Congratulations to Yan Chen for successfully defending her dissertation, which is titled: Climatic Drivers of Gross primary Productivity (GPP) Variability.
Research
Congcong Miao featured in UConn Today
Congcong Miao (PhD ’26) and her research featured on the UConn Today website.
Check out the full article, titled UConn Ph.D. Uses High-Tech Tools to Help Urban Planners Make Cities Safer.
today.uconn.edu/2026/04/meet-the-graduate-congcong-miao-ph-d
Dr. Rojas-Sandoval named a 2026 Ecological Society of America Scholar
Congratulations to Julissa Rojas-Sandoval for being named a 2026 Ecological Society of America (ESA) Excellence in Ecology Scholar. This prestigious scholarship program celebrates and supports outstanding early- to mid-career Ph.D. ecologists from groups traditionally underrepresented in the scientific community.
More information can be found here: https://esa.org/blog/2026/01/21/ecological-society-of-america-selects-2026-eee-scholars
Professor Ghosh to give colloquium at Auburn University
Professor Debs Ghosh is giving a colloquium to the Geosciences Department at Auburn University on Jan 15.
The title of her talk is “Making Structural Racism and Discrimination Measurable: A Community-Informed, Place-Based Index”.
Daniel Kraemer successfully defends his dissertation
Congratulations to Daniel Kraemer for successfully defending his dissertation, which is titled: Context is Everything: Advancing Earthquake Social Vulnerability Models Through Identifying Local and Hazard-Specific Drivers
Professor Rojas-Sandoval: Using AI to predict biological invasions
Dr. Julissa Rojas-Sandoval’s current research about using AI to predict biological invasions is the focus of a post on the UConn Today site. Read the full story here: today.uconn.edu/2025/10/a-new-ai-based-method-to-help-prevent-biological-invasions
Sydney Clements successfully defends her dissertation
Congratulations to Sydney Clements for successfully defending her dissertation, which is titled: Distributing Equity: An Analysis of Existing Food Hub Distribution Models in Connecticut.
Prof. Dan Wanyama featured in UConn Today article about GIS Training and Conservation
Assistant Professor-in-Residence Dan Wanyama and a group of his closest friends and colleagues have collaborated to share their expertise with sustainability and conservation scholars and specialists in Africa. They developed a free advanced Geographic Information System (GIS) training program that is attracting interest from around the globe.
The full story can be found here: today.uconn.edu/2025/09/snapshot-a-unique-collaboration-helps-boost-conservation-with-gis-training
Congcong Miao: Using StreetView images for transport safety research
Google Street View images are digital snapshots of real streets, widely used for navigation and urban planning. Congcong Miao, a PhD student in GSCU, recently published a study in Journal of Transport Geography analyzing how people’s perceptions of street design affect transport safety. The study suggests emotional reactions to streetscapes can lead to non-motorist crashes and could help cities predict danger zones and design safer roads.
The study has been covered by several media outlets, including State Smart Transportation Initiative (SSTI) and Streetsblog USA.
Professor Debs Ghosh receives InCHIP research excellence award
Congratulations to Professor Debs Ghosh for receiving the InCHIP Excellence Award for Research on Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities and Health Outcomes of Racism.