Nancee Uniyal was recently an international J-1 scholar at UGA and will be returning as a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Georgia’s Department of Geography in the Center for Geospatial Research. Her current developing work includes Disaster Management and Science Systems and Applications.
Nancee is from the Himalayan region of India, where she received her master’s degree in history and a bachelor’s degree in a Chemistry, Botany, and Zoology program. Her interdisciplinary scholarship led her to Geography, a long-time personal interest of hers. Initially traveling to Athens with her husband, a Ph.D. candiate, Nancee made the decision to further her education at the University of Georgia.
The Georgia node at UGA’s Center for Geospatial Research work closely with science advisor Dr. Madden and faculty in the UGA Geography Department on ecological forecasting and agriculture projects. (via NASA DEVELOP Twitter)
Nancee Uniyal was selected as a participant in the NASA DEVELOP Program in 2022, working alongside a property law team to assess the impact of Hurricane Irma on personal property in Georgia. Her team researched the intersection of natural diaster property damage and how this influences not only property law, but national disaster recovery programs. This research aided property owners that inherited their homes through family. Because of this, these owners often do not possess formal property documentation, which can result in disqualification for federal natural disaster aid funds. This team provided recovery relief groups with a comprehensive list of inherited properties damaged by Hurricane Irma according to their geospatial mapping research.
In addition to her work at UGA, Nancee is presently a researcher for the U.S. Forest Service, where she conducts spatial analysis research in Athens.
Her long list of academic interests doesn’t stop there. Growing up, Nancee’s mother worked at a women’s empowerment NGO in India, where she was exposed to the framework of gender equality at a young age. There she developed her personal connection to humanities and local populations. Nancee hopes to connect her expertise in the sciences with work ‘on the ground,’ creating a social impact with her future career.
Her time at UGA has been marked by learning how to professionally collaborate and identify research opportunities . “UGA gives you that opportunity to learn [and} explore… I think everyone should take that chance.”
Nancee is also auditing classes in the Geography department at UGA to dive deeper into her field.
“The best thing at UGA,” she shared, “is that if you want to talk to anyone, they are very approachable… if you want to learn something new, everyone is there to help you.”