Rate My Professor Ryan Jensen

Ryan Jensen is a Professor of Geography at Brigham Young University in the Department of Geography, where he specializes in geospatial science and technology. He served as Department Chair from 2012 to 2021. Jensen earned his Ph.D. in Geography and Botany from the University of Florida in 2000. Prior to joining BYU in 2007 as a full professor, he was an Assistant Professor and Associate Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Indiana State University from 2000 to 2007.

Jensen's academic interests center on remote sensing, hyperspectral imagery analysis, small unmanned aerial systems for environmental remote sensing, urban forestry, precision agriculture including variable rate irrigation and soil moisture mapping, rangeland monitoring, and urban heat island effects. His key publications include books such as Introductory Geographic Information Systems (2024), Research Design and Proposal Writing in Spatial Science (2020), and Sensing Approaches for Precision Agriculture (2021), as well as highly cited papers like "The effect of urban leaf area on summertime urban surface kinetic temperatures: A Terre Haute case study" (2007), "Small-scale unmanned aerial vehicles in environmental remote sensing: Challenges and opportunities" (2011), "Using remote sensing and geographic information systems to study urban quality of life and urban forest amenities" (2004), and "Small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS) for environmental remote sensing: Challenges and opportunities revisited" (2019). His research has been cited more than 2,300 times per ResearchGate metrics. Jensen holds the Geographic Information System Professional (GISP) certification (2008-2018) and is a longstanding member of the American Society for Photogrammetry & Remote Sensing and the Association of American Geographers. He has contributed editorially to the Journal of Applied Geography (2008-present), Geography Compass (2007-2018), GIScience & Remote Sensing (2010-2011), and others, chaired ASPRS committees (2007-2009), and delivered the Charles Darwin Keynote Speaker Series at Indiana State University in 2015.