Henry Bulley

Dr. Henry Bulley is a Professor of Geography and GIScience at Borough of Manhattan Community College, The City University of New York. His academic background is in Geospatial Science – comprising Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Earth Observation Satellite Remote Sensing, Machine learning computing algorithms, watersheds, and inland water assessments. Dr. Bulley has taught college courses such as GIS, Remote Sensing, Statistics, GIS programing, and Human Geography. He also taught a 6-week workshop on Geospatial Data Visualization for New York City area High School students, under the theme “Mapping Your World: An Introduction to GPS and Geographic Information Systems (GIS).

Dr. Bulley’s research interest is in understanding the interactions between anthropological land use dynamics and the natural environment with a focus on sustainable water resource management – we can only manage what we understand, and we cannot understand a resource if we do not know the extent and structure of that resource. Some of his current research work include, “assessing landscape change patterns and water quality of New York City water supply reservoirs”, and “a study on the Experiences, Attitudes, and Policy Drivers Shaping Bottled Water Use in New York City”. He is currently a co-editor of Springer’s Landscape Series.

Being a native of Ghana, Dr. Bulley has immense interest in facilitating the adoption of Geospatial Science & Technology and Landscape principles for assessing ecosystems services to support sustainable development in African countries. He has championed this goal as Vice- President of the International Association for Landscape Ecology (IALE) – responsible for Africa, as well as a co-chair of the IALE Outreach and Policy Working Group. Dr. Bulley has been engaged in several collaborative activities aimed at strengthening partnerships with between African scholars in the Diaspora and on the African Continent, in the application of Earth Observations data for sustainable development. These include a Side Event on AfriGEOSS: Strengthening partnerships with African Diaspora on Earth Observations during the October 2017 GEO-XIV Plenary, Washington D.C., USA.

Dr. Bulley has also received Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship Program awards in 2016 and 2019 to support his research and outreach work in Ghana and Uganda. Dr. Bulley is currently working with collaborators in Germany and Uganda on Volkswagen Foundation Landscape Ecology Graduate Summer School series from 2021 – 2023. This transatlantic partnership has also resulted in Belmont Forum Sustainability pathways award – DREAMS – Developing REsilient African cities and their urban environMent facing the pro-vision of essential urban SDGs involving Ghana, Uganda and South Africa, as well as project partners from Germany and the united States. He recently presented at the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) plenary in Accra Ghana where he advocated the role of African Diaspora in achieving enhanced capacity for Geospatial Science and Earth Observation Research in African countries.

Additionally, he currently champions “Diversity STEM Summer Camp” series for Black (and underrepresented minority) youth from Middle and High School in the Hartford Connecticut area. This event aims at showcasing Black professionals, recent young graduate in STEM fields such as Engineering, Environmental Science, Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy/Pharmacology, ICT, etc. The rationale is to provide the youth a mirror of what they could aspire for in future careers. Recognizing that not all the youth could attain college degrees, the event also showcases career opportunities from Associate Degree & Certificate granting institutions in areas such as Advanced Manufacturing.