Science for fire and food in a changing climate and world.
I use geospatial science and data to document, analyze, and predict complexities of wildland and human-caused fire, from individual to global scales. I have a particular interest in fire emissions and modeling, regional food security, land-cover/land-use change, and the Arctic. As a mom, I am concerned with helping children and future generations have better lives.
Starting in January 2023, this website became basically an archive, when I took a position with NASA as a civil servant scientist (mandatory and obvious disclaimer: the views expressed in this website and accompanying blog do not necessarily represent the views of my employer, NASA as an Agency, or the United States government). Beginning in summer 2025, I picked it back up. See my blog posts for why.
I will not be updating this website as much, as my day job is with NASA, and whew, boy am I busy. But I plan to do monthly-to-seasonal updates, like a curated ice cream shop does with flavors.
As an Associate Professor of Geography at Miami University, I led NASA and USDA-funded projects on land change science, food security, and fire using satellites and geospatial science. Before that I was a research scientist on soft-money for a lab in Ann Arbor. Before that I worked at a university in Kentucky, was a graduate student at the University of Michigan, and even an intern/hourly worker with the USFS. But my first jobs was as an agricultural worker and selective timber harvesting for my family’s farm and our relatives and friends.
Caveat: I maintain an Adjunct Associate Professor of Geography position with Miami University through Spring 2026, but am no longer advising students or teaching.
This website is an archive of my academic career and can help others find my personal social media accounts.
This website was started to showcase me as a scientist.
To learn more about my day-to-day research, follow me on BlueSky at @jmccartygeo.bsky.social, contact me via LinkedIn, or read my archived private tweets on Twitter , or see what I have to say on this blog.
As an employee of NASA, my research is publicly-funded and publicly-available.
Wanna work for NASA - especially in earth science and/or geospatial applications? I will post new job opportunities at my LinkedIn account.