forbes about a study that uses GIS technology to show how habitat loss has impacted cicada populations. We also hear from GIS experts Susan Meerdink and Adam Skibbe and discuss what the future holds for these cicadas.

Sam Taylor, Riley Pacer, and Dr. Meerdink headed to the 2026 Cartography and Geographic Information Society (CaGIS) conference in St. Louis, where the theme was "Cartographer in the Loop: Balancing technological innovation with human expertise". We presented our posters and enjoyed the Geo-Resolution conference.

Sam Taylor brings home 1st place and $1000 for this poster titled "The Water is Getting Warmer: Spatiotemporal Water Quality Trends from the Multi-decadal Cooperative Lakes Area Monitoring Project (CLAMP)" for the 2026 Geo-Resolution's Student Poster Competition. Hosted at Saint Louis University, the 2026 Geo-Resolution conference had the theme “Securing the Future with Geospatial.”

Check out our the new publication that was developed in collaboration with friends in Biology where we used old air photos to determine areas that retained or lost forest over the century and presence of cicadas: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecy.70487

Check out our new article on detecting Brazilian peppertree, an invasive shrub, in Biological Invasions!

Congratulations to Jalissa for successfully defending her thesis titled "Quantifying Early-Season Miscanthus × giganteus Spatiotemporal Patterns Using High-Resolution UAS LIDAR". We have truly appreciated her time and expertise while she was here. We wish her the best of luck back in New York State!

Sam Taylor published his master's work in Landslides titled, "Assessing wildfire spatial variability and hyperspectral data in debris-flow modeling". This work uses AVIRIS imagery from the Thomas Fire and Montecito Debris Flows to examine the USGS M1 debris-flow likelihood models. Congratulations, Sam!

11 students from across the nation came to Van Allen Hall from June 3 to 19 to build an instrument for a balloon or drone, collect data with that instrument, conduct data analysis, and then present their work. Adventures were had, and missions were successfully completed!

Congratulations to A H M Mainul Islam, who successfully defended his thesis titled, "ESTIMATING PHOTOSYNTHETIC CAPACITY IN BLIGHTED BUR OAKS USING LEAF HYPERSPECTRAL REFLECTANCE AND MACHINE LEARNING MODELS: MODEL GENERALIZABILITY".

Riley was selected for the School of Earth, Environment, and Sustainability's Harold H. McCarty Award, which is awarded to an outstanding Geography Master’s student. This award is an honor recognizing the high quality of her work and her contribution to the SEES program.

Nina Osborne, Charlotte Hanfland, Beverly Bishop, and Lillie Carreon showcased their semester's research and represented the LOQATE Lab at the Spring Undergraduate Research Festival. Great work!

Dr. Meerdink will be offering SEES:4500 Advanced Remote Sensing in Fall 2026. This class covers the theory and practice of remote sensing using ENVI computer labs and experiments. This class is perfect for students who want the opportunity to learn advanced remote sensing techniques and who are curious about how remote sensing really works.

On March 27, third-year University of Iowa student Nina Osborne was working at the UI Admission Visitors Center when she checked her email. In her inbox, she read that she had been awarded a 2026 Goldwater Scholarship, the country’s most prestigious undergraduate scholarship for students pursuing research careers in mathematics, natural sciences, and engineering.

On Saturday, March 28, A H M Mainul Islam presented his bur oak blight research at the 2026 Annual James F. Jakobsen Research Showcase in the Iowa Memorial Union. The Jakobsen Conference is an annual local conference to promote graduate research and interdepartmental communication at the University of Iowa.