GIS · REMOTE SENSING · UAS · TEACHING
M.S. GIS & Spatial Analytics · M.Ed. STEM Education
I teach remote sensing and UAS, and I use GIS to study environmental questions. This site includes my maps, imagery workflows, and project notes.
01 / PROFILE
My background is in geology, science education, GIS, and aviation. I built this portfolio to show the work itself and explain what data I used, how I handled it, what I checked, and where the results have limits.
02 / TEACHING
I teach UAS 201: Sensors and Remote Sensing at Sonoran Desert Institute. The course connects sensor characteristics, imagery, GIS, photogrammetry, aviation, and mission planning for adult learners in an online program.
My teaching background includes online and classroom science instruction, curriculum and assessment design, and course work in Canvas, Coursera, Moodle, and Blackboard. I am especially interested in teaching introductory GIS, remote sensing, environmental GIS, UAS mapping, and cartography.
03 / SELECTED WORK
Selected GIS, remote-sensing, and web-mapping work with project context and interactive ArcGIS links.
Environmental GIS · Remote sensing
Two maps show Brevard County's elevation pattern and Landsat-derived land-cover classes, with attention to source resolution, classification, and cartographic design.
ArcGIS Pro · Landsat-derived land-cover data · Raster interpretation · Digital elevation model · Class-based symbology · Cartography
Landsat · Thermal remote sensing
Landsat 7 and Landsat 9 surface-temperature maps from February 2009 and February 2025 displayed on the same scale, with the limits of a two-date comparison clearly identified.
Landsat 7 · Landsat 9 · Land-surface temperature · Thermal raster analysis · Temporal comparison · Cartography · QA/QC
Environmental GIS · Water quality
I used supplied monitoring observations to build comparable dissolved-oxygen surfaces for Chesapeake Bay in 2015 and 2025.
Supplied water-quality data · Data preparation · Spatial interpolation · Raster comparison · Environmental interpretation · Cartography · QA/QC
UAS · Multispectral remote sensing
A Hole 5 project comparing NDVI, GNDVI, and OSAVI for turf inspection, irrigation checks, and field verification.
Flight planning · Multispectral imagery · NDVI · GNDVI · OSAVI · Turf-health interpretation · QA/QC
ArcGIS StoryMaps · Hazard vulnerability
I combined FEMA flood zones, social vulnerability, population, shelters, walking access, and evacuation routes in an ArcGIS StoryMap about hurricane evacuation barriers.
ArcGIS StoryMaps · ArcGIS Online · FEMA flood data · Social Vulnerability Index · Network accessibility · Public-facing GIS communication
Python · Geospatial automation
A Python script searches, quality-masks, mosaics, aligns, compares, and summarizes Landsat Collection 2 surface-temperature rasters for Brevard County.
Python · Rasterio · NumPy · STAC API · Cloud-optimized GeoTIFFs · QA bit masking · Reprojection · Raster differencing · Automated reporting
04 / EDUCATION
Portfolio-ready curriculum that connects environmental science, remote sensing, UAS technology, data analysis, and responsible scientific communication.
10-DAY INSTRUCTIONAL UNIT · AP ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE + UNDERGRADUATE
A complete mini-course with standards, measurable objectives, daily lessons, student activities, formative and summative assessments, answer keys, a capstone, rubric, accommodations, and downloadable teaching materials.
05 / CAPABILITIES
06 / ABOUT
Geology taught me to read landscapes, aviation taught me to plan carefully, and education taught me to explain technical ideas clearly. I hold an M.S. in GIS and Spatial Analytics, an Ed.D. in Curriculum and Instruction, an M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction — STEM, and a B.S. in Geology.
I bring those perspectives together when I analyze imagery, design maps, check data, or help students understand how geospatial evidence should be interpreted.
07 / CONTACT
I am available to discuss GIS and remote-sensing instruction, UAS, environmental mapping, cartography, and geospatial data quality.
michaelbairdgis@gmail.com