David Saah is empowering students and faculty to use remote sensing and web mapping.
Director of the Geospatial Analysis Lab
Dr. David Saah is an associate professor at the University of San Francisco and director of the Geospatial Analysis Lab (GsAL). He has been trained as an environmental scientist with expertise in a number of areas, including landscape ecology, ecosystem ecology, hydrology, geomorphology, ecosystem modeling, natural hazard modeling, remote sensing, geographic information systems (GIS) and geospatial analysis. His academic research uses integrated geospatial science for multi-scale mapping, monitoring, and modeling of environmental spatial heterogeneity.
Q&A with David
Q: So what is geospatial analysis?
A: It is really a mix of an art and a science that takes spatial data--things that are mappable--and allows people to analyze it. You can use it to navigate to the nearest grocery store. You could find the best place to put a house. You could identify rates of deforestation in the middle of a location you have a very difficult time getting to. In the simplest terms, that’s what geospatial science is. In terms of the lab itself [the GsAL at the University of San Francisco], I'm the director of the facility. In the department of environmental science, we use that same geospatial science technology to address a variety of environmental issues, like dealing with different rates of wildfires, identifying where flooding could occur, where you could do carbon sequestration projects, and so on.
Q: Where did your interest in this area begin?
A: My cultural background is Palestinian, and we grew up with space being critical to our identity, because it was always one of those things where that part of your identity was under dispute. It was always in the news. It was always politics. So I grew up with maps, and I learned: these are the boundaries that are important to you. These are the boundaries that are being fought for.
As an undergrad [at the University of California, Berkeley], I thought I wanted to be a medical researcher, and I was always stuck in a lab. I thought, What am I doing? I hate this. I realized that I enjoyed my pet projects much more. I was really into artificial intelligence stuff. Neural networks and things like that. And at that time, neural networks were being applied to remote sensing for land cover classifications. I graduated with that degree, and started my Masters and PhD program in landscape ecology. By the time I graduated from Berkeley, I’d founded a Spatial Information Group, an environmental think tank.
Q: Which Google Geo Tools do you find most useful?
A: You know, there are a few of them, but one is Google Earth Engine. I am really sold on this whole web-based remote sensing thing. I love being able to take powerful analytics, and not having to worry about teaching people how to build out geospatial information technology infrastructure, and saying, let's just focus on the implementation. It is really gratifying to do that.
We see that Google Earth Engine is going to be a paradigm shifter. What was once only available to a few people, for a defined period of time, and for a defined project, is now available to everybody who wants it. It’s a great equalizer.
Q: Has it transformed your work?
A: Yes, it has streamlined everything. If we didn't have Earth engine, where would we be? I would have to build out infrastructure within each of these locations we’re mapping. I would have to download massive amounts of data that either we would (or would not) have access to for these locations, and would be training an elite few on how to use them. The costs would be overwhelming. Earth Engine is all about access and transparency.
Q: What’s your favorite place in the world?
A: Our family built a house in a town called Birzeit. It’s next to another town called Ramallah, in the West Bank, and we --10 cousins -- built this house together. It’s my favorite place to go. Of all the places I’ve travelled, that one feels like home.
