Department Chair and Professor, Geology
Jane Southworth
Department Chair and Professor, Geology
Jane Southworth is Full Professor and current Department Chair at the University of Florida, Department of Geography. She holds a BSc degree in Geography, from Leicester University in the UK, an MSc in Geography, with a Specialization in Meteorology & Climatology from Indiana University, and a PhD in Environmental Science, also from Indiana University. Professor Southworth’s research interests are based on the study of social-ecological systems within the field of Land Change Science, Geospatial Science and GeoAI. Her particular foci are: remote sensing of vegetation dynamics with a focus on time-series and AI approaches to remotely sensed analyses and linkages with climatic drivers; linking changes in land use and land cover change to their respective drivers with a focus on land change modeling; the implications of scale and scaling in remote sensing and modeling analyses; addressing linkages and drivers of change as they relate to people and parks; and modeling of the impacts of climate change and changing climate variability on human-environment systems and vegetation dynamics. Since her arrival at UF in 2002, Dr. Southworth has been part of over $18 million in funded interdisciplinary research projects, published 2 books, over 95 peer-reviewed journal articles, and has successfully advised 23 PhD and eight Masters students, with another seven graduate students currently in progress.
Dr. Southworth leads UF's AI BlueSky Taskforce, guiding the brainstorming efforts to shape UF's AI vision. She has given talks on AI Across the Curriculum. As chair of the Department of Geography, she has been instrumental in advancing GeoAI research and applications, particularly in integrating geospatial AI methods into geography education and research.