{"id":1290,"date":"2026-10-05T18:16:56","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T18:16:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/?p=1290"},"modified":"2026-10-05T18:16:57","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T18:16:57","slug":"geode-summer-news-round-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/index.php\/2026\/10\/05\/geode-summer-news-round-up\/","title":{"rendered":"GEODE summer news round-up!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It was a busy summer for the GEODE lab, with members traveling around the globe and advancing some exciting research. Here are some highlights:<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"432\" height=\"323\" src=\"https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/image.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1291\" srcset=\"https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/image.png 432w, https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/image-300x224.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 432px) 100vw, 432px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Assistant Research Professor Patrick Jantz and Postdoc Ivan Gonzalez traveled to Kuching, Malaysia to host a workshop for their Connecting Landscapes (CoLa) decision support system tool. CoLa helps researchers, land managers, and decision makers model wildlife connectivity and is facilitating conservation led development around the world.\u00a0 Read more about CoLa <a href=\"https:\/\/conservationcorridor.org\/digests\/2025\/08\/connecting-landscapes-cola-new-tool-to-facilitate-conservation-led-development\/\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"315\" height=\"236\" src=\"https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/image-1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1292\" srcset=\"https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/image-1.png 315w, https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/image-1-300x225.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 315px) 100vw, 315px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Assistant Research Professor Patrick Jantz participated in a Fulbright Specialist Visit to Unidad Central del Valle del Cauca in Tulu\u00e1, Colombia where he educated and collaborated with students and researchers on integrating AI into ecosystem management.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"182\" height=\"138\" src=\"https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/image-2.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1293\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Assistant Research Professor Patrick Jantz is also seeking funding to integrate state-of-the-art snow modeling and AI-driven fence mapping to understand ungulate movement ecology and conservation in the American West, and to investigate drivers of carnivore-herbivore dynamics in Sub-Saharan Africa using remote sensing and animal movement models.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"960\" height=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/image.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1294\" srcset=\"https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/image.jpeg 960w, https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/image-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/image-768x512.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u00a0During his trip to Borneo, Malaysia, Postdoc Ivan Gonzalez also visited iconic forest reserves of the Kinabatangan River and Danum Valley, in the northern state of Sabah (CoLa&#8217;s software sample dataset region). These areas maintain populations of elephants, orangutans, gibbons, langurs, proboscis monkeys, and hornbills. Also, the world&#8217;s smallest snake and squirrels.\u00a0He is hard at work continually improving his\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/conservationcorridor.org\/digests\/2025\/08\/connecting-landscapes-cola-new-tool-to-facilitate-conservation-led-development\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CoLa<\/a>\u00a0wildlife connectivity tool and continues to be the lab\u2019s largest supplier of amazing animal photos.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"411\" height=\"286\" src=\"https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/image-1.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1295\" title=\"IMG_8410.jpeg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/image-1.jpeg 411w, https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/image-1-300x209.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 411px) 100vw, 411px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">PhD student Victoria Hope traveled to Vienna, Austria to attend the European Geophysical Union annual meeting where she presented on her work comparing <a href=\"https:\/\/research.fs.usda.gov\/treesearch\/40707\">UNICOR<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/conservationcorridor.org\/digests\/2025\/08\/connecting-landscapes-cola-new-tool-to-facilitate-conservation-led-development\/\">CoLa<\/a> wildlife connectivity tools.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"138\" height=\"185\" src=\"https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/image-2.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1296\" title=\"IMG_5149.jpeg\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Victoria was one of the lab\u2019s best traveled members this summer: she also taught at\u00a0 a field ecology course in Ogallala, Nebraska and participated in the NASA Biosphere meeting in College Park, Maryland. Besides traveling, Victoria is busy spinning up her PhD project on jaguar movement and connectivity.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"382\" height=\"508\" src=\"https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/image-3.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1297\" title=\"motion_photo_6076392611162782881.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/image-3.jpeg 382w, https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/image-3-226x300.jpeg 226w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 382px) 100vw, 382px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Senior Research Scientist Katie Orndahl was invited to give a workshop on the Continuous Change Detection and Classification algorithm and its applications for vegetation mapping in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. She had a fun and productive week meeting and working with the Next Generation Ecosystem Experiment (NGEE) \u2013 Arctic team as part of a broader team writing retreat.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"811\" height=\"415\" src=\"https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/image-4.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1299\" srcset=\"https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/image-4.png 811w, https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/image-4-300x154.png 300w, https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/image-4-766x392.png 766w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Katie is continuing to use her newly created <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S003442572500121X\">Pan Arctic biomass maps<\/a> and other Arctic vegetation maps to understand post-fire vegetation trajectories, permafrost thaw slump recovery, and caribou herbivory.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"787\" height=\"447\" src=\"https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/image-5.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1300\" title=\"rfld_products_overview_3600px.png\" srcset=\"https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/image-5.png 787w, https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/image-5-300x170.png 300w, https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/image-5-768x436.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Postdoc Matteo Redana is hard at work improving biodiversity intactness mapping across Africa and South America, and has been leveraging some sophisticated modeling techniques to create a new dataset of landscape physiography across the Amazon Basin.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"359\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/image-4.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1301\" title=\"IMG_1112.JPG\" srcset=\"https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/image-4.jpeg 359w, https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/image-4-199x300.jpeg 199w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 359px) 100vw, 359px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Research Associate Jeremy Forsythe traversed the continent several times this summer from the lower 48 to Alaska, and back. He also officially wrapped up his PhD! You can read his thesis on how light diffusion impacts southern pine ecosystem function <a href=\"https:\/\/open.clemson.edu\/all_dissertations\/4270\/\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It was a busy summer for the GEODE lab, with members traveling around the globe and advancing some exciting research. Here are some highlights: Assistant Research Professor Patrick Jantz and Postdoc Ivan Gonzalez traveled to Kuching, Malaysia to host a workshop for their Connecting Landscapes (CoLa) decision support system tool. CoLa helps researchers, land managers, &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/index.php\/2026\/10\/05\/geode-summer-news-round-up\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;GEODE summer news round-up!&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1290"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1290\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1302,"href":"https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1290\/revisions\/1302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goetzlab.rc.nau.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}