Maria Zubkova

Dr. Maria Zubkova is an Associate Research Professor in the Department of Geographical Sciences at the University of Maryland, College Park. She received her Ph.D. in Natural Resources with an emphasis on Earth Observation/Remote Sensing and Geographical Information Sciences from the University of Idaho. Before that, she earned an MSc in Geoinformation in Environmental Management from the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania (MAICh) in Greece. Dr. Maria Zubkova has over 10 years of graduate and post-graduate research experience. Her research interests are disentangling the complex interaction between vegetation, climate, humans, and wildfire, emphasizing the African continent.

Outside of research, Dr. Zubkova dedicates a significant portion of her time to mentoring early-career geoscientists from high school to Post-Doc level. She is especially passionate about supporting and empowering women in STEM through Association for Women Geoscientists mentoring platform Mentoring365 and NSF Full STEM Ahead. She is also a member of the Society for Conservation GIS conference committee, where she facilitates the organization of the annual international conference.