Salt Lake City, Utah, United States
I am a passionate Research Geographer with an expertise in satellite remote sensing and its applications for environmental monitoring and conservation. I am committed to designing innovative techniques to address the world's most urgent environmental challenges. To fulfill this commitment, I develop advanced mapping, statistical, and machine learning techniques, with a focus on topics related to forest carbon dynamics and land cover and land use change. My dedication to excellence is evident in my numerous peer-reviewed publications, research grants, consultancies, and presentations. My research methodologies are used by national greenhouse gas inventories and researchers to better understand the status and trends in forest ecosystems. ๐ช๐ฒ๐ฏ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ https://www.eric-bullock.com ๐ฃ๐๐ฏ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Eric-Bullock-3 ๐ก๐๐ฆ๐ ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ณ๐ถ๐น๐ฒ https://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/article/meet-dr-eric-bullock/
Leading the development of high resolution forest biomass datasets for benchmarking satellite biomass maps. Integrating airborne lidar, hyperspectral, and high resolution data with forest inventory data using machine learning. Leading field/drone campaigns for training data collection and model validation. Developing an open source suite of benchmarking tools for biomass map assessment.
I developed remote sensing and statistical techniques to advance the Forest Service's mission, which focuses on the responsible stewardship of our nation's forests and grasslands to fulfill the needs of both present and future generations. As part of the Rocky Mountain Research Station's Inventory and Monitoring Program, I designed and executed techniques to monitor the condition and trends of forests both domestically and internationally. ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ ๐๐ก๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ข๐ก๐ฆ๐๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐๐ฆ โข Led research for a NASA LCLUC project aimed at establishing a forest disturbance alert system in Madagascar through fusion of daily Planet, Landsat, Sentinel-1, and Sentinel-2 data. โข Delivered expert technical guidance for national programs aiming to measure and report carbon emissions from forest degradation and deforestation. โข Serve as a Subject Matter Expert on a team seeking to minimize bias in estimated forest properties caused by non-response of sampled field plots. โข Acted as the lead developer on a project with the objective of combining forest inventory with spaceborne lidar data from GEDI to quantify forest biomass. โข Disseminated research findings through academic publications, conference presentations, and project reports. โข Conduct technical workshops. ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ก๐ง๐ฆ โข Pioneered a novel methodology showcased at the COP26 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow. โข Forest degradation mapping algorithm officially recognized as part of Nepal's Nationally Determined Contributions to the Paris Climate Agreement. โข Demonstrated research proficiency with three lead-author manuscripts and seven co-authored contributions. โข Successfully led a high-performance team of 15 researchers. โข Awarded a NASA SERVIR grant as a Co-Investigator.
Collaborating with Fiji's Ministry of Forestry, I conducted a case study on the Continuous Degradation Detection (CODED) methodology to map forest degradation and estimate the corresponding emissions for REDD+ reporting. This involved a comparative analysis between the results from CODED to those generated for their REDD+ reference period. The project report was duly submitted to the World Bank and Fijiโs Ministry of Forestry.
As a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Global Land Cover and Estimation (GLanCE) project, I was one of two primary developers working to achieve the group's mission of global land cover change mapping using Landsat data. ๐๐๐ฌ ๐ฅ๐๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ข๐ก๐ฆ๐๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ก๐ง๐ฆ โข Developed Google Earth Engine JavaScript utilities and interactive applications for land cover change analysis. โข Created and maintained a Python application for generating land cover training data. โข Wrote and maintained training material and tutorials. โข Managed a training data database used by over 25 data collectors. โข Conducted numerous training workshops on land cover classification and forest degradation monitoring. โข Published one lead-author manuscript and contributed to four as a co-author.
As a Ph.D. Candidate and recipient of a NASA NESSF award, I dedicated my time to researching innovative remote sensing techniques for forest degradation monitoring. This led to the development of the Continuous Degradation Detection (CODED) algorithm, a tool now utilized in over 15 countries, and acknowledged as part of Nepal's Nationally Determined Contributions to the Paris Climate Agreement. ๐๐๐ฌ ๐ฅ๐๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ข๐ก๐ฆ๐๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ก๐ง๐ฆ โข Developed and implemented the Continuous Degradation Detection (CODED) algorithm on Google Earth Engine. โข Supervised a team of 12 researchers focused on exploring carbon dynamics in the Amazon. โข Constructed a comprehensive 27-year forest change dataset in the Amazon using Landsat and Google Earth Engine. โข Led a field team in Pohnpei, Micronesia to measure biomass at mangrove forest plots. โข Published six lead-author papers on the design and application of remote sensing algorithms for environmental change monitoring. โข Participated in capacity building workshops in 10 countries, focusing on land cover change mapping, measuring emissions from forest degradation, and map accuracy assessments.