Alemu Gonsamo, Assistant Professor & Tier II Canada Research Chair of Remote Sensing
Associate Director of McMaster Centre for Climate Change
Associate Editor Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences Editorial Board Member Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
PDF University of Toronto; PhD University of Helsinki Finland; MSc Wageningen University The Netherlands; BSc Hawassa University Ethiopia
Google Scholar | Scopus | Twitter | LinkedIn | Email
Post-doctoral fellows
Dr. Cheryl Rogers (2022 – present): My research focuses on remote sensing of carbon exchange between vegetation and the atmosphere to better understand the response of terrestrial ecosystems to climate change. I use a variety of field measurements to link processes we can measure on the ground to signals we can detect from space. Awards: 2011 Best Masters Thesis award from the Canadian Remote Sensing Society. Google Scholar | ORCID | LinkedIn | Publons | ResearchGate | Personal Website | Email
Dr. Wen Zhuo (2023 – present): My research focuses on remote sensing, crop yield and climate change. Email
Dr. José Bermúdez (2022 – present). My academic training is in Electronic Engineering with research specialization in Computer Vision, Pattern Recognition, Deep Learning, and Remote Sensing. Currently, I am working on forest biomass mapping for Canada’s forested ecosystems using machine and deep learning algorithms, optical, LiDAR and SAR satellite remote sensing. Google Scholar | ResearchGate | Twitter | Email
Graduate students
Xinran Gao (2020 – present, PhD student). My research focuses on exploring how much we can characterize the terrestrial ecosystem functioning under global climate change by SIF combining with traditional vegetation indices(e.g. NDVI, EVI), especially studying the impact of extreme climate on vegetation, reflecting the response of ecosystems with different canopy structure using SIF observations. Email | Twitter
Tenaw Geremew Workie (2019 – present, PhD student ). I am a PhD candidate at the Ethiopian Space Science and Technology Institute. Before I earned additional Master degrees in geo-information science and earth observation in 2011 from a consortium of four leading European universities in the UK, Sweden, Poland and the Netherlands, I worked as a lecturer of physical Geography in Wollo University, Ethiopia for two years. Researchgate | LinkedIn | Email. Awards: Erasmus Mundus MSc scholarship, Ministry of Education MSc scholarship.
Ricardo Barros Lourenço (2021 – present, PhD student ). My research interests lie in the interface of Geosciences and Computer Science, more specifically on explainable artificial intelligence (xAI) methods to understand satellite detected changes. I am the Communications Editor for Environmental Data Science. Google Scholar | Researchgate | Twitter | LinkedIn | GitHub | Blog | Email Awards: AGU Outstanding Student Presentation Award, Brazil Scientific Mobility Program Scholar, Grupo Montevideo Escala Scholar
Max Salman (2021-present, PhD student ). My research interests are in the utilization of geophysical and remote sensing observations to characterize northern peatlands and permafrost areas. My hobbies/passions involve swing dancing, flying, playing piano, running and cross-country skiing. Google Scholar | ResearchGate | Twitter | LinkedIn | GitHub | ORCID | Email
Jingru Zhang (2021-present, visiting PhD student). I am a PhD student at Beijing Forestry University, China. I am studying plan phenology using satellite solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence, gross primary production and vegetation indices (such as NDVI, EVI, and NIRv) observations. Email. Awards: China Scholarship Council (CSC) to study abroad
Chinyere Ottah (2022-present, PhD student ). My research focuses on LiDAR, SAR and optical remote sensing of wetlands, forests, biomass, and wildfire. Currently, I am focusing on the use of satellite SAR and LiDAR remote sensing to estimate carbon emission from forest disturbances. Awards: Alberta Graduate Excellence Scholarship, University of Lethbridge Canada wildfire research Award, University of Lethbridge Scholarship Tuition Award, UK- Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) Strategic Partnership Scholarship Awardee, Departmental and Faculty Best Graduating Student. ResearchGate | Google Scholar | Twitter | Email
Shuhong Qin (2022-present, visiting PhD student). I am a PhD student at Hohai University, China. I am studying forest biomass and carbon sink using multiple sources of remote sensing observations (such as satellite optical images, UAV-LiDAR, and SAR data) and National Forest Inventory data. ResearchGate | Twitter | Email
Research assistants
High school interns
Imran Gulamhussein (2021-present). Detecting spongy moth defoliation with satellite observations and machine learning. Email
Awards: UCMAS Mental Computational Maths Competition Merit Award (4x), First Place – Tie -McMaster Children’s & Youth University Junior Challenge, High Honours – Johns Hopkins International Talent Search, Outstanding Performance Award Mathstronauts STEM Hacks Competition, Witherspoon Writing Award – Finalist, and Bachelor Of Knowledge at McMaster Children’s & Youth University.
Alumni
Dr. Camile Söthe (2020 – 2022, postdoctoral fellow). Now (2022-): Research Scientist at Finite Carbon. Google Scholar | Researchgate | Twitter | Publons | Email
Dr. Michelle Kalamandeen (2021 – 2022, postdoctoral fellow). Google Scholar | ResearchGate | Twitter | LinkedIn | Email
Lelia Weiland (2020-2021, research assistant, undergrad thesis). Now (2021-): MSc student at University of Calgary. LinkedIn
The Gonsamo Group 