Dr. Richard Kelly

Dr. Richard Kelly is an Associate Professor at the University of Waterloo in the Department of Geography and Environmental Management and a founding member of the Interdisciplinary Centre on Climate Change.

In his presentation Tracking Environmental Change Using Digital Technologies, Dr. Kelly will explain how digital observing and mapping technologies, from remote sensing to geographical information systems to GPS, form an integral toolkit for the scientist interested in environmental change. The sequence of data acquisition, data analysis and information presentation that drive environmental knowledge advancement is increasingly a seamless chain of events thanks to digital media standards and interoperability of tools. This presentation will explain how digital technologies are being used to track environmental change from regional to global scales.

Additionally, Dr. Kelly has held positions at the University of London, UK and at NASA Goddard Space Flight Centre before moving to Waterloo. His research is concerned with remote sensing of the cryosphere, places on Earth where water is frozen. In a changing environment, the cryosphere is predicted to exhibit some of the earliest signs of change and this is being born out in the Arctic regions. His research is funded through NSERC, Government of Canada, CFI and NASA. He is the co-author of a recent book entitled “The Cryosphere and Global Environmental Change” and the lead editor of a book entitled “Spatial Modelling of the Terrestrial Environment”.