Dr. Maria Zubkova is an Assistant Research Professor who works with MODIS and VIIRS Burned Area and Active Fire group that develops and validates official NASA fire products. Her research in satellite-based wildfire mapping addresses the need to enhance ecosystem and community resilience to fire, as well as those that promote the use of beneficial fire, since, in recent years, catastrophic fires have led to the loss of billions of dollars, lives, and undesirable ecological and environmental consequences. Specifically, she is interested in disentangling the complex interaction between vegetation, climate, humans, and wildfire. Dr. Zubkova focuses on developing countries that do not get enough attention from the press or scientists but where changes in fire behavior or land cover can be as detrimental or even more compared to countries with higher fire management and suppression budgets. Her work explores shifts in fire activity resulting from violent conflicts, massive human migration, and extreme weather events in the Middle East and Eastern Africa.

In 2024 Dr. Zubkova became a new PI for NASA’s Early Career Investigator Program in Earth Science. This project will explain changes in woody cover in Sub-Saharan Africa by evaluating the relationships between bush encroachment and fire management in tropical savannas.

Outside of research, Dr. Zubkova dedicates a significant portion of her time to mentoring early-career geoscientists from high school to Post-Doc level. She is especially passionate about supporting and empowering women in STEM through the Association for Women Geoscientists mentoring platform Mentoring365 and NSF Full STEM Ahead.

She is also a Board member of the Society for Conservation GIS (SCGIS) and a co-chair of the SCGIS conference committee. In 2022, Dr. Zubkova received an Outstanding Post-Doctoral Associate in the Department of Geographical Sciences Award. In 2024, Dr. Zubkova received an Outstanding Research Faculty in the Department of Geographical Sciences Award.