News

2026

May 1, 2026 — Welcome four outstanding undergraduate students to the GSI Lab for Summer 2026: Md Samiu Hossain, Jarren Trent, Mahmood Elahi, and Jacob Hailemariam. Supported by the PURE Award, Schulich Undergraduate Research Program, and NSERC USRA, they will be working on exciting projects spanning AI, remote sensing, hyperspectral sensing systems, and Arctic environmental monitoring. We look forward to a productive and engaging summer, and to supporting their growth in applied AI and Earth observation research. Welcome to the lab!
Apr 22, 2026 — Congratulations to Mabel Heffring on receiving the NSERC Doctoral Scholarship ($40,000/year for 3 years).
Apr 11, 2026 — Congratulations to Prof. Lincoln Xu on receiving the NSERC Discovery Grant (DG).
Apr 1, 2026 — Congratulations to Zack Dewis on his nomination for the Governor General’s Gold Medal. His MSc thesis, “Novel Sparse Adaptive Token Mamba Models for Remote Sensing Imagery Classification” , introduces a novel AI framework for remote sensing and builds upon three IEEE journal publications. He is also recognized for his outstanding academic performance, collaboration, and leadership within the lab.
Apr 3, 2026 — Congratulations to Mabel Heffring on receiving the Canadian Student Participation in Space Conferences and Training Events (Category A – ISPRS Congress and Summer School) award, valued at $5,000. This award supports her participation in the ISPRS Congress, where she will present her research on pan-Arctic sea ice mapping using AI and multi-sensor data fusion, as well as her leadership role in organizing and contributing to the ISPRS Summer School.
Mar 30, 2026 — Congratulations to Zack Dewis on the successful defense of his MSc thesis, “Novel Sparse Adaptive Token Mamba Models for Remote Sensing Imagery Classification” . His work introduces a novel Sparse Adaptive Token Mamba framework that improves efficiency and accuracy in remote sensing image classification by enabling adaptive tokenization and disentangled spatial–spectral–temporal modeling.
Mar 26, 2026 — Congratulations to Prof. Lincoln Xu on his appointment as Chair of the Membership Committee of the Canadian Institute of Geomatics, recognizing his leadership and contributions to the geomatics community.
Mar 25, 2026 — Congratulations to Prof. Lincoln Xu on receiving a CFI John R. Evans Leaders Fund award ($233,319) for the project “AI-Driven UAV Hyperspectral Imaging System for Advanced Environmental Monitoring.” This prestigious infrastructure grant will support cutting-edge research in AI-enabled remote sensing and environmental monitoring.
Feb 10, 2026 — Congratulations to Prof. Lincoln Xu on his appointment as Associate Editor of Drone Systems and Applications. This role highlights his leadership and expertise in UAV-based remote sensing, hyperspectral imaging, and AI-driven geospatial analysis.
Feb 1, 2026 — Welcome Mara Di Giulio to the lab as a visiting PhD student. Mara is a PhD student in Ecological Systems Biology at Sapienza University of Rome and is currently visiting the Geospatial Sensing and Intelligence Lab at the University of Calgary, supervised by Prof. Lincoln Xu. She holds a Master’s degree in Ecobiology from Sapienza University of Rome, graduating with honors. Her research focuses on plant phenology and vegetation dynamics under climate change using remote sensing and environmental data analysis. Mara brings interdisciplinary experience in satellite data processing, vegetation index time-series analysis, and ecological modeling, with work involving MODIS, Sentinel, and PlanetScope imagery. Her current research explores AI-based temporal unmixing and MODIS NDVI time-series analysis to assess climate change impacts on vegetation and tree species phenology.
Jan 10, 2026 — Congratulations to Mabel Heffring on her appointment as Student Director of the Canadian Remote Sensing Society (CRSS), highlighting her leadership and engagement in the national remote sensing community.
Jan 5, 2026 — Congratulations to Yimin Zhu on receiving the Alberta Graduate Excellence Scholarship (AGES) – International, valued at $11,000. This competitive award highlights her strong academic performance and impactful research in geospatial AI and remote sensing.

2025

Dec 1, 2025 — Congratulations to Mabel Heffring on receiving the Alberta Innovates Graduate Student Scholarship (2025), valued at $31,000/year for three years. This award recognizes her outstanding research contributions and continued excellence in AI-driven remote sensing.
Sep. 1, 2025 — Welcome Quinn Ledingham to the lab. Quinn is an MSc candidate in the Department of Geomatics Engineering at the University of Calgary, supervised by Prof. Lincoln Xu. He holds a BSc in Software Engineering from the University of Calgary (2019–2023). Quinn brings a strong software engineering background to geospatial data science, with experience in remote sensing, GIS, AI, and post-wildfire flood risk mapping. He has developed a spatiotemporal Transformer in PyTorch for PM2.5 forecasting, built a custom 3D game engine in C++ (SDL3/Vulkan), and contributed as a backend developer designing REST APIs and integrating AI tools. His current research focuses on AI-driven post-wildfire flood risk mapping and hyperspectral remote sensing.
July 1, 2025 — Welcome Megan Greenwood to the lab. Megan is an MSc student in the Department of Geomatics Engineering at the University of Calgary, supervised by Prof. Lincoln Xu. She holds a BSc (Honours) in Earth and Environmental Sciences from the University of British Columbia – Okanagan, graduating at the top of her class and receiving the UBC Medal in Science. Her research focuses on integrating AI and remote sensing for environmental mapping and monitoring in the Canadian Arctic. Megan brings interdisciplinary experience in satellite imagery processing, geospatial analytics, and predictive modeling, with past work at GHGSat and Lafarge Canada. Her work supports climate resilience, Arctic ecosystem monitoring, and sustainable development.
May 1, 2025 — Welcome four summer students from the University of Calgary to the lab: Nicole Tan (wildfire mapping and risk prediction), Aleinmar Win (Arctic sea ice monitoring), Zarin Hadika (land cover classification), and Kaylee Xiao (high-resolution land use mapping). Their work focuses on applying AI and geospatial data to environmental monitoring and climate resilience.
Apr 28, 2025 — Congratulations to Mabel Heffring on receiving the NSERC Canada Graduate Scholarship – Master’s (CGS-M), valued at $27,000. This prestigious award recognizes her outstanding academic achievements and research potential in geomatics engineering and AI-driven remote sensing.
Apr 1, 2025 — Welcome Dr. Saeid Taleghani to the lab. Dr. Taleghani is a postdoctoral researcher in Prof. Lincoln Xu’s group at the University of Calgary. Saeid did PhD in Systems Design Engineering from the University of Waterloo, co-supervised by Dr. Lincoln Xu, with expertise in AI, remote sensing, SAR, and Arctic environments. He brings over seven years of academic and industry experience and is a highly accomplished researcher. His work focuses on AI-driven environmental monitoring and climate change mapping, including multimodal satellite data fusion, high-accuracy land cover classification, and Arctic environmental modeling, with applications to climate resilience and children’s health.
Feb 28, 2025 — Welcome Zhengsen Xu to the lab. He is a PhD candidate in the Department of Geomatics Engineering at the University of Calgary, supervised by Prof. Lincoln Xu. His research focuses on applying deep learning and remote sensing to predict wildfire risk across Canada. By integrating diverse data sources—such as climate records, weather patterns, remote sensing imagery, and historical wildfire data—his work aims to uncover complex spatial-temporal patterns and improve the accuracy and timeliness of wildfire prediction. This research supports more effective environmental management and disaster mitigation, helping reduce the impact of wildfires on ecosystems, communities, and infrastructure.
Feb 13, 2025 — Welcome Motasem Alkayid to the lab. Motasem is a PhD candidate in Geomatics Engineering at the University of Calgary, co-supervised by Prof. Lincoln Xu and Prof. Naser El-Sheimy. His research focuses on developing advanced deep learning methods for large-scale land cover and land use mapping using Earth observation data. With over a decade of experience in GIS and remote sensing, he has worked as a research assistant at ICARDA and a teaching assistant at the University of Jordan. His expertise includes geospatial data processing, image classification, and AI applications in environmental science, with contributions to projects such as glacier movement analysis and refugee tent mapping.
Jan 7, 2025 — Welcome Yimin Zhu to the lab. Yimin is a PhD candidate in the Department of Geomatics Engineering at the University of Calgary, supervised by Prof. Lincoln Xu. Her research focuses on deep learning for hyperspectral image processing and high-precision land cover classification and environmental monitoring. She has published multiple papers in top-tier journals, including IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing. She has developed innovative algorithms such as SS-ConvNeXt and DiffCRN, achieving state-of-the-art performance. Yimin has received numerous academic honors, including the Best Master Thesis and First-Class Scholarship, and is proficient in Python, MATLAB, and PyTorch, with experience in Google Earth Engine. Outside of research, she is active in science outreach and badminton.
Jan 5, 2025 — Welcome Zack Dewis to the lab. Zack is an MSc candidate in the Department of Geomatics Engineering at the University of Calgary, supervised by Prof. Lincoln Xu. He earned his BSc in Geography with Distinction from the University of Calgary in 2023. He is a strong and well-rounded student with notable achievements. His research focuses on developing deep learning algorithms for large-scale land cover and land use mapping using MODIS time-series data, supporting environmental monitoring and sustainable land management. He has also contributed to projects on machine learning-based waterbody detection and geothermal mapping using Landsat imagery. Outside of academics, Zack is a competitive athlete and was a member of the University of Calgary Dinos Rowing Team (2019–2023), earning the “Most Improved Athlete” award in 2021.

2024

Sep 2, 2024 — Welcome Mabel Heffring to the lab. Mabel is a MSc candidate in the Department of Geomatics Engineering at the University of Calgary, supervised by Prof. Lincoln Xu. She received her BSc in Geomatics Engineering (Minor in Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development) from the University of Calgary in 2023 with Distinction. She is a stellar student with multiple awards. Her research focuses on applying machine learning and AI to remote sensing, developing advanced deep learning methods for Pan-Arctic sea ice mapping using SAR and passive microwave data, supporting climate studies, Arctic navigation, and northern community adaptation.
Sep 1, 2024 — Welcome Dr. Lincoln Xu to the Department of Geomatics Engineering at the University of Calgary. Dr. Xu’s research focuses on geospatial sensing, remote sensing, and AI for Earth observation. More details can be found here.