PROGRAM
Thursday, November 20, 2025
1:30 - 2:00
Registration
Welcome, Introduction, & Overview
2:00 - 2:20
Dr. John Konarski
Chief Executive Officer
American Geographical Society
Dr. Christopher Tucker
Chairman
American Geographical Society
Dr. Marie Price
President
American Geographical Society
Mx. Tee Barr
Chair
2025 Symposium Planning Committee
Where is Geography in GeoAI?
2:20 - 2:35
Dr. May Yuan
Ashbel Smith Professor of GIS
University of Texas at Dallas
Fintech, Supply Chains, and GeoAI
2:35 - 3:05
Moderator:
Mx. Tee Barr
Panelists:
Ms. Sara Rosner
Director–Responsible Investing Research
AllianceBernstein
Ms. Sadie Frank
Chief Executive Officer
N4EA
Mr. Daniel Sheehan
Director of Data Engineering
Open Supply Hub
Mr. Alex Vengerovsky
Chief Scientist
Spatial Risk Systems
Unlocking Financial Decisions with GeoAI
3:05 - 3:25
Ms. Gillian Mollod
Senior Principal Product Manager
Intercontinental Exchange
Two Geographic Revolutions in One Career
3:25 - 3:35
Dr. Jerome Dobson
Professor Emeritus
University of Kansas
Foundations of the Emerging GeoAI Industry
3:35 - 4:15
Moderator:
Dr. Jerome Dobson
Panelists:
Dr. Budhu Bhaduri
Director of Science, Programs, and Partnerships, National Security Sciences
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Mr. Chris Duncan
Executive in Residence
Mars Hill University
Dr. Michael Goodchild
Professor Emeritus
University of California - Santa Barbara
Ms. Farhana Hasan
Chief Executive Officer
HerWILL
The Future of GeoAI and GenAI
4:15 - 4:35
Interviewer:
Dr. Catherine Nakalembe
Assistant Professor
University of Maryland
Guest:
Mr. Brian McClendon
Chief Technology Officer
Niantic Spatial
4:35 - 4:55
Break/Caucus
YouthMappers: Turning GeoAI into Action for the Global Good
4:55 - 5:20
Moderator:
Dr. Patricia Solis
Research Professor
Arizona State University
Panelists:
Ms. Marcela Zeballos
Managing Director
YouthMappers
Ms. Natália da Silveira Arruda
PhD Candidate
Arizona State University
Ms. Maliha Binte Mohiuddin
PhD Candidate
West Virginia University
Dr. Temidayo Oniosun
Managing Director
Space in Africa
5:20 - 6:00
Lightning Talks
“Making a Case for the Human”
Ms. Maggie Cawley
OpenStreetMap US
“GeoAI for a Thirsty Planet: Forecasting Harmful Algal Blooms”
Ms. Arianna Flores & Ms. Paige Hebert
Arizona State University
“AI for Smart Rural Places: Bridging the Smart Divide”
Dr. Jeffrey Hamerlinck
University of Wyoming
“The Role of STS in the Age of Deep & Twin Transition”
Ms. Gwendolyn Murphy
University of Wisconsin-Madison
“A Predictive Heat Model for NYC Subway System”
Dr. Hamid Norouzi
City University of New York
“Teaching GeoAI and Generative Thinking”
Mr. Jim Roche
Trevor Day School
“Quantum Almanac”
Dr. Katie Verlinden
Applied Ocean Sciences
“Delivering Accuracy in the Face of Wildfire Challenges”
Dr. Huairen Ye
Guidewire
6:00 - 7:00
Welcome Reception
Friday, November 21 2025
Registration and Breakfast
8:00 - 8:30
GeoAI Future of Connected Systems
8:30 - 9:20
Moderator:
Dr. Christopher Tucker
Panelists:
Ms. Khrystyna Bezborodova
Project Manager - Feature Extraction
Trimble
Mr. Pete Fitts
Sr. Principal Consultant
Esri
Ms. Tosca Lichtenheld
Head of Federal & Defense
Sofar Ocean
9:20 - 9:40
GeoAI and Climate
Dr. Pierre Gentine
Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences
Columbia University
Quantum-Enabled GeoAI for Advanced Environmental Decision Making
9:40 - 9:55
Dr. Chris Verlinden
Chief Technology Officer
Applied Ocean Sciences
9:55 - 10:25
Break/Caucus
The GenAI Leap for Geospatial Intelligence
10:25 - 11:15
Moderator:
Dr. Nadine Alameh
Founder
LunateAI
Panelists:
Mr. Robert Carroll
Founder
Tera Analytics
Mr. Sean Gorman
Chief Executive Officer
Zephr.xyz
Mr. Jesse Kallman
Chief Executive Officer
Danti
Dr. Matt Reisman
Chief Technology Officer
Bedrock Research
The Future of Planetary AI
11:15 - 11:30
Dr. Michael Breen
Head of Strategic Initiatives
Anthropic
Foundational Models and the Operationalization of GeoAI
11:30 - 12:20
Moderator:
Mx. Tee Barr
Panelists:
Ms. Briana Brown
Senior Director, Product & Marketing
Ecopia AI
Mr. Sourav Mazumder
Distinguished Engineer
IBM
Mr. Peter Wilczynski
Chief Product Officer
Vantor
12:20 - 1:20
Lunch
Geospatial AI and Digital Twins
1:20 - 1:40
Ms. Tarini Bhatnagar
Senior Solutions Architect
NVIDIA
1:40 - 2:30
Global Risks and Human Security
Moderator:
Dr. Alexander de Sherbinin
Director - Center for Integrated Earth System Information
Columbia Climate School
Panelists:
Mr. Robert Cardillo
Chairman of the Board
Planet Federal
Dr. Ryan Engstrom
Professor of Geography
George Washington University
Mr. Tom Ingold
Chief Technology Officer
The Earth Genome
Dr. Catherine Nakalembe
AGS Honors & Awards Ceremony
2:30 - 3:05
3:05 - 3:30
Break/Caucus
Navigating Ethics, Environmental Justice, Education, and Equity in the GeoAI Future
3:30 - 4:20
Moderator:
Dr. Marie Price
Panelists:
Ms. Ayca Ariyoruk
Senior Fellow
Center for AI and Digital Policy
Dr. Marie Heath
Associate Professor of Learning Design & Technology
Loyola University Maryland
Dr. Wendy Jepson
Director, Environmental Programs and Environment and Sustainability Initiative
Texas A&M University
4:20 - 4:50
Lightning Talks
“How GeoAI Stops Wildfires”
Mr. Maxx Bricklin
STOP / FIRES
“A New Interface for Earth”
Mr. Kevin Bullock
DevSeed
“Geoeconomics and Spatial Finance: Turning Geospatial Headwinds into Portfolio Tailwinds”
Dr. Michael Ferrari
Climate Alpha
“Oceanographic AI: Biogeochemical insights in the Gulf of America (Mexico)”
Dr. Jennifer McWhorter
University of Miami
“GeoAI and Gaming: Leveraging Human Cognition with Advanced AI Capabilities”
Dr. Kumar Navulur
Synspective USA
“A Review of Recent Work on AI and Climate Justice”
Dr. Marco Tedesco
Columbia University