Matthew E. Ramspott

 

Matt is a 2000-2004 Self Fellow pursuing a Ph.D. in geography. He received a B.S. (1995) with high distinction from the University of Nebraska with a major in environmental studies/botany and minors in mathematics and anthropology. He received a Master of Applied Geography (2000) with honors from Southwest Texas State University. While earning his undergraduate degree, he was employed for 2 years as a research assistant in the Department of Biological Sciences at UNL. During his time in San Marcos, TX, he worked as a teaching/research assistant in air photo interpretation, terrain modeling, and digital cartography. Matt also gained experience working in land surveying and field archaeology, and he is a graduate of the National Outdoor Leadership School. His research activities at KU are based at the Kansas Applied Remote Sensing (KARS) Program, part of the Kansas Biological Survey.

Matt has extensive experience working with aerial photography, satellite imagery, and other types of remote sensing data, as well as with the methods and techniques associated with Geographic Information Systems (GIS). His research currently involves a wide variety of field survey methods, with experiments using reflectance spectrometry and biometrics to measure vegetation characteristics, and using Global Positioning System (GPS) technology to associate ground measurements with aerial and satellite image data. Generally, his research goals are the characterization, and monitoring of land cover, land use, and biophysical characteristics in the managed tallgrass prairie ecosystem of northeast Kansas, as well as study of the impacts of past and present land use on ecosystem dynamics and soil properties.

In December of 2002, Matt was awarded the Lortz memorial graduate scholarship by the Central Region chapter of the American Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing; in March, 2003 he was awarded 2nd prize in the national level student honors paper competition of the Remote Sensing Specialty Group of the Association of American Geographers for his paper presentation entitled “Multi-scale remote-sensing based measurement of biophysical characteristics in northeast Kansas grasslands”. In addition to these organizations, Matt is also a member of the International Association for Landscape Ecology and of the Phi Beta Kappa and Pi Lambda Theta academic honor societies.

Mentor: Kevin Price, Geography




The University of Kansas prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, national origin, age, ancestry, disability, status as a veteran, sexual orientation, marital status, parental status, gender identity, gender expression and genetic information in the University’s programs and activities. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the non-discrimination policies: Director of the Office of Institutional Opportunity and Access, IOA@ku.edu, 1246 W. Campus Road, Room 153A, Lawrence, KS, 66045, (785)864-6414, 711 TTY.