Elise Laugier
Environment & Society
Assistant Professor

Contact Information
Office Hours: By AppointmentOffice Location: BNR 369
Phone: (435) 757-1856
Email: elise.laugier@usu.edu
Additional Information:
Educational Background
Licensures & Certifications
Biography
Dr. Elise Laugier is an assistant professor of Geospatial Science and director of USU's certificate programs in Remote Sensing and Geospatial Artificial Intelligence (RS-GeoAI).
Her research examines long-term human-environment dynamics in dryland agricultural systems. She draws on approaches from archaeology, (paleo)ecology, and geospatial science, especially satellite/sUAS remote sensing and microbotanical (phytolith) analysis. Her research reconstructs land use histories, connects past and present political ecologies, and provides long-term context for today’s socio-environmental challenges.
Teaching Interests
Geospatial science, remote sensing, sUAS, programming (Python, R, GEE), human-environment interactions, land use and landscape change, deep-time perspectives
Courses:
GEOG 3200 – Principles of Remote Sensing (Spring, in-person)
GEOG 3700 – Python Programming for GIS (Fall, online) (previously GEOG 4860)
GEOG 4815/6815 – Processing & Analyzing Drone Data (Spring, online)
ENVS 6841/7841 – The Socio-Environmental Research Process (Fall, in-person)
Research Interests
Research themes: Long-term human–environment interactions; land-use and landscape histories; historical ecology
Areas of focus/expertise: Agro-pastoral systems; drylands; Mesopotamia (Western Asia); Landscape archaeology, archaeological science (geoarchaeology & paleoecology)
Methods: Remote sensing (satellite, sUAS); ground-based geophysics; phytolith analysis; FTIR spectroscopy
Awards
National Geographic Explorer, 2026
National Geographic Society
NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (SPRF), 2021
National Science Foundation
Mesopotamian Fellowship, 2019
American Society of Overseas Research
Publications | Journal Articles
Academic Journal
- Madof, A., Laugier, F., Baumgardner, S., Zaki, A., Laugier, E., Bertoni, C., Walker, R., Rivero, C., (2026). Late Miocene Euphrates flowed into a desiccated Mediterranean. Nature Geoscience, 19, 723–731. doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-026-01962-x
- Laugier, E., Stankiewicz, E., (2026). Quantifying dung spherulites: Cross-protocol standardization and spherulite stability in sodium polytungstate (SPT). Journal of Archaeological Science, 192, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2026.106628
- Creamer, P.M, Kaercher, K., Maynard, G., Babakr, N., Jodat, A., Laugier, E., Poolman, L., Proctor, L., Swerida, J., Zane, P., Vo, S., (2024). PRELIMINARY RESULTS OF THE RURAL LANDSCAPES OF IRON AGE IMPERIAL MESOPOTAMIA PROJECT’S 2022–2023 SEASONS AT QACH RRESH (KURDISTAN REGION OF IRAQ). Iraq (Cambridge University Press), 86, 193-225. doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/irq.2024.24
- Glatz, C., Sorotou, A., Raheem, K.R, Abdullah, H.H, Mohammed-Amin, R.K, Marf,, D.A, Abdullatif, N., A.A, Calderbank, D., Laugier, E.J, Hamdan, S., Ali, M., Ahmad, A., Sameen, S.M, Haydar, S.M, (2024). Archaeology as Cultural Heritage in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq: Developing an Integrated Approach beyond Narratives of Catastrophe and Emergency Response. Current Anthropology, 65:S26, S1-S195. doi: https://doi.org/10.1086/731723
- Fannin, L.D, Laugier, E., van Casteren, A., Greenwood, S.L, Dominy, N.J, (2022). Differentiating siliceous particulate matter in the diets of mammalian herbivores. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 13:10, 2198-2208. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.13934
- Laugier, E.J, Abdullatif, N., Glatz, C., (2022). Embedding the remote sensing monitoring of archaeological site damage at the local level: Results from the “Archaeological practice and heritage protection in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq” project. Plos one, 17:6, e0269796. doi: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0269796
- McCoy, M.D, Casana, J., Hill, A.C, Laugier, E.J, Ladefoged, T.N, (2022). Mapping ancient architecture via unpiloted aerial vehicle-acquired Lidar: A case study of Holualoa Royal Centre, Kona district, Hawai'i Island. The Journal of the Polynesian Society, 131:1, 71-92. doi: https://doi.org/10.15286/jps.131.1.71-92
- Laugier, E.J, Casana, J., Cabanes, D., (2022). Phytolith evidence for the pastoral origins of multi-cropping in Mesopotamia (ancient Iraq). Scientific Reports, 12:60, 1-14. doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-03552-w
- Laugier, E., Casana, J., (2021). Integrating Satellite, UAV, and Ground-Based Remote Sensing in Archaeology: An Exploration of Pre-Modern Land Use in Northeastern Iraq . Remote Sensing, 13:24, 5119. doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13245119
- Casana, J., Laugier, E.J, Hill, A.C, Reece, K.M, Ferwerda, C., McCoy, M.D, Ladefoged, T., (2021). Exploring archaeological landscapes using drone-acquired lidar: Case studies from Hawai’i, Colorado, and New Hampshire, USA. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 39, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2021.103133
- Laugier, E.J, Casana, J., Glatz, C., Sameen, S.M, Cabanes, D., (2021). Reconstructing agro-pastoral practice in the Mesopotamian-Zagros borderlands: Insights from phytolith and FTIR analysis of a dung-rich deposit. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 38, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2021.103106
- McCoy, M.D, Casana, J., Hill, A.C, Laugier, E., Mulrooney, M.A, Ladefoged, T.N, (2021). Unpiloted Aerial Vehicle Acquired Lidar for Mapping Monumental Architecture. Advances in Archaeological Practice, 9:2, 160-174. doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/aap.2021.5
- Gildner, T.E, Laugier, E., Thayer, Z.M, (2020). Exercise routine change is associated with prenatal depression scores during the COVID-19 pandemic among pregnant women across the United States. Plos One, 15:12, doi: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0243188
- Casana, J., Laugier, E.J, Hill, A.C, Blakeslee, D., (2020). A Council Circle at Etzanoa? Multi-sensor Drone Survey at an Ancestral Wichita Settlement in Southeastern Kansas. American Antiquity, 85:4, 761-780. doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/aaq.2020.49
- Hill, A.C, Laugier, E.J, Casana, J., (2020). Archaeological remote sensing using multi-temporal, drone-acquired thermal and Near Infrared (NIR) Imagery: A case study at the Enfield Shaker Village, New Hampshire. Remote Sensing, 12:4, 690. doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12040690
- Glatz, C., Casana, J., Bendry, R., Baysal, E., Calderbank, D., Chelazzi, F., Del Bravo, F., Erskine, N., Hald, M., Laugier, E.J, Jensen, E., Perruchini, E., (2019). Babylonian Encounters in the Upper Diyala River Valley: Contextualizing the Results of Regional Survey and the 2016–2017 Excavations at Khani Masi. American Journal of Archaeology , 123:3, 39-471. doi: https://doi.org/10.3764/aja.123.3.0439
- Hill, A.C, Limp, F., Casana, J., Laugier, E., Williamson, M., (2019). A New Era in Spatial Data Recording: Low-Cost GNSS. Advances in Archaeological Practice, 7:2, 169-177. doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/aap.2018.50
- Casana, J., Wiewel, A., Cool, A., Hill, A.C, Fisher, K.D, Laugier, E.J, (2017). Archaeological Aerial Thermography in Theory and Practice. Advances in Archaeological Practice , 5:4, 310-327. doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/aap.2017.23
- Casana, J., Laugier, E.J, (2017). Satellite imagery-based monitoring of archaeological site damage in the Syrian civil war. Plos One, 12:11, doi: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0188589
An asterisk (*) at the end of a publication indicates that it has not been peer-reviewed.
Publications | Other
An asterisk (*) at the end of a publication indicates that it has not been peer-reviewed.
Teaching
Graduate Students Mentored
Other Websites: https://www.legasyslab.com/