Expand sub-menus

John Lee David

Photo of JOHN DAVID

John Lee David

  • DATA SCIENTIST
  • 301.286.3971
  • NASA/GSFC
  • Mail Code: 615
  • Greenbelt , MD 20771
  • Employer: KBR

    • Research Interests

    Ecosystems and Restoration Ecology

    I have long been interested in restoring ecosystems functionality.  To facilitate this I am a member of  the IUCN's Commission on Ecosystem Management in support of the Bonn Challenge's goal of beginning the restoration of 150 million hectares of degraded land by 2020.

    Algorithm Design

    One of my specialities is working with collaborators to develop, implement, and test new algorythms to address their needs.

    Water Balance

    Water is an important limiting resource globally.  I am interested in where our water comes from, its eventual fate, and how we can ultimately manage this limited resource.

    Brief Bio

    I like to tell people that working here at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center is the dream job I never knew enough to fantasize about. I started college at 15 as an early admittance student focusing on computer science, artificial intelligence, robotics and art. Years later I got interested in applied restoration ecology, and continue to work in areas that support ecological restoration efforts including hydrological modeling, remote sensing, spatial statistics and analysis, and occasional forays into the field.

    Current Projects

    Sub-Saharan Sahel Tree Counting and Biomass Estimation

    Classifying individual trees across the entire Sub-Saharan Sahel as part of a biomass estimation project.  This work is partially funded through an Intel Challenge grant, and received the 2015 HPCwire Awards – Readers Choice Award for Best HPC Collaboration Between Government & Industry at SC15

    The WAter BAlance Tool

    The The WAter BAlance Tool (WABAT) is being developed to provide a global course scale total water budget using remote sensed data products.  We are working with the United Nations Statistical Division and several NASA partners to provide end users with easy and automated access to user specified queries.

    Positions/Employment

    11/2011 - Present

    Senior Programmer/Analyst

    SSAI/NASA-GSFC, Greenbelt MD Working on near real-time flood and inundation modeling and remote sensing.
    9/2011 - 11/2011

    DEVELOP Intern

    NASA-GSFC, Greenbelt MD Worked on near real-time flood and inundation modeling, calibration, and validation.
    4/2011 - 8/2011

    Student Intern

    International Business Machines, Austin Research Labs, Austin TX
    5/2010 - 8/2010

    Summer of Code Intern

    Google, Mountain View CA
    5/2005 - 5/2008

    Instrumentation Engineer (UCPEA-X)

    University of Connecticut, Department of Natural Resources and the Environment , Storrs CT
    5/1996 - 10/1998

    Wetlands Restoration Crew Supervisor (seasonal)

    US Forest Service, Kamas Rangers District, Kamas UT

    Teaching Experience

    I have taught a number of specialty workshops such as two week intensive flood modeling training of the Coupled Routing and Excess STorage model (CREST) hydrological model.  I also tutor DEVELOP interns on how to use the Linux operating system.

    Education

    Arizona State University.  MS, Plant Biology.  2002

    University of New Mexico.  BS, Computer Science (with distinction).  1996
     

     

    Professional Societies

    International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), 2013 - Present
    Member of their Commission of Ecosystem Management and the Commission of Environmental, Economic and Social Policy.
    Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), 2010 - Present
    Student Member
    Society for Conservation Biology (SCB), 2013 - Present
    Member
    Society for Ecological Restoration (SER), 1997 - 2014
    Member. Please note that I have not kept a continuous membership.
    Society of Wetland Scientists (SWS), 2008 - 2013
    Member.
    New Mexico Riparian Council, 2003 - 2005
    Board Member. Head of Volunteer Programs. President Elect (unfortunately I had to give that up to take the instrumentation engineer position at UConn)

    Professional Service

    I serve as a Member on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Commission on Ecosystem Management (IUNC-CEM).  April 2013 - Present.  My primary interest is in ecosystem restoration where I have over the years gained experience restoring wetlands, dryland forests, grasslands, and other ecotypes.

    I serve as a Member on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy (IUNC-CEESP).   October 2013 - Present.  I work mainly with Specialist Group on Indigenous Peoples, Customary & Environmental Laws & Human Rights (SPICEH) to support native communities interests in economics, education and the environment.

    Represented IUCN-CEM and participated on the United Nation Statistical Division's Expert Group Meeting on the Guidelines for the Compilation of Water Accounts and Statistics, 20-22 November 2013, New York, New York.

    Represented IUCN-CEM and participated on the United Nation Statistical Division's Expert Group Meeting on Modelling Approaches and Tools for Testing the SEEA Experimental Ecosystem Accounting, 18-20 November 2013, New York, New York

    Grants

    01/01/2007 - 01/01/2008 Creating Useful Products from Connecticut's 2000 LiDAR Dataset, Connecticut Cooperative Highway Research Program
    Creating Useful Products from Connecticut's 2000 LiDAR Dataset
    ; Co-PI ; 0.5 FTE
    Grant Amount: $49,768

    Other Professional Information

    Besides my background in computer science and restoration ecology, I also have a technical diploma in electronics, and served apprenticeships with a tool and die machinist and a master blacksmith.  In addition, I am an official developer for LinuxCNC (nee EMC) which provides the real-time kinematics to build and retrofit industrial machine tools for CNC.  This combined experience gives me the ability to work with very diverse teams of researchers, scientists, engineers, and technicians.

    Publications

    Refereed

    Middleton, B. A., and J. L. David. 2022. "Trends in vegetation and height of the topographic surface in a tidal freshwater swamp experiencing rooting zone saltwater intrusion." Ecological Indicators, 145 (109637): 11 [10.1016/j.ecolind.2022.109637]

    Skaskevych, A., J. Lee, H. C. Jung, et al. J. Bolten, J. L. David, F. S. Policelli, I. B. Goni, G. Favreau, S. San, and C. M. Ichoku. 2019. "Application of GRACE to the estimation of groundwater storage change in a data poor region: a case study of Ngadda catchment in the Lake Chad Basin.." Hydrological Processes, hyp.13613 [10.1002/hyp.13613]

    Brandt, M., K. Rasmussen, P. Hiernaux, et al. S. Herrmann, C. J. Tucker, X. Tong, F. Tian, O. Mertz, L. Kergoat, C. Mbow, J. L. David, K. A. Melocik, M. Dendoncker, C. Vincke, and R. Fensholt. 2018. "Reduction of tree cover in West African woodlands and promotion in semi-arid farmlands." Nature Geoscience, [10.1038/s41561-018-0092-x]

    Requa, M., G. Vaughan, J. David, and B. Cotton. 2016. "Using cloud bursting to count trees and shrubs in Sub-Saharan Africa." 2016 IEEE International Conference on Big Data (Big Data), [10.1109/bigdata.2016.7840947]

    Zou, Y., M. Jiang, X. Yu, et al. X. Lu, J. David, and H. Wu. 2011. "Distribution and biological cycle of iron in freshwater peatlands of Sanjiang Plain, Northeast China." Geoderma 164 (3), 238-248:

    Wu, J., G. D. Jenerette, and J. L. David. 2003. "Linking land-use change with ecosystem processes: a hierarchical patch dynamic model."

    Wu, J., and J. L. David. 2002. "A spatially explicit hierarchical approach to modeling complex ecological systems: theory and applications." Ecological Modelling 153 (1), 7-26:

    Hargis, C. D., J. A. Bissonette, and J. L. David. 1998. "The behavior of landscape metrics commonly used in the study of habitat fragmentation." Landscape ecology 13 (3), 167-186:

    Hargis, C. D., J. A. Bissonette, and J. L. David. 1997. "Understanding measures of landscape pattern." Wildlife and Landscape Ecology, 231-261.

    Milne, B. T., A. R. Johnson, T. H. Keitt, et al. C. A. Hatfield, J. L. David, and P. T. Hraber. 1996. "Detection of Critical Densities Associated with Piñon-Juniper Woodland Ecotones." Ecology, 805-821:

    Selected Public Outreach

    STEM, STEAM, and Science Fair Judge 2012 - Present
    I serve as a judge at local and regional STEM, STEAM, and Science Fairs.

    Brief Bio

    I like to tell people that working here at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center is the dream job I never knew enough to fantasize about. I started college at 15 as an early admittance student focusing on computer science, artificial intelligence, robotics and art. Years later I got interested in applied restoration ecology, and continue to work in areas that support ecological restoration efforts including hydrological modeling, remote sensing, spatial statistics and analysis, and occasional forays into the field.

    Publications

    Refereed

    Middleton, B. A., and J. L. David. 2022. "Trends in vegetation and height of the topographic surface in a tidal freshwater swamp experiencing rooting zone saltwater intrusion." Ecological Indicators 145 (109637): 11 [10.1016/j.ecolind.2022.109637]

    Skaskevych, A., J. Lee, H. C. Jung, et al. J. Bolten, J. L. David, F. S. Policelli, I. B. Goni, G. Favreau, S. San, and C. M. Ichoku. 2019. "Application of GRACE to the estimation of groundwater storage change in a data poor region: a case study of Ngadda catchment in the Lake Chad Basin.." Hydrological Processes hyp.13613 [10.1002/hyp.13613]

    Brandt, M., K. Rasmussen, P. Hiernaux, et al. S. Herrmann, C. J. Tucker, X. Tong, F. Tian, O. Mertz, L. Kergoat, C. Mbow, J. L. David, K. A. Melocik, M. Dendoncker, C. Vincke, and R. Fensholt. 2018. "Reduction of tree cover in West African woodlands and promotion in semi-arid farmlands." Nature Geoscience [10.1038/s41561-018-0092-x]

    Requa, M., G. Vaughan, J. David, and B. Cotton. 2016. "Using cloud bursting to count trees and shrubs in Sub-Saharan Africa." 2016 IEEE International Conference on Big Data (Big Data) [10.1109/bigdata.2016.7840947]

    Zou, Y., M. Jiang, X. Yu, et al. X. Lu, J. David, and H. Wu. 2011. "Distribution and biological cycle of iron in freshwater peatlands of Sanjiang Plain, Northeast China." Geoderma 164 (3) 238-248

    Wu, J., G. D. Jenerette, and J. L. David. 2003. "Linking land-use change with ecosystem processes: a hierarchical patch dynamic model."

    Wu, J., and J. L. David. 2002. "A spatially explicit hierarchical approach to modeling complex ecological systems: theory and applications." Ecological Modelling 153 (1) 7-26

    Hargis, C. D., J. A. Bissonette, and J. L. David. 1998. "The behavior of landscape metrics commonly used in the study of habitat fragmentation." Landscape ecology 13 (3) 167-186

    Hargis, C. D., J. A. Bissonette, and J. L. David. 1997. "Understanding measures of landscape pattern." Wildlife and Landscape Ecology 231-261

    Milne, B. T., A. R. Johnson, T. H. Keitt, et al. C. A. Hatfield, J. L. David, and P. T. Hraber. 1996. "Detection of Critical Densities Associated with Piñon-Juniper Woodland Ecotones." Ecology 805-821

                                                                                                                                                                                            
    NASA Logo, National Aeronautics and Space Administration
    • NASA Official:
    • Curator:
    • Last Updated: 09/27/2023