Julia Lenhardt Ph.D
Director of Geospatial Technology, Institute for Geospatial Impact
Geographic Information Science
About Julia Lenhardt
Julia Lenhardt is a remote sensing and GIS expert that specializes in ecosystem modeling and complex spatial analysis. Her primary research interests focus on ecosystem services on agricultural working lands, particularly in California. In 2024, Dr. Lenhardt completed a fellowship centered on climate justice for marginalized communities, bridging the gap between academic scientists and community activists. She is the recipient of the Outstanding Research Award from the Earth System Science department at UC Irvine. She also worked at Esri, the GIS software company, where she provided specialized technical support and developed software for imagery analysis.
In her capacity as the Director of Geospatial Technology, Dr. Lenhardt works closely with faculty, students, and Administration to answer complex geospatial questions, and she manages and maintains several GIS projects across campuses and departments. In addition, Dr. Lenhardt sits on the committee for the Geospatial, Climate, and Sustainability Initiative at the University of Redlands, supporting the integration of skills and content related to GIS, climate change, and sustainability into the curriculum and faculty research across all University of Redlands campuses.
Education
- BS in Earth System Science, McGill University
- MS in GIS for Development and Environment, Clark University
- Ph.D. in Earth System Science, University of California, Irvine
Publications
Lenhardt, J., & Egoh, B. N. (2024). Land use change and ecosystem service tradeoffs on California agricultural land. Environmental Research: Food Systems. https://doi.org/10.1088/2976-601X/ad7d13
Lenhardt, J., & Egoh, B. N. (2023). Opportunities and gaps in conservation incentive programs on California agricultural land. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 7. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2023.1239015
Pearsall, H., Lucas, S., & Lenhardt, J. (2014). The contested nature of vacant land in Philadelphia and approaches for resolving competing objectives for redevelopment. Cities, 40, 163–174. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2013.04.008
Lenhardt, J., & Ogneva-Himmelberger, Y. (2013). Environmental Injustice in the Spatial Distribution of Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations in Ohio. Environmental Justice, 6(4), 133–139. https://doi.org/10.1089/env.2013.0023
Awards and Honors
- Earth System Science Outstanding Research Award, 2025 - UC Irvine
- CLIMATE Justice Fellow, 2024 - UC Irvine