USC Dornsife Spatial Sciences Institute

USC Dornsife Spatial Sciences Institute USC SSI uses the power of connecting place, space, and time to help address global challenges.

📍 Spotted in Amsterdam:John Wilson and Stephanie Tran at the 2026 Geospatial World Forum, representing USC SSI in the U....
05/29/2026

📍 Spotted in Amsterdam:

John Wilson and Stephanie Tran at the 2026 Geospatial World Forum, representing USC SSI in the U.S. Pavilion and exchanging ideas with 1,000+ other geospatial professionals.

To quote Dr. Wilson: "One of the highlights of the week was reconnecting with members of our Academic Advisory Council, including Deirdre Dalpiaz Bishop from the U.S. Census Bureau, Damian Spangrud from Esri, and Greg Scott from the PVBLIC Foundation. Conversations like these reinforce the importance of collaboration across sectors as we continue advancing the future of geospatial science and technology."

You may know Ezra Naranjo as an undergrad studying Human Security & Geospatial Intelligence at USC Dornsife College of L...
05/27/2026

You may know Ezra Naranjo as an undergrad studying Human Security & Geospatial Intelligence at USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences...

But he's also an award-winning writer! ✍️🥇

His essay "Freedom from Liberty" won first place at the University of Southern California Undergraduate Writers' Conference (UWC) this April.

"In this ambitious piece, Ezra Naranjo traces a path from the abstractions of contemporary AI to its deeper roots in conquest and racial hierarchy. In a voice that's at once commanding and lucid, he situates the disembodied unfreedom of the American present with a longer history of dispossession, crafting a forceful and intellectually expansive argument."
– Competition Judges

Ezra will receive $1,000 in prize money — and unlimited rounds of applause from his SSI fam! 👏👏👏


USC Academic Honors and Fellowships

Meet Esri's 2026 International Student of the Year: Jooyoung Yoo! 🎉The USC SSI graduate (MS in Spatial Data Science) and...
05/21/2026

Meet Esri's 2026 International Student of the Year: Jooyoung Yoo! 🎉

The USC SSI graduate (MS in Spatial Data Science) and current PhD student at Emory University earned this honor at the Esri Innovation Program (EIP) competition.

💡 Award-Winning Research
Yoo's project "Democratizing Nationwide Urban Tree Canopy Mapping — Leveraging GeoAI, ArcGIS, and NAIP Imagery" was developed as part of the University of Southern California Urban Trees Initiative led by Professor John Wilson with support from the Bezos Earth Fund.

🤲 Data for All
Yoo made his project materials publicly available, including his deep learning model, code repository, and datasets. (See article for links!)

⏩ Next Up
Representing the GIS community at Esri's Education Summit and User Conference in San Diego this July.

🔗 More details from USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences: https://bit.ly/4utMQO0

05/20/2026

Welcome to our newest students joining USC’s graduate GIS programs.

You are stepping into a field that is shaping how we understand cities, environments, technology, and the world around us. We are excited to see the projects, ideas, and innovations you will bring to the spatial sciences community.

Six USC Spatial Sciences Institute graduates were recognized at this year's commencement with USC's most prestigious stu...
05/18/2026

Six USC Spatial Sciences Institute graduates were recognized at this year's commencement with USC's most prestigious student honors — and we couldn't be more proud. 🌟

Congratulations to our Class of 2026 award recipients:

🎓 Sora Nagata | Order of Troy
B.S. in Geodesign

🎓 Kelly Kwok | Order of Arête
B.S. in Geodesign + M.S. in Geographic Information Science & Technology

🎓 Mariella Jorge | Order of Troy
B.S. in Geodesign

🎓 Joey Newell | Order of Arête
M.S. in Spatial Economics and Data Analytics

🎓 Ella Rae Peterchak | Order of Troy
B.S. in Global Geodesign, Minor in Natural Science

🎓 Daniel Pons | Order of Troy
B.S. in Geodesign, Minor in Architecture, magna cm laude

These six graduates have led, served, and made their mark — on USC and beyond. We can't wait to see what you do next.

Read more: https://loom.ly/wzQXFpQ

Hats off to the Class of 2026! 🎓✌️📍 University of Southern California
05/15/2026

Hats off to the Class of 2026! 🎓✌️

📍 University of Southern California

Demand for geospatial talent is rising across commercial, government, and academic sectors...i.e., now is the perfect ti...
05/14/2026

Demand for geospatial talent is rising across commercial, government, and academic sectors...

i.e., now is the perfect time to become a trained pro with USC SSI! 😏🎓

💡 Explore your (many) options at USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences: dornsife.usc.edu

🔓 Access the full 2025-2035 Geospatial Workforce Trends report from MAPPS, GeoSearch, and Global Marketing Insights, Inc.: https://bit.ly/3PAOy0C

Which campus spot meant the most to you this year? 🗺️❤️(Also yes, pre-commencement nostalgia made us post this.)📷 Esri📍 ...
05/12/2026

Which campus spot meant the most to you this year? 🗺️❤️

(Also yes, pre-commencement nostalgia made us post this.)

📷 Esri
📍 University of Southern California

Please join us in congratulating Jeffrey Rozelle for successfully defending his dissertation, "Measuring the Multidimens...
05/12/2026

Please join us in congratulating Jeffrey Rozelle for successfully defending his dissertation, "Measuring the Multidimensional Health Service Environment in Context: Structural and Spatial Dimensions of Access in Low- and Middle-Income Countries," last week!

He is pictured on the right here with his co-advisors, Dr. Dima Qato and Dr. Robert Vos, and with his committee members on the left, Dr. Lu Zhang (Population, Health, and Place faculty) and Dr. Jennifer Tsui (outside member, Keck School of Medicine).

Thank you to all faculty members for their service, and congratulations again to Jeffrey!

✨ Student Spotlight ✨ Big news for Jacob Gizamba, MPH, PhD student in the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Scie...
05/08/2026

✨ Student Spotlight ✨

Big news for Jacob Gizamba, MPH, PhD student in the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences SSI Population, Health & Place program:

He just published "Spatial disparities in access to Hepatitis C treatment providers in Los Angeles County: An enhanced two-step floating catchment area analysis" in the ScienceDirect Journal of Spatial and Spatio-temporal Epidemiology!

Key Findings:
🤝 Non-specialists may help expand treatment in areas with limited specialist availability.
📍 Low-access areas are associated with poverty, lack of insurance, and Hispanic populations.
🩺 Spatial access methods offer a robust framework for identifying place-based inequities in access to HCV cure.

Full Study:
🔗 https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1mvoz6gwSsjK2U

05/06/2026

Today is the day.

Join the USC Spatial Sciences Institute today at 12 p.m. PT for an information session exploring our graduate programs in GIS, spatial data science, geodesign, geospatial intelligence, and more.

You will hear about our innovative curriculum, meet faculty who are leaders across government and industry, and learn how these programs prepare students for impactful careers in the growing geospatial field.

There will also be time for a live Q&A with our team.

Register and join us:
https://loom.ly/UNjkORI

Address

3616 Trousdale Parkway
Los Angeles, CA
90089

Opening Hours

Monday 8:30am - 5pm
Tuesday 8:30am - 5pm
Wednesday 8:30am - 5pm
Thursday 8:30am - 5pm
Friday 8:30am - 5pm

Telephone

+12137405910

Website

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