Come and learn about leadership from a university/community leader during our 18:83 Speaker Series!  Each session will be at 2:30pm on a Wednesday in the Memorial Union (1st floor Social Stair).  Each speaker will be focusing on leadership and personal/professional development for students.

This week's presenter is Dr. Bradley Rundquist. Dr. Rundquist is the Dean for the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of North Dakota. He received a Bachelor’s in Journalism, News-Editorial, from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Dr. Rundquist received both his M.A. and Ph.D. in Geography from Kansas State University.

Prior to his role at UND, Dr. Rundquist served as the Assistant City Editor from 1991-1992 at The Messenger (Daily Newspaper), in Fort Dodge, IA. Then from 1995-1996, Dr. Rundquist was an Associate Scientist, at Lockheed Martin Engineering and Sciences Company, and NASA Johnson Space Center, in Houston, TX.

Dr. Rundquist is an Affiliate Fellow at the Center for Great Plains Research. In 2008, He received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Department of Geography at Kansas State University. In 2009, Dr. Rundquist was awarded with the North Dakota Spirit Faculty Achievement Award at UND. In 2010, he was given a Presidential Citation from the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. In 2014, he was also the recipient of the Exceptional Service Honor as Regional Councillor Chair, from the Association of American Geographers.

Dr. Rundquist’s research focuses on ecological applications of remote sensing and GIS. While working on his Master's degree (with M. Duane Nellis at Kansas State University), he developed an interest in land use/land cover mapping and land-cover change detection using remotely sensed data. He continues to do work in that area, most recently investigating land-cover changes related to a pervasive flooding event in the Devils Lake Basin of North Dakota.

During his Ph.D. (with Doug Goodin at Kansas State University), Dr. Rundquist worked to characterize a number of biophysical properties of prairie vegetation canopies using close-range remote sensing devices.

He did his doctoral field work on Konza Prairie near Manhattan, Kansas. The field spectroscopy interest also persists, although it is now related primarily to characterizing the spectral-temporal properties of various invasive plant species. His work on Konza instilled an interest in prairie plants and ecosystems.

Finally, Dr. Rundquist is engaged in remote sensing education. He is the PI on an AmericaView grant, which seeks to improve general awareness about remotely sensed data and to expand the user base for USGS satellite data. He has also worked with state and tribal colleges in North Dakota to improve GIS and remote sensing curricula, either by adding new courses or supplementing those that exist.