Elise Laugier

Environment & Society

Assistant Professor


Elise Laugier

Contact Information

Office Hours: By Appointment
Office Location: BNR 369
Phone: (435) 757-1856
Email: elise.laugier@usu.edu
Additional Information:

Educational Background

PhD, Ecology, Evolution, Environment, and Society (EEES), Dartmouth College, 2021
Reconstructing Agro-Pastoral Land Use in the Mesopotamian-Zagros Foothills.
MA, Anthropology, (Geoscience), University of Arkansas, 2013
BA, Archaeology, Wheaton College, 2010

Licensures & Certifications

Part 107 sUAS Remote Pilot, Federal Aviation Administration, 2019

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

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

Dryland agricultural systems, land use change, land use histories, historical ecology, archaeological heritage, paleoecology, integrated geospatial analysis and remote sensing, phytolith analysis, FTIR spectroscopy (soil and sediment characterization)

Awards

NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (SPRF), 2021

National Science Foundation

Mesopotamian Fellowship, 2019

American Society of Overseas Research


Publications | Journal Articles

Academic Journal

An asterisk (*) at the end of a publication indicates that it has not been peer-reviewed.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An asterisk (*) at the end of a publication indicates that it has not been peer-reviewed.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

GEOG 3700 - Python Programming for GIS, Fall 2025
ENVS, ENVS, ENVS 6841, 7841, 7841 - The Socio-Environmental Research Process, Fall 2025
GEOG, GEOG, NR 4815, 6815, 6815 - Insights from Above: Processing and Analyzing Drone Data, Spring 2025
GEOG 3200 - Principles of Remote Sensing, Spring 2025
ENVS 7841, 6841 - The Socio-Environmental Research Process, Fall 2024
ENVS, ENVS 6841, 7841 - The Socio-Environmental Research Process, Fall 2024
GEOG 4860 - Python Programming for GIS, Fall 2023

Graduate Students Mentored

Ellie Stankiewicz, Environment & Society
Syndee Jensen, Environment & Society
Courses: GEOG 4860: Python Programming for GIS
Other Websites: https://www.legasyslab.com/