Victor Hugo Gutierrez-Velez

Victor Hugo Gutierrez-Velez in a blue stripped shirt smiling and staring into the camera

Victor Hugo Gutierrez-Velez

  • College of Liberal Arts

    • Geography, Environment and Urban Studies

      • Associate Professor

        Concentrations

        • Environmental Studies
        • Geographic Information Systems
      • Affiliated Faculty

        Programs

        • Latin American Studies
      • Faculty Fellow

        Programs

        • Center for Sustainable Communities

Expertise

Remote Sensing, Land System Science, Sustainability Science, Biodiversity Conservation, Spatial Modeling, Landscape Ecology

Biography

I study changes in the biosphere resulting from people-nature interactions, as mediated by human use of the land, and the implications of these changes for nature conservation and people’s well-being. I do this through a combination of remote sensing and spatial modeling among others. With my work, I aim to produce knowledge that can help to identify avenues to address the current global environmental crisis.

My research includes 1) the identification of land system change in urban and rural environments, 2) the understanding of social and biophysical drivers of land system change, 3) the analysis of relationships between land system change and broader ecological and environmental processes that affect biodiversity and people’s well-being including the proliferation of fires, air pollution, and the spread of infectious disease vectors, and 4) the production of spatial information, infrastructure, and knowledge that inform decisions to promote ecological integrity and people’s well-being.

I have a master’s degree in Geographic Information Science from Clark University and a Ph.D. in Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology from Columbia University.

Curriculum Vitae | Website

Selected Publications

Courses Taught

  • Remote Sensing/Environmental Remote Sensing (designed course undergraduate/graduate)
  • Advanced Remote Sensing (designed course -undergraduate/graduate)
  • Sustainable Natural-Human Systems (designed course -graduate)
  • Land system Science (designed course -undergraduate)
  • Applied Machine Learning for Spatial Analysis (designed course -graduate)
  • Spatial Statistics (undergraduate/graduate, restructured lab sections)