Babs Buttenfield received the national research award by the UCGIS (University Consortium for Geographic Information Science), for significant contributions to geospatial data generalization and modeling, multi-scale mapping and geodatabase design, most notably through her continuing Research Faculty affiliation with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Center for Excellence in Geospatial Information Science (CEGIS). This award has been given annually by UCGIS since 2002.

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Professor Stefan Leyk received a $499,999 grant for the Imola project from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for the titled project, . Collaborators on the project include Associate Professor from the University of Minnesota. 

The Imola (Intelligent Map recOgnition LAb) project develops advanced computational methods and scientific approaches to extract historical geographic information from scanned maps originally published by the US Geological Survey between 1884 and 2006.  The project transforms historical road networks in these maps into a database that allows scientists to study the evolution of transportation networks and how humans interact with their environment over extended time periods and geographical regions prior to the era of satellite imagery.

Extracting detailed geographic information from historical USGS topographic maps is a difficult task. The Imola project uses a new intelligent system called DaVinci to automate the extraction process and produce a large spatiotemporal database of historical road networks called US1884+.  DaVinci reads maps like humans by automatically exploring geographic features in maps and in other datasets to generate more information related to historical road networks to then extract them. The DaVinci method eliminates the need for large, manually created training data and provides a way to measure uncertainty in the features extracted from the maps, which is important for conducting research with the data. The project provides a case study and creates tutorials to demonstrate how the US1884+ platform can be used in scientific research and how it advances knowledge of how humans interact with their environment.

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Abstract: Originating in Denver, Colorado in 1907 and exported as a national holiday in 1934, Columbus Day enacts the logic and institutionalization of conquest. Yet despite the seemingly totalizing imaginary of ongoing settler colonialism, Indigenous peoples continue to resist erasure. Mapping the Terms of Freedom & The Ongoing Refusal of Settler Imaginaries, traces the making and unmaking of settler imaginaries in Denver and the ways in which the city’s Indigenous communities choose to represent their stories of resistance to the world. I connect the way institutions of knowledge maintain settler imaginaries in place through the entanglement of visual and digital knowledge practices in settler colonialism. Using ethnographic, archival, and participatory research methods, I trace self-determined Indigenous representations of strength through the community curated (Re)Mapping Native Denver art exhibit that maps Indigenous geographies and dismantles the logics implicated in the settler imaginary. Held at Denver University (DU) in 2021, the (Re)Mapping Native Art Exhibit stood as a site of public facing education, demonstrating the liberatory power of retelling geo-history on the terms of Indigenous peoples. 

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She is currently doing field work in Concepción, Chile, analyzing glacier retreat and its impacts on downstream communities in south-central Chile.

The Chile Fulbright Science Initiative will enable her to expand her existing research in Chile further south to the region of Araucanía, where she plans to work with Mapuche-Pehuenche communities to document oral histories of glacier retreat and hydrological change, and illuminate how water insecurity disproportionately impacts Indigenous peoples.

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We look forward to her symposium talk!

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Emily Yeh has been named Professor of Distinction by the College of Arts and Sciences in recognition of her exceptional service, teaching and research. This revered title is reserved for scholars and artists of national and international acclaim who college peers also recognize as exceptionally talented teachers and colleagues. Honorees of this award hold this title for the remainder of their careers in the College of Arts and Sciences at CU Boulder.

Dr. Yeh will be honored on Friday, April 26th, 2024 in the annual Arts and Sciences Recognition Reception.

In addition to this prestigious award, Dr. Yeh has received the Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar award in 2023-2024, as well as other awards and honors in recent years such as the Campus sustainability award (2023) and the AAG-Kaufmann award for best paper for Geography and Entrepreneurship (2022). Dr. Yeh has served as the Vice President (2020-2021) and President (2021-2022) of the American Association of Geographers (AAG). We cannot wait to see what she will do next!

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Doctoral candidate Phurwa Gurung was awarded a National Geographic Society Committee for Research and Exploration grant to work together with local Dolpopa scholars to document endangered oral literature in Dolpo, northwest Nepal.

National Geographic funds a global community of Explorers who investigate, test hypotheses, innovate, stretch their creativity, and push the boundaries of traditional thinking in ways that fundamentally change our world. They support and cultivate a portfolio of diverse, Explorer-led programs within their five focus areas to drive impact and fulfill their mission of illuminating and protecting our world. They leverage their global expertise, platforms, and unparalleled convening power to inspire educators, youth, and future Explorers and help more people learn about, care for, and protect our world. Their innovative business model allows them to invest every philanthropic dollar—100% of donations—directly to their Explorers and programs. 

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Phurwa Gurung was awarded a Wenner Gren Foundation Dissertation Fieldwork Grant for his dissertation project, “Reordering highland territories: State-building, indigeneity and multispecies worldmaking in the Himalaya.”  It will support his ongoing field research in Dolpo, Nepal, which uses caterpillar fungus (yartsa gunbu) as a lens onto state building processes, indigenous territoriality, the political ecology of conservation, and non-human agency.” 

He got the announcement of the award at the end of September.

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Christopher Picard of CU Boulder is one of 21 students nationwide to win support from United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation

Christopher Picard, a graduate student in geography at the �鶹��Ƶ, is one of 21 students nationwide to win scholarships this year from the United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF), the foundation announced recently. 

The USGIF’s , who are studying geospatial intelligence and related fields, will receive a total of $125,000, raised from donations.

Ronda Schrenk, USGIF CEO, expressed her gratitude for the funding: “The support our community has shown for the scholarship program this year has been truly inspiring for us at the Foundation. We extend our heartfelt thanks to all the organizational and individual donors who have enabled USGIF to maintain and expand this crucial program.”

Picard, who is pursuing a master's degree in geography from CU Boulder, is a recent graduate of Dartmouth College, where he received a BA in environmental Earth sciences. 

While an undergraduate, Picard had an internship at the U.S. National Ice Center, where he was introduced to remote sensing of the cryosphere and learned about the importance of geospatial research to national security. 

That experience led Picard to apply remote sensing and other computational techniques to the study of current and future changes in Earth's high-latitude regions.

Picard said he was honored to win a 2023 graduate scholarship. “I want to thank the USGIF for supporting young geospatial researchers, as this financial assistance and connection to a broader community is massively impactful for students entering the field,” he said, adding: 

“Financially, this scholarship is significant to me because it will provide important funding that will help support me during my graduate studies. In addition to financial assistance, I am looking forward to engaging with this new community in graduate school and during my career.”

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Rupak Shrestha's dissertation, , has been shortlisted for an ICAS prize. 

The International Convention of Asia Scholars (ICAS) is a global space in which Asia scholars and social and cultural actors from all over the world can engage in dialogues on Asia that transcend boundaries between academic disciplines and geographic regions.

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