Dr Gebelein received her Ph.D. in Geography at the University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, in 2001. Her Dissertation title was: Validation of Three Land Cover Maps Utilizing Space Shuttle Photography and Landsat Thematic Mapper Imagery. Her area of interest was the southwestern United States. Thus began her research interest in astronaut acquired photography and ultimately, other types of remotely sensed imagery such as Landsat satellite data. Some of this research manifested in her 2003 article "Astronaut-Acquired Photography of Earth: Its History and Continued Applicability in Quantitative Analyses," in the Journal of Space Communications, Issue 3. She went on to collaborate with a colleague at Johnson Space Center, Dr. Dean Eppler, to take this research futher with a second publication titled "How earth remote sensing from the international space station complements current satellite-based sensors" in the International Journal of Remote Sensing, currently in press. In 2001 Dr. Gebelein and several colleagues received NASA funding for a 3-year project to develop a land cover map from satellite imagery for all the Greater and Lesser Antilles islands. Cuba, the largest Antilles island, is very interesting in terms of land cover and land use change over time. The changing land cover and land use of the island since the Spanish acquisition of the island in the late 1400's is a direct and indirect reflection of the evolving politics and governmental controls of the country. It is this relationship between the people and their impacts on the island that has become a major focus of Dr Gebelein's work.
Since not everyone has a background in remote sensing or GIS (Geographic Information Systems), I have separated this webpage into research and teaching components. For research, first, an explanation of what remote sensing and GIS are and second, why these tools are useful in different applied types of research. Lastly, there is a link to my current research, where I explain in depth, the relevance of remote sensing and GIS to my research, my methodology, and my results.
The second major focus is educational materials. Since students are becoming more and more technologically saavy, more advanced topics are being offered at many high schools and colleges. However, sometimes it is difficult to find resources. Thus, here I offer educational materials, lesson plans, and links to those who wish to educate themselves or their students about Cuba's landscape history, current status, remote sensing projects involving Cuba, and GIS data for Cuba.
