Curriculum Vitae

Woubet Gashaw Alemu

Greenbelt, MD, 20771, USA 

Phone (cell): +1-240-805-3443

email:   woubet.g.alemu@nasa.gov; woubet.alemu@gmail.com 

web:      https://science.gsfc.nasa.gov/sed/bio/woubet.g.alemu 

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Woubet-Alemu 

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=EiJeQE4AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao

Research Interests:

Remote Sensing; Geospatial Sciences; Remote Sensing; GIS; Geography; Land Surface Phenology; Land Use/Land Cover Change; Natural Resources Management; Environmental Science; Landscape Ecology; Cropland Mapping; Crop Yield Estimation & Forecasting; Climate Variability; Food Security

Academic Training:

2017                                  Ph.D., Geospatial Science & Engineering (Remote Sensing Geography), South Dakota State University, USA

2011                                  M.Sc., Land Resources Management, Bahir Dar University, ETH 

2007                                  M.Sc., Earth Sciences (Remote Sensing & GIS), Addis Ababa University, ETH

2004                                  B.A., Geography & Environmental Studies, Addis Ababa University, ETH

1998                                  Diploma/Associate Degree, Geography, Bahir Dar University, ETH 

Professional Experience:

2023-Present                   Assistant Research Scientist, NASA GSFC / UMD ESSIC, USA

2020-2023                       Postdoctoral Fellow, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, USA

2018-2020                       Distinguished Postdoctoral Associate, Florida International University, USA

2017-2018                       Postdoctoral Fellow, South Dakota State University, USA

2011-2017                       Graduate Research Assistant, South Dakota State University, USA

2009-2011                       Lecturer, Bahir Dar University, ETH

2007-2009                       Lecturer, University of Gondar, ETH 

2005-2007                       Graduate Assistant II, University of Gondar, ETH

2004-2005                       Graduate Assistant I, University of Gondar, ETH

Honors/Awards:

2014                                  US-IALE Student Travel Award, US-IALE, USA 

2012                                  US National Phenology Network 2012 conference travel award, US National Phenology Network, USA

2004                                  Gold Medalist of College of Social Science Graduates, Addis Ababa University

2002-2003                       Aklilu Lemma Foundation (ALF) Financial Scholarship Merit winner of College of Social Sciences, Addis Ababa University. 

2003-2004                       Aklilu Lemma Foundation (ALF) Financial Scholarship Merit winner of College of Social Sciences, Addis Ababa University. 

2001                                  Mitsubishi term-top student award, Mitsubishi, Ethiopia

1998                                  Top CGPA student of Bahir Dar University Associate Degree graduates 

Student Advising:

Graduate student supervision (International collaboration and research)

Research Funding Awarded/Fellowships:

Alemu WG (C.S.R. Neigh, Mentor). 2020-2023. Cropland Mapping, Yield Estimation, and Forecasting for Food Security Using Satellite Microwave and High-Resolution Optical Datasets in the Amhara Region, Ethiopia. NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP). $250,000.

Alemu WG (AM Melesse, Mentor). 2018-2019 & 2019-2020. Land Surface Phenologies and Seasonalities Based on the Synergistic Use of Microwave, Optical and Modelled Data Suite in East African Croplands, and Linkages to Agricultural Crop Production for Food Security. Florida International University, USA. $110,000.

Alemu WG (GM Henebry, advisor). 2013-2016. Land Surface Phenologies and Seasonalities Using Earthlight: A Comparison between Tropical and Temperate Croplands, and Its Application for Agricultural Crop Productivity Assessment. Funded by NASA Earth & Space Sciences Fellowship Program (Grant No. NNX13AN58G), NASA, USA. $90,000. 

Woubet Gashaw Alemu. 2011. Role of Soil and Water Conservation Measures to Ecosystem Services at Anjeni Watershed, Northwest Ethiopia. Funded by NCCR (National Center for Competence in Research) – North South RP-11 - Land Resource Potential, University of Bern, Switzerland. 30,000 ET birr.

Woubet Gashaw Alemu. 2008. Flood Hazard & Risk Assessment Using GIS and Remote Sensing in Fogera Woreda, Northwest Ethiopia. Funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) Youth Education and Training Awards for Africa (CYETA), Canada. 16,000 ET birr. 

Courses developed:

Bahir Dar University

GIS and Remote Sensing (Undergraduate and Graduate)

Watershed Management (Undergraduate)

University of Gondar

GIS and Remote Sensing (Undergraduate)

Map Reading and Interpretation (Undergraduate)

Cartography (Undergraduate)

Analysis of Spatial Patterns I (Undergraduate)

Analysis of Spatial Patterns II (Undergraduate)

Mathematics for Geographers (Undergraduate)

Survey of Ethiopian Geography and the Horn (Undergraduate)

General Ecology (Undergraduate) 

Terrain Analysis (Undergraduate)

Introduction to Climate

Civics & Ethical Education

Guest Lectures:

Alemu WG. 2019. Land Surface Phenology and Seasonality Using Cool Earthlight in Croplands of Eastern Africa and the Linkages to Crop Production. FIU, Guest Lecture for Department of Earth & Environment Graduate students.

Alemu WG. 2018. Land Surface Phenology and Seasonality Using Cool Earthlight in Croplands of Eastern Africa. FIU, Guest Lecture for Department of Earth & Environment undergraduate students.

Publications: 

Sisay, G., Gessesse, B., Fürst, C., Kassie, M., Kebede, B., & Alemu, W. G. (2024). Evaluating the spatiotemporal dynamics of ecosystem service values in response to land use/land cover change in Goang watershed, Northwest Ethiopia. Environmental Challenges, 15, 100908. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envc.2024.100908 

Caraballo-Vega, J. A., Spradlin, C. S., Carroll, M., Neigh, C. S., Wooten, M., Wessels, K., Le, M. T., Strong, S. L., Frost, M., & Burke, A. (2024). EO-Validation: Low Latency Commodity-Based Collaborative Validation Framework for Geoai Data Products. 6916–6919. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/IGARSS53475.2024.10641506 

Wooten, M., Caraballo-Vega, J. A., Thomas, N. M., Wagner, W. C., Neigh, C. S., Carroll, M. L., Brown, M. E., Diouf, A. A., Mbaye, M., & Ndao, B. (2024). A Deep Learning Data Fusion Approach for Modeling Land use in Smallholder Agriculture Systems. 4077–4080. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/IGARSS53475.2024.10641952 

Alemu WG, CSR Neigh, JA Caraballo-Vega, M Wooten, E Muluken, GM Maru, C Mulu. 2023. Land Cover Mapping in The Amhara Region of Northwest Ethiopia Using Convolutional Neural Networks and Domain Adaptation Techniques. International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS), http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/IGARSS52108.2023.10283273.

Spradlin C, W Margaret, JA Caraballo-Vega, ML Carroll, CSR Neigh, K Wessels, M Tri Le, P Montesano, WG Alemu, N Thomas. 2023. Large-scale distributed compositing and statistics Framework for very-high resolution remote sensing imagery. International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS), http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/IGARSS52108.2023.10283222.  

Caraballo-Vega JA, ML Carroll, CSR Neigh, M Wooten, B Lee, A Weis, M Aronne, WG Alemu, Z Williams. Optimizing WorldView-2,-3 cloud masking using machine learning approaches. Remote Sensing of Environment 2023, 284, 113332, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2022.113332.

Alemu WG, CSR Neigh. Desert Locust Cropland Damage Differentiated from Drought, with Multi-Source Remote Sensing in Ethiopia. Remote Sensing 2022, 14, 1723. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14071723. 

Sisay, G.; Gitima, G.; Mersha, M.; Alemu, W.G. Assessment of Land Use Land Cover Dynamics and Its Drivers in Bechet Watershed Upper Blue Nile Basin, Ethiopia. Remote Sensing Applications: Society and Environment 2021, 24, 100648, https://doi:10.1016/j.rsase.2021.100648. 

Alemu WG, GM Henebry, AM Melesse. 2020. Land Cover and Land Use Change in the US Prairie Pothole Region Using the USDA Cropland Data Layer. Land, 9(5), 166. https://doi.org/10.3390/land9050166. 

Alemu WG, MW Wimberly. 2020. Evaluation of Remotely Sensed and Interpolated Environmental Datasets for Vector-Borne Disease Monitoring Using In Situ Observations Over the Amhara Region, Ethiopia. Sensors, 20(5), 1316. https://doi.org/10.3390/s20051316. 

Alemu WG, AM Melesse. 2019. Impacts of Longterm Conservation on Ecosystem Services in Northwest Ethiopia. International Soil and Water Conservation Research 2020, 8, 47-55. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iswcr.2019.10.002

Alemu WG, GM Henebry, AM Melesse. 2019. Land surface phenologies and seasonalities of croplands and grasslands in the US Prairie Pothole Region coupling AMSR passive microwave data with the USDA Cropland Data Layer. Remote Sensing, 11(21), 2550. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11212550

Alemu WG, GM Henebry. 2017b. Land Surface Phenology and Seasonality Using Cool Earthlight in Croplands of Eastern Africa and the Linkages to Crop Production. Remote Sensing, 9(9). http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs9090914  

Alemu WG, GM Henebry. 2017a. Comparing Passive Microwave with Visible-to-Near-Infrared Phenometrics in Croplands of Northern Eurasia. Remote Sensing, 9(6). http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs9060613     

Alemu WG, GM Henebry. 2016. Characterizing Cropland Phenology in Major Grain Production Areas of Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan by the Synergistic Use of Passive Microwave and Visible to Near Infrared Data. Remote Sensing, 8(12). http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs8121016

Alemu WG, GM Henebry. 2013. Land surface phenologies and seasonalities using cool earthlight in mid-latitude croplands. Environmental Research Letters, 8(4): 045002. http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/8/4/045002 

Alemu WG, T Amare, B Yitaferu, YG Selassie, B Wolfgramm, H Hurni, 2013. Impacts of soil and water conservation on land suitability to crops: The case of Anjeni watershed, northwest Ethiopia. Journal of Agricultural Science, 5(2):95-109. http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/jas.v5n2p95 

Gashaw W, D Legesse. 2011. Flood hazard & risk assessment using GIS and remote sensing in Fogera Woreda, Northwest Ethiopia. In: (AM Melesse, ed.) Nile River Basin: Hydrology, Climate, and Water Use. Springer: NY. pp. 179-206. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0689-7_9

Presentations:

Alemu WG, CSR Neigh, JA Caraballo-Vega, M Wooten, Carroll ML, Brown ME, and McNally A (2024). Can AI and multisource remote sensing extract smallholder agriculture productivity in conflict zones of Ethiopia? NRO First Conference, August 22, 2024, Chantilly, VA.

Caraballo-Vega, J. A., Spradlin, C. S., Carroll, M., Neigh, C. S., Wooten, M., Wessels, K., Le, M. T., Strong, S. L., Frost, M., & Burke, A. (2024). EO-Validation: Low Latency Commodity-Based Collaborative Validation Framework for Geoai Data Products. 2024 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium: “Acting for Sustainability and Resilience”. 7 - 12 July, 2024, Athens, Greece.

Wooten, M., Caraballo-Vega, J. A., Thomas, N. M., Wagner, W. C., Neigh, C. S., Carroll, M. L., Brown, M. E., Diouf, A. A., Mbaye, M., & Ndao, B. (2024). A Deep Learning Data Fusion Approach for Modeling Land use in Smallholder Agriculture Systems. 2024 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium: “Acting for Sustainability and Resilience”. 7 - 12 July, 2024, Athens, Greece.

Alemu WG, CSR Neigh, JA Caraballo-Vega, M Wooten, E Muluken, GM Maru. 2023. Land cover change analysis in the Amhara Region of Northwest Ethiopia using convolutional neural networks on WorldView imagery. AGU Fall Meeting, December 11-15, 2023, San Francisco, CA, USA, & Online Everywhere, (talk; https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm23/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/1401810) 

Wooten M, CSR Neigh, JA Caraballo-Vega, KJ Wessels, ML Carroll, ME Brown, M Tri Le, NM Thomas, W Wagner, WG Alemu, A Elders. 2023. Regional-Scale Land Cover Change Mapping Across Senegal with Deep Learning and High Resolution Imagery. AGU Fall Meeting, December 11-15, 2023, San Francisco, CA, USA, & Online Everywhere, (talk; https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm23/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/1440788). 

Alemu WG, CSR Neigh, JA Caraballo-Vega, M Wooten, E Muluken, GM Maru. 2023. Regional Land Cover Classification in the Amhara Region, Northwest Ethiopia, Using Deep Learning on WorldView Imageries. ORAU 2023 Annual Site Visit Presentation, NASA GSFC, October 26, 2023. Greenbelt, MD

Alemu WG, CSR Neigh, JA Caraballo-Vega, M Wooten, E Muluken, GM Maru. 2023. Mapping land cover at very high-resolution in the Amhara Region of Northwest Ethiopia using convolutional neural networks on WorldView imagery. NASA GSFC AICE Seminar. August 9, 2023.

Alemu WG, CSR Neigh, JA Caraballo-Vega, M Wooten, E Muluken, GM Maru, C Mulu. 2023. Land Cover Mapping in The Amhara Region of Northwest Ethiopia Using Convolutional Neural Networks and Domain Adaptation Techniques. International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS), 16 - 21 July 2023, Pasadena, CA, USA (Talk; https://2023.ieeeigarss.org/view_paper.php?PaperNum=4647) 

Spradlin C, W Margaret, JA Caraballo-Vega, ML Carroll, CSR Neigh, K Wessels, M Tri Le, P Montesano, WG Alemu, N Thomas. 2023. Large-scale distributed compositing and statistics Framework for very-high resolution remote sensing imagery. International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS), 16 - 21 July 2023, Pasadena, CA, USA (Poster; https://2023.ieeeigarss.org/view_paper.php?PaperNum=5747).  

Alemu WG, CSR Neigh, JA Caraballo-Vega, MR Wooten, E Muluken. 2022. An ensemble of Convolutional Neural Networks for Land Use Land Cover Classification in the Amhara Region of Northwest Ethiopia using Very High-Resolution Commercial Satellite Imageries. December 14,  2022, Chicago, IL, USA, & Online Everywhere, (i-poster, https://agu2022fallmeeting-agu.ipostersessions.com/default.aspx?s=86-FE-EA-10-93-3B-71-AB-59-FC-76-95-01-BF-32-CE&guestview=true) 

Alemu WG, CSR Neigh, JA Caraballo-Vega, MR Wooten, E Muluken. 2022. An ensemble of Convolutional Neural Networks for Land Use Land Cover Classification in the Amhara Region of Northwest Ethiopia using Very High-Resolution Commercial Satellite Imageries. December 03, 2022, Bahir Dar University, Geospatial Data & Technology Center, Administration Building, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. (Seminar)

Alemu WG, CSR Neigh. 2022. Desert Locust and Drought Cropland Damage Assessment in Ethiopia. December 03, 2022, Bahir Dar University, Geospatial Data & Technology Center, Administration Building, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. (Seminar)

Alemu WG, CSR Neigh, JA Caraballo-Vega, MR Wooten, E Muluken. 2022. An ensemble of Convolutional Neural Networks for Land Use Land Cover Classification in the Amhara Region of Northwest Ethiopia using Very High-Resolution Commercial Satellite Imageries. November 18, 2022, Bahir Dar University, College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Zenzelima Campus, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. (Seminar)

Alemu WG, CSR Neigh, JA Caraballo-Vega, MR Wooten, E Muluken. 2022. Land Use Land Cover Classification in the Amhara Region, Northwest Ethiopia, Using Convolutional Neural Networks. The 3rd International Workshop on AGRICULTURE-VISION: CHALLENGES & OPPORTUNITIES FOR COMPUTER VISION IN AGRICULTURE. June 19, 2022. (Invited Talk; https://www.agriculture-vision.com/agriculture-vision-2022/program-schedule-2022)

Alemu WG, CSR Neigh, JA Caraballo-Vega, MR Wooten, E Muluken. 2022. Land Use Land Cover Classification in the Amhara Region, Northwest Ethiopia, Using Machine Learning. NASA GSFC 618 Brown Bag Seminar: Early Career Showcase. March 24, 2022. (Talk)

Alemu WG, CSR Neigh, JA Caraballo-Vega, MR Wooten, E Muluken. 2021. Land Use Land Cover Classification in the Amhara Region, Northwest Ethiopia, Using Convolutional Neural Networks. AGU Fall Meeting. 13-17 December 2021, New Orleans, LA & Online Everywhere. (Talk, https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm21/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/941933) 

Alemu WG, CSR Neigh. 2021. Desert Locust and Drought Cropland Damage Assessment in Ethiopia. The Ninth International Conference on Agro-Geoinformatics, 26-29 July 2021/ Virtual Conference (Talk, http://agro-geoinformatics.org/).

Alemu WG, AM Melesse, GB Senay. 2020. Assessment of Drought Dynamics in East Africa using Satellite Passive Microwave Integrated Drought Indices. IALE-NA Annual Symposium. May 11 –24, 2020, Virtual Conference. (i-poster; https://2020toronto-ialena.ipostersessions.com/default.aspx?s=EB-0F-4A-DE-43-93-91-7E-B2-1B-31-78-93-FC-AE-7D.

Alemu WG, AM Melesse, GB Senay. 2019. Drought Monitoring in East Africa using Integrated Satellite Passive Microwave Drought Indices (2003-2018). AGU Fall Meeting. 9-13 December 2019, San Francisco. (Poster, https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm19/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/510724)

Alemu WG, GM Henebry. 2017. Land Surface Phenologies and Seasonalities of Croplands in the Prairie Pothole Region Using Passive Microwave Data (2003-2016). AGU Fall Meeting. 11-15 December 2017, New Orleans. (Poster, https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm17/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/256856) 

Alemu WG, GM Henebry. 2017. Land Surface Phenologies and Seasonalities of Croplands and Grasslands in the Prairie Pothole Region Using Cropland Data Layer & Passive Microwave Data (2003-2016). Pecora20, Observing a Changing Earth, Sioux Falls, SD. November 13 – 16, 2017. (Poster)

Alemu WG, GM Henebry. 2017. Exploring Land Surface Dynamics in Eastern South Dakota using Cropland Data Layer and Passive Microwave Data. Eastern South Dakota Water Conference, Brookings, SD. November 8, 2017. (Poster)

Alemu WG, GM Henebry. 2016. Cropland land surface phenology and seasonality in East Africa: Ethiopia, Tanzania, and South Sudan. Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia. February 5, 2016. (Invited Talk)

Alemu WG, GM Henebry. 2015. Cropland land surface phenology and seasonality in East Africa: Ethiopia, Tanzania, and South Sudan. AGU Fall Meeting. 14-18 December 2015, San Francisco. (Poster, https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm15/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/65127)  

Alemu WG, GM Henebry. 2015. Land Surface Phenologies and Seasonalities Using Earthlight: A Comparison between Tropical and Temperate Croplands, and Its Application for Agricultural Crop Productivity Assessment. Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia. March 13, 2015. (Invited Talk) 

Alemu WG, GM Henebry. 2014. Synergistic Use of Passive Microwave and Visible to Near Infrared Data Improves Monitoring of Cropland Dynamics in Major Grain Production Areas of Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan. AGU Fall Meeting. 15-19 December 2014, San Francisco. (Poster, https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm14/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/8890, http://neespi.org/web-content/meetings/AGU_2014/Alemu-poster.pdf) 

Alemu WG, GM Henebry. 2014. Land Surface Phenologies and Seasonalities Using Cool Earthlight in the Major Grain Production Areas of Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan. US-IALE Annual Symposium. May 18 –22, 2014, Anchorage, Alaska. (Talk, http://usiale.org/anchorage2014/presentation-details/4952) 

Alemu WG, GM Henebry. 2013. Land surface phenologies and seasonalities using cool earthlight in the major grain production areas of Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan. AGU Fall Meeting. 9-13 December 2013, San Francisco. (Poster, http://abstractsearch.agu.org/meetings/2013/FM/GC21D-0867.html; http://neespi.org/web-content/meetings/AGU_2013/Alemu-poster.pdf)  

Alemu WG, GM Henebry. 2013. Land surface phenologies and seasonalities using earth-light: A comparison between tropical and temperate croplands. US-IALE Annual Symposium. April 14 –18, 2013, Austin, Texas. (Poster, http://abstractsearch.agu.org/meetings/2013/FM/GC21D-0867.html) 

Alemu WG, GM Henebry. 2012. Land surface phenologies and seasonalities using earthlight: a comparison between tropical and temperate croplands. AGU Fall Meeting. San Francisco, CA, 3-7 December, San Francisco. (Poster, http://abstractsearch.agu.org/meetings/2012/FM/B11C-0433.html)   

Alemu WG, GM Henebry. 2012. Land surface phenologies and seasonalities using earthlight: Application to the Amhara Highlands, Ethiopia. Phenology 2012. Milwaukee, WI, 10-12 September. (Talk, http://www4.uwm.edu/letsci/conferences/phenology2012/abstract_book.pdf) 

Woubet G. 2009. GIS-Based Communal Waste Bin Site Evaluation & Selection of Arada Sub City, Addis Ababa. University of Gonder, College of Social Sciences and Humanities quarterly Research Conference, Gondar, Ethiopia, January 16, 2009. (Talk)

Woubet G, Dagnachew L. 2008. Flood hazard and risk assessment in Fogera Woreda, Northwest Ethiopia, using GIS and remote sensing. University of Gondar Staff and Students Annual Research Conference. Gondar, Ethiopia, May 11-12, 2008. (Talk)

Woubet G, Dagnachew L. 2008. Flood hazard and risk assessment in Fogera Woreda, Northwest Ethiopia, using GIS and remote sensing. Workshop on Hydrology and Ecology of the Nile River Basin under Extreme Conditions. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 16-19 June. (Talk, http://www2.fiu.edu/~melessea/Nile%20Workshop%20Proceedings_%20June%2016-19,%202008.pdf)

References: Christopher S.R. Neigh (christopher.s.neigh@nasa.gov); Geoffrey M. Henebry (henebryg@msu.edu); Assefa M. Melesse (melessea@fiu.edu); & Gabriel B. Senay (senay@usgs.gov)