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
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
- 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/