Yaqian He is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geosciences at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. Before joining UARK, she worked as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Geography at the University of Central Arkansas from 2020 to 2024. Before that, she was a postdoc research fellow in Dr. Justin Mankin’s research group at Dartmouth College and collaborated with Dr. Jonathan Chipman. She received her Ph.D. in Geography from West Virginia University in 2018, supervised by Dr. Eungul Lee and worked closely with Dr. Tim Warner. She holds a master’s degree in Cartography and GIS from Beijing Normal University (2013) under Dr. Yanchen Bo, and a bachelor’s in Surveying Engineering from China University of Mining and Technology (2010).

Seth Guidry is an Arkansas native who has a passion for weather and climate research.  He is currently pursuing a MS Geography degree at Indiana University - Bloomington, and his thesis is a comparison of the spatiotemporal patterns of surface and canopy urban heat island (UHI) effects within fast-growing cities.  His primary research interest is applying GIS and remote sensing to study land-surface-atmosphere interactions.  Outside of research, he enjoys listening to music, singing, playing the piano, and traveling.

Rahul Durai is an undergraduate research assistant working on a citizen science platform for collecting and mapping irrigation data. He is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in environmental and sustainability studies and English at Indiana University Bloomington. In addition to his work for Dr. Yaqian He, he works on social scientific projects about agriculture and public health through the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health. Outside of research, he enjoys running, walking his dog, and reading.