Blair Mirka

University of New Mexico
The Depatment of Geography and Environmental Studies
Ph.D. in Geography, Minor in Museum Studies
Dissertation Title: America’s Next Top Model: 3D Modeling of Museum Specimens for Automated Ground Beetle Identification
Major Professor: Dr. Christopher Lippitt
Expected 2025

San Diego State University
The Department of Geography
MS Geography (GIScience)
Thesis Title: Evaluation of Thermal Infrared Imaging from Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for Arboreal Wildlife Surveillance
Major Professor: Dr. Douglas Stow
June 2020

University of Northern Iowa
The Department of Geography
BS Geography (GIS: Environmental Science and Policy)
Graduated Cum Laude
May 2018

Remote Pilot (Part 107) | Federal Aviation Administration (2024)
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Cartography | University of Northern Iowa (2018)
PADI Open Water Diver | Professional Association of Diving Instructors (2016)

GIS, Remote Sensing, Structure-from-Motion,Computer Vision, Distance Sampling, Digital Specimens, Photogrammetry, Science Communication

Programming: Bootstrap, CSS, HTML, JavaScript (D3, jQuery), Python, R, R Studio, SQL

AI Framework & Tools: Bootstrap, CSS, HTML, JavaScript (D3, jQuery), Python, R, R Studio, SQL

Software and Programs: Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign, Agrisoft Metashape, Arc Catalog, ArcMap, ArcGIS Online, ArcGIS Pro, Blender, CloudCompare, eMotion 2, ENVI, ERDAS IMAGINE, Helicon Remote, Helicon Focus, Pathfinder Office, Pix4D, MeshLab, Microsoft Office, QGIS, TerrSet, Visual Studio Code

Blair Mirka., Christopher Lippitt Labeled 2D images from 3D models of museum specimens; The impact of Structure from Motion modeling parameters on rendered 2D images ZooKeys(In Review, 2025)

Mirka, B., Lippitt C.D., Harris G.M., Converse R.L., Gurule M., Sesnie S.E., Bulter M.J., Stewart D.R., and Rossman Z. (2024). Towards Fully Automated Wildlife Population Density Monitoring and Distance Estimation in Camera Trap Images: A Photogrammetric Approach . Ecological Informatics (2025)

Mirka, B., Lippitt C.D., Harris G.M., Converse R.L., Gurule M., Sesnie S.E., Bulter M.J., Stewart D.R., and Rossman Z. (2024). Towards Fully Automated Wildlife Population Density Monitoring and Distance Estimation in Camera Trap Images: A Photogrammetric Approach . Ecological Informatics (2025)

Theodros Woldeyohannes, Yan Lin, Xiaoyang Zhang, John Doyle, Margaret Eggers, Liu Zhuoming, Al Ekram Hridoy, El Mehdi Bimaghra, Tadiwanashe Bizure, Blair Mirka, Latasha James, Joseph Hoover. Waste fire surveillance using remote sensing and air contaminant monitoring Journal of Waste Management. (In Review, 2025)

Mirka, B.A., Stowe, D., Paulus, G., Loerch, A., Coulter, L., An, L., Lewison, R., and Pfülger, L. Evaluation of Thermal Infrared Imaging from Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for Arboreal Wildlife Surveillance. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment. March 2022

2025 Doctoral Conference Presentation Award | University of New Mexico
2024 Selected Participant, Beetlepalooza, Imageomics Institute | The Ohio State University
2023 Levings Graduate Fellowship in Science and Technology | University of New Mexico
2023 ACM SIGSPATIAL NSF Travel Award | ACM SIGSPATIAL
2023 Rodman E. Snead Scholarship | University of New Mexico