Geospatial Education Institute Affiliates

Dr. Debaleena Majumdar is an Assistant Professor of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) at the School of Business and Professional Studies at UMass Global. She focuses on GIS and remote sensing, energy planning, renewable energy, spatial planning, and spatial data analysis including sustainable urban planning. Dr. Majumdar has experience with the Department of Defense (DOD), the Department of Environmental Conservation (New York), and the Ministry of Urban Development (New Delhi, India). She is fluent in Hindi, Bengali, and English.

Dr. Monica Shukla-Belmontes is the Associate Dean of Curriculum, Assurance of Learning and Competency-Based Education, and Associate Professor of Business Administration at UMass Global. She has developed programs and courses integrating GIS into data analytics competency-based education, business school programs, and GIS certificates. She is fluent in Gujarati, Hindi, Spanish, and English.

Dr. Dania Baba is an Assistant Professor of Healthcare and Business Administration at UMass Global. She focuses on incorporating GIS into various healthcare management courses and uses spatial analysis in her work. Dr. Baba has extensive international and national consulting experience. She also assumed the roles of Chief Operating Officer and Chief Planning and Transition Officer for the American University of Beirut Medical Center, one of the most prominent healthcare institutions in the Middle East. She is fluent in Arabic, French, and English.

Dr. Lindsay L. Chelekis is an Assistant Professor of GIS and Data Analytics in the School of Business and Professional Studies at UMass Global. She has helped to integrate GIS into undergraduate and graduate data analytics programs and has extensive online instructional design expertise. Dr. Chelekis has contributed to integrating GIS into various courses and programs related to business. She is fluent in Arabic, French, and English.

Dr. David Gonzalez is an Associate Professor of Public Administration & Organizational Leadership in the School of Business and Professional Studies at UMass Global. He incorporates GIS into emergency management, public administration, and leadership.

Dr. Ben Perez is a Tutorial Associate Professor of Information Systems Management at UMass Global with over 15 years of experience with information technology, e-business technologies and security, database administration, and business administration. Within the competency-based education programs, Dr. Perez assists in supporting GIS-based IT competencies. He is fluent in Spanish.

Dr. Aaron Schmerbeck is an Assistant Professor of Economics and Finance in the School of Business and Professional Studies at UMass Global. He has incorporated GIS into the university’s new graduate certificate in economic development using location intelligence and has extensive economic and community development expertise.

Dr. Sasha Crowley is an Assistant Professor of Education in the School of Education at UMass Global. She has extensive experience with online course design and development and is an educator with over 19 years of experience in K-12 and higher education. She integrates educational technology into course design and is a seasoned curriculum developer who values collaboration, innovation, and inclusion. Dr. Crowley embraces new innovative approaches using technology to strengthen human collaborations while leveraging technology such as GIS.

Barry Waite is a city council member for the City of Lomita, California. He is co-author of “The GIS Guide for Local Government,” published by the International City and County Management Association and recently completed “Top 21 Essential Skills for ArcGIS Pro” published by Esri Press (2023). Mr. Waite worked for the City of Carson for 29 years, where he served as Business Development Manager after having served several years as the city’s GIS Administrator. He also served in the city manager’s office and as a City Planner. He now consults in the fields of economic development and GIS while serving as CEO of the Carson Chamber of Commerce. He has a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Southern California and a GIS certificate from California State University, Long Beach. For over a decade he has taught GIS and provided geospatial lectures to Chinese government officials.

Michael Gould is a Geographer (B.A. UMass; Ph.D. SUNY Buffalo-NCGIA) turned information systems professor (1998) at University Jaume I (UJI), Castellón, Spain, where he now teaches part-time. He has been principal investigator on European and regional projects in the area of Spatial Data Infrastructures, nominated expert on the EU INSPIRE initiative, and was chair of the Association of GI Laboratories in Europe (AGILE). He spent a sabbatical from 2000 to 2001 working at the Open Geospatial Consortium near Boston. In 2009, he joined Esri’s education team and is currently Global Education Manager, involving collaboration with Esri’s 85 regional offices, university events, and global capacity development projects.