Nicholas Geron

Professor Nicholas Geron is an assistant professor of Geography and Sustainability at Salem State University with a focus on remote sensing, GIS and drone applications. He examines how these technologies can be applied to urban forestry and climate resilience. He is motivated by working with communities to address environmental and climate justice concerns using remote sensing/GIS technologies. Professor Geron has worked with municipal and state agencies, non-profits, and individual residents to examine the equitable distribution of urban tree planting in mid-sized cities. He believes in undergraduate students being involved in his research at every level from data collection to co-writing papers. 

Professor Geron got his Bachelors at Boston University where he doubled majored in Environmental Policy and Analysis and French Literature. He got his Masters in Science Education at Lehman College CUNY while he taught high school Earth Science and French for five years. Professor Geron got his PhD in Geography at Clark University in Worcester, MA. During his doctorate, he worked as a visiting instructor at The College of the Holy Cross where he taught GIS, Remote Sensing, Environmental Science, and Urban Forestry. 

1. Remote Sensing/Drones
2. GIS
3. Climate Change
4. Environmental/Climate Justice
5. Urban Forestry
6. Tree Planting
7. Education
8. Urban Heat Island

Assistant Professor of Geography and Sustainability with a focus on Remote Sensing, GIS and Drone Applications.

• GPH115: Global Climate Change
• GPH340: Geographic Information Systems
• GPH343: Drone Applications
• GPH344: Remote Sensing

Publications:

Nelson, A., Rogan, J., Geron, N., & Martin, D. G. (2025). Factors Influencing Establishment and Post-Establishment Residential Yard Tree Survivorship in Worcester, Massachusetts. Arboriculture & Urban Forestry (AUF).

Tao, S., Rogan, J., Ye, S., & Geron, N. (2023). Mapping photovoltaic power stations and assessing their environmental impacts from multi-sensor datasets in Massachusetts, United States. Remote Sensing Applications: Society and Environment, 100937.

Geron, N. A., Martin, D. G., Rogan, J., & Healy, M. (2023). Residents' roles as environmental policy actors using an urban governance framework: A case study of a tree planting program. Cities, 135, 104201.

Healy, M., Rogan, J., Roman, L. A., Nix, S., Martin, D. G., & Geron, N. (2022). Historical Urban Tree Canopy Cover Change in Two Post-Industrial Cities. Environmental Management, 1-19.

Moody, R., Geron, N., Healy, M., Rogan, J., & Martin, D. (2021). Modeling the spatial distribution of the current and future ecosystem services of urban tree planting in Chicopee and Fall River, Massachusetts. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 66, 127403.

A. Elmes, M. Healy, N. Geron, M.M. Andrews, J. Rogan, D.G. Martin, F. Sangermano, C. A. Williams & B. Weil. (2020). Mapping spatiotemporal variability of the urban heat island across an urban gradient in Worcester, Massachusetts using in-situ Thermochrons and Landsat-8 Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) data, GIScience & Remote Sensing, DOI: 10.1080/15481603.2020.1818950

Lohr, E., Rogan, J., Martin, D., Geron, N., Healy, M., (2020) Creating a Matrix to Assess Pest Vulnerability in Massachusetts Gateway City Tree Plantings. Scholarly Undergraduate Research Journal at Clark.

Geron, N., Rogan, J. Martin, D. Healy, M. (2019). The impact of a tree planting program’s governance structure on tree survivorship and vigor in Massachusetts Greening the Gateway Cities Program. In Proceedings of the Fabos Conference on Landscape and Greenway Planning (Vol. 6, No. 1, p.61)

Hersh, J., Martin, D., Geron, N., Rogan, J. (2019). A Relational Theory of Risk: A Case Study of the Asian Longhorned Beetle Infestation in Worcester, MA. Journal of Risk Research. DOI: 10.1080/13669877.2019.1628091

From 2024 and 2025:

Geron, Nicholas. 2025. Land Surface Temperature (LST) Analysis of a Micro-Forest. Poster accepted for presentation in NEARC Spring 2025

Geron, Nicholas; Healy, Marc; Rogan, John. 2025. Evaluating Street Tree Species’ Health and Impact on LST using UAVs and Field Methods. Paper accepted for presentation in the AAG2025 Trees in the City sessions

Wilkins-Keene, Jeremy; Berg, Lo; Langeleh, Sam; Geron, Nicholas. 2025. Walkability Analysis of Food Distribution Sites Using R. Poster accepted for presentation in the AAG2025 Urban Growth & Development and Cities Research session

Canavan, Cade; Geron, Nicholas. 2025. Use of UAVs and AI to Analyze Tree Characteristics
 & Health in Greenlawn Cemetery. Poster accepted for presentation in the AAG2025 Urban Growth & Development and Cities Research session

Geron, Nicholas. 2025. Assessing health and impact street trees using UAVs and field methods in Worcester, MA. Paper accepted for presentation in NEARC Fall 2025

Geron, Nicholas; O’Leary, Margaret; Plomin, Margaret; Healy, Marc; Freilicher, Mollie; Rogan, John  2024. Comparing Two Street Tree Surveys 17 years apart: GIS Challenges, Lessons and Methods. Paper accepted for presentation in NEARC Spring 2024

Geron, Nicholas; O’Leary, Margaret; Plomin, Margaret; Healy, Marc; Freilicher, Mollie; Rogan, John  2024. Legacy Effects of an Invasive Species on Street Trees in Worcester, MA. Paper accepted for presentation in the AAG2024 Trees in the City sessions

Family, Running, Camping, Boston Sports