RESEARCH Spring 2026 19 PHOTO BY KARL MAASDAM, ’93 MAPPING WAR How an OSU geographer helps us understand the world’s conflicts. By Nancy Steinberg While the field of geography is often thought of as the study of spatial relationships, some geographers are as concerned with time as they are with space. Temporal change in places experiencing conflict or disaster, —and the reasons for that change — is what drives Associate Professor Jamon Van Den Hoek of Oregon State’s College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences. Van Den Hoek and the Conflict Ecology lab that he leads use satellite imagery to characterize long-term, nationwide changes in conflict settings where it’s often too dangerous to collect information on the ground. He uses a combination of technologies to track the destruction of infrastructure, changes in land use related to conflict, and the movement of people — all with the goal of providing critical information to aid organizations and the media. continued
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