Red Willow Coleman

Hi, I’m Willow!

Over the last 7+ years, I’ve worked on a variety of topics at the intersection of remote sensing, machine learning, and data science. I’m especially interested in projects that use this data to address environmental and social issues (e.g., improving urban environmental policy outcomes). I’m currently a PhD student in the Geography department at UCLA and a recent graduate of Harvey Mudd College with a BS in Mathematical and Computational Biology and an emphasis in Environmental Analysis.

Before starting my PhD, I worked as a imaging spectroscopy research technologist on EMIT at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. As part of this job, I validated EMIT’s surface reflectance data products and developed novel methodologies for measuring methane emissions from space.

In my spare time, I like cooking, backpacking, and hanging out with my cats

news

Jun 06, 2025	Completed a year-long certificate in Urban Humanities through CityLab-UCLA
May 15, 2025	Selected for 2025-26 UCLA Graduate Research Mentorship Fellowship
Sep 23, 2024	Started PhD in Geography at UCLA in the Okin Lab!
Apr 15, 2024	Received NSF GRFP Honorable Mention
May 10, 2022	Awarded Mindlin Prize for Innovative Ideas in Science at Harvey Mudd College

selected publications

RSE

An accuracy assessment of the surface reflectance product from the EMIT imaging spectrometer

Red Willow Coleman, David R. Thompson, Philip G. Brodrick, and 11 more authors

Remote Sensing of Environment, 2024

DOI Bib

@article{Coleman2024,
  title = {An accuracy assessment of the surface reflectance product from the EMIT imaging spectrometer},
  journal = {Remote Sensing of Environment},
  volume = {315},
  pages = {114450},
  year = {2024},
  issn = {0034-4257},
  doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2024.114450},
  url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0034425724004760},
  author = {Coleman, Red Willow and Thompson, David R. and Brodrick, Philip G. and Dor, Eyal Ben and Cox, Evan and {Pérez García-Pando}, Carlos and Hoefen, Todd and Kokaly, Raymond F. and Meyer, John M. and Ochoa, Francisco and Okin, Gregory S. and Pearlshtien, Daniela Heller and Swayze, Gregg and Green, Robert O.},
  keywords = {Imaging spectroscopy, Remote sensing, Surface reflectance},
}

Comparison of Thermal Infrared-Derived Maps of Irrigated and Non-Irrigated Vegetation in Urban and Non-Urban Areas of Southern California

Red Willow Coleman, Natasha Stavros, Glynn Hulley, and 1 more author

Remote Sensing, Dec 2020

DOI Bib

@article{Coleman2020,
  doi = {10.3390/rs12244102},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12244102},
  year = {2020},
  month = dec,
  publisher = {{MDPI} {AG}},
  volume = {12},
  number = {24},
  pages = {4102},
  author = {Coleman, Red Willow and Stavros, Natasha and Hulley, Glynn and Parazoo, Nicholas},
  title = {Comparison of Thermal Infrared-Derived Maps of Irrigated and Non-Irrigated Vegetation in Urban and Non-Urban Areas of Southern California},
  journal = {Remote Sensing},
}

A Simplified Framework for High-Resolution Urban Vegetation Classification with Optical Imagery in the Los Angeles Megacity

Red Willow Coleman, Natasha Stavros, Vineet Yadav, and 1 more author

Remote Sensing, Jul 2020

DOI Bib

@article{Coleman2021,
  doi = {10.3390/rs12152399},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12152399},
  year = {2020},
  month = jul,
  publisher = {{MDPI} {AG}},
  volume = {12},
  number = {15},
  pages = {2399},
  author = {Coleman, Red Willow and Stavros, Natasha and Yadav, Vineet and Parazoo, Nicholas},
  title = {A Simplified Framework for High-Resolution Urban Vegetation Classification with Optical Imagery in the Los Angeles Megacity},
  journal = {Remote Sensing},
}