Media & Talks
The work, as others tell it — and as I teach it.
Coverage
In the media
- 2024 StarTalk with Neil deGrasse Tyson — discussing SkyFi's use of my hyperspectral algorithms: "Stopping Illegal Mining in the Amazon with Satellite Data" (152K+ views)
- 2023 UVA Datapoints podcast — "A View From Space: How LiDAR and Hyperspectral Imaging are Changing Science"
- 2023 HOOs in STEM — "Polymath Dr. Bill Basener Uses Remote Sensing Data to Solve Large-Scale Problems"
- 2023 CBS "Data In the Numbers" — why remote sensing matters for data science research
- 2022 LMI interview — "What is hyperspectral imaging?"
- 2009 USA Today — "Were rats behind Easter Island mystery?" — covering my population-dynamics research
Teaching the field
Courses & training
- 2026 MMER26 — Mineral Mapping short course, Mongolia — invited multi-session course for the Mongolian mining sector, delivered in English and Mongolian, with a dedicated course site and live interactive mineral maps
- 2020–26 University of Virginia — created and taught graduate Bayesian Machine Learning, Statistical Learning, and Deep Learning courses in the School of Data Science
- 2010–15 US Government analyst training — taught PRISM courses and analyst training at NGA and Army NGIC; invited presentations to Senior Executive Service
- ongoing YouTube data science channel — 53 videos; the LDA/QDA lecture alone has 37,000+ views
Selected talks
Conferences & invited presentations
- 2025 IGARSS — Fast-BMA unmixing (peer-reviewed); SEG and IMARC industry conferences
- 2022–24 IEEE WHISPERS — multiple papers on Bayesian identification, uncertainty, and vegetation phenotyping
- 2008–17 Invited US government advisory meetings: National Academy of Sciences, CIA, NSA, NRO, Wright-Patterson AFB, Army Night Vision Lab, Nevada National Security Site, and others
Letters of recommendation from scientists at NGA, LANL, LLNL, MITRE, Aerospace Corp, and Army NGIC available on request.