Kussul, Nataliia

Bio

Nataliia Kussul is an Associate Research Professor in the Department of Geographical Sciences at the University of Maryland (UMD). Prior to joining UMD, she served as the Chair of the Department of Mathematical Modeling and Data Analysis at the National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute” and was a leading scientist at the Space Research Institute of NASU-SSAU in Ukraine. Dr. Kussul holds a Doctor of Sciences degree in Control Theory from the Space Research Institute of NASU-SSAU and a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from the Institute of Cybernetics of NASU, Ukraine.

Dr. Kussul's expertise spans remote sensing (both optical and radar), geographic information systems (GIS), risk analysis, and machine learning, with a particular focus on deep learning for land cover classification, disaster management, and agricultural monitoring. She has played a leadership role in numerous international projects, including NASA's Land Cover/Land Use Change (LCLUC) program, the European Space Agency's (ESA) Sen2Agri and WorldCereals projects, and World Bank initiatives on land transparency. She has also served as the country Principal Investigator (PI) in Horizon Europe projects addressing satellite applications, essential variables, and the assessment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Dr. Kussul’s work is centered on the development of innovative methods for satellite data processing, risk assessment of natural disasters (such as floods and droughts), agricultural monitoring, and the advancement of sustainable development initiatives across various scales. 

As the coordinator for the UN-SPIDER Regional Support Office (RSO) in Ukraine, Dr. Kussul played a vital role in promoting the use of satellite data for disaster management and emergency response. Additionally, her leadership within the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) Agricultural Monitoring Community of Practice has been instrumental in improving global agricultural monitoring systems. In recognition of her exceptional contributions, Dr. Kussul received the GEO Individual Excellence Award for her work in leveraging Earth observation data for sustainable development and disaster management.

At UMD, Dr. Kussul contributes to NASA Harvest, focusing on the assessment of conflict impacts and efficient recovery using AI and physics-informed models. She is the Principal Investigator of the NASA-funded project “Assessment of the Impact of War in Ukraine on National Protected Areas” under the Rapid Response and Novel Research in Earth Science (RRNES) program.