About

Sucharita Gopal is a Professor in the Department of Earth & Environment at Boston University. Her research is multidisciplinary, focusing on spatial analysis and modeling, GIS, data mining, information visualization, and artificial neural networks. She has applied spatial analysis to address various problems in biology, environmental science, public health, and business, and has worked on uncertainty issues related to GIS. Her work includes using neural networks for pattern classification, estimation, and mixture modeling. Her current funded research projects include developing a marine integrated decision analysis system (MIDAS) for Massachusetts, malaria risk mapping in Ethiopia, analysis of patent activities in China, and mapping health service delivery in Zambia. She is funded by the National Science Foundation on a GK-12 grant—Global Change Initiative—Research and Education (GLACIER)—which focuses on outreach to middle schools in the Boston area. Additionally, she is funded by the Rockefeller Foundation for work related to data mining and visualization, and by the MacArthur Foundation on assessing the impact of climate change on food security and biodiversity in Cambodia. Professor Gopal teaches courses such as Introduction to Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Spatial Analysis Using GIS. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Barbara, earned in 1988. Her contact information includes her office at Boston University, email, and phone number.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Environmental science
• Engineering
• Business
• Computer Security
• Environmental resource management
• Sociology
• Civil engineering
• Environmental planning
• Ecology
• Geography
• Economics
• Automotive engineering
• Physics
• Electrical engineering
• Natural resource economics
• Environmental economics
• Agroforestry
• Remote sensing

Selected publications

• Bibliometric Analysis of Ecosystem Services and Stakeholder Engagement in the Mangrove Communities of the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean

  Preprints.org · 2025-12-17

  preprintOpen accessSenior author

  Understanding the services provided by coastal ecosystems is vital for their study, preservation, and restoration. Mangrove forests, in particular, provide key ecosystem ser-vices: they sequester carbon, support fisheries and biodiversity, and enable sustainable tourism. In the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, mangrove-related services have been stud-ied extensively, but often in fragmented ways. This meta-analysis combines literature re-view, bibliometric tools, and thematic mapping to identify emerging trends and long-standing gaps. We analyzed 61 peer-reviewed studies across 21 sovereign and U.S. states, highlighting shifting research priorities and the lack of convergence across ecosys-tem service categories. While early research emphasized supporting services such as fish-ery nurseries, recent studies focus on regulating services, especially carbon sequestration. Stakeholder engagement remains limited, with only 18% of studies incorporating local or institutional perspectives. We argue for greater integration of stakeholder input and con-vergence across service categories to enhance the scientific basis for mangrove manage-ment and policy design.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Regulation and Frameworks: Current and Future Reporting Trends

  Sustainable finance · 2024-01-01 · 1 citations

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• The FinTech Revolution

  Sustainable finance · 2024-01-01 · 7 citations

  bookOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Spatial Planning Offshore Wind Energy Farms in California for Mediating Fisheries, Seabird, and Whale Population Impacts

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2024-01-01

  preprintOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• GenAI: Unlocking Sustainability Insights and Driving Change in Fintech

  Sustainable finance · 2024-01-01 · 1 citations

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Geospatial Finance: Foundations and Applications

  Sustainable finance · 2024-01-01 · 1 citations

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Comparative Analysis of Generative Pre-Trained Transformers Responses to Coastal Ecosystem Questions: Implications for GenAI in Environmental Education

  Research Square · 2024-04-01 · 2 citations

  preprintOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Abstract This study presents a comparative analysis of two leading large language models (LLMs), Google’s Bard, powered by the Gemini model, and OpenAI’s ChatGPT 4.0, in the context of their responses to coastal ecosystem science undergraduate student education. Fifty questions related to coastal ecosystem management were posed to each LLM. Expert assessments evaluated the responses of the LLMs based on five key metrics: accuracy, relevance, depth, creativity, and semantic clarity. Knowledge graphs provided a structured framework for assessing and visualizing the AI responses. The analysis identified the strengths and weaknesses of each LLM in addressing complex environmental issues. The findings contribute to a deeper understanding of LLMs’ potential applications in environmental science education and scientific communication. This study acknowledges limitations, such as the inherent subjectivity of expert assessments and the potential for bias within the knowledge graphs used for evaluation. Future research directions include investigating the effectiveness of LLMs in personalized learning environments and exploring their potential for generating educational content tailored to diverse audiences.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• ESG Integration: Unveiling Risk and Driving Innovation in Sustainable Finance

  Sustainable finance · 2024-01-01 · 6 citations

  book-chapterOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  This chapter begins by defining sustainable finance and tracing its historical development. It identifies key stakeholders in the sustainability landscape and discusses their roles and motivations. The chapter then explores how various entities such as corporations, governments, NGOs, financial institutions, and consumers contribute to and influence sustainability efforts. It also delves into the broader concept of sustainability, which encompasses economic, environmental, and social integration. The chapter highlights the essential role of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria in guiding the financial sector toward a sustainable future, emphasizing both the ethical imperatives and the strategic financial benefits of ESG integration. The chapter also examines the role of digital measurement, reporting and verification (MRV), and how technological advancements are transforming the financial services landscape, offering new opportunities for sustainable growth and alignment with global carbon reduction targets. It concludes with significant developments within major Climate Tech and Ag Tech companies that are innovating green transition.

  PublisherDOI

• Mapping the dynamics of aquatic vegetation in Lake Kyoga and its linkages to satellite lakes

  Science of Remote Sensing · 2024-08-13 · 2 citations

  articleOpen access

  Lake Kyoga is a shallow, young, flooded basin just north of and about 30m lower than Lake Victoria. The catchment encompasses Lake Kyoga itself, and a constellation of several dozen small satellite lakes following valley contours mostly to its east. The Kyoga basin fish fauna shares many non-cichlid species plus a spectacular, partially endemic radiation of haplochromine cichlids most similar to but still largely distinct from those in Lake Victoria. This fish fauna is of high conservation concern, as it preserves remnants of the regional species flock that have disappeared from Lake Victoria and Lake Kyoga, leaving small remnant populations in some of the satellite lakes. Now, these too are imperiled by limnological dynamics, including fluctuations in the nature and extent of aquatic vegetation. The water bodies in the Kyoga Basin are highly dynamic due both to fluctuation in water level and large amplitude variation in marginal and floating vegetation. This variation has profound evolutionary and conservation implications, since it can create and destroy critical aquatic habitat. It can also alternately anneal and cleave gene flow over time, both between the main lake and its satellites, and among the satellite lakes. The aquatic vegetation cluttering these linkages can create a spatial refugium for many native fish species that are more tolerant of hypoxia than an introduced macropredator, the Nile perch. Anthropogenic impacts to this region have greatly increased in recent years, altering relationships between aquatic vegetation and endangered species, fisheries and other ecosystem services provided by the lake. Understanding these dynamics require a means of mapping aquatic vegetation, connectivity, and habitat through time. Here we develop a new and improved algorithm to map the spatial distribution and dynamics of floating and emergent aquatic vegetation via remote sensing. We utilize a time series of 440 Landsat images dating from 1986 to 2020. A series of water and vegetation indices are designed to reveal change in the aquascape over time. First, two types of water masks are derived using a majority rule - a separate water mask for each image and a composite water mask of the region over the study period. Second, the difference between the two masks is then used to delineate the potential location of macrophytes over the image. Third, an algorithm is developed to separate the floating vegetation from emergent vegetation; this algorithm uses Landsat spectral bands and two additional spatial and temporal metrics that considerably improve classification accuracy. A more extensive analysis of aquascape trajectories using remote sensing can inform fish conservation strategies and fisheries management and illuminate the role of landscape dynamics in macroevolutionary patterns of aquatic taxa. • Lake Kyoga Lake system is highly dynamic and complex. • Classification accuracy of aquatic vegetation is usually low. • Open water areas are delineated from water indices and adaptive binarization. • Spatial and temporal metrics derived from Landsat Archive greatly improve accuracy. • Application of the maps guides sustainability between stakeholders and wildlife.

  PublisherDOI

• A Deep Dive into Climate Risks and Materiality

  Sustainable finance · 2024-01-01 · 1 citations

  book-chapterOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  This chapter delves into the intersection of climate risks and business management, emphasizing how changing environmental dynamics directly impact organizations, industries, and economies. It outlines the concept of risk in the business context and explores how companies assess and mitigate specific climate-related threats. As scientific evidence points to an increasing frequency and severity of extreme weather events, the chapter highlights the significant financial implications for businesses. It discusses the crucial role of the 2015 Paris Agreement in stabilizing global temperatures and the extensive structural changes needed across various sectors to achieve rapid decarbonization. The chapter also addresses the direct impact of climate change on asset values, with a focus on the expected “climate value at risk” (CVaR) for global financial assets. Furthermore, it explains the growing recognition of climate risks by financial communities and the resultant shift in capital allocation and oversight practices.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Curtis E. Woodcock

  44 shared

• Alan H. Strahler

  Boston University

  26 shared

• Joshua Pitts

  Boston University

  24 shared

• Manfréd M. Fischer

  17 shared

• Magaly Koch

  Tufts University

  15 shared

• T.J. Hebert

  University of Houston

  13 shared

• Les Kaufman

  11 shared

• Scott Macomber

  11 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Geography

  University of California, Santa Barbara

  1995

• M.S., Geography

  University of California, Santa Barbara

  1991

• B.S., Geography

  University of Calcutta

  1988