SARA ESHLEMAN

Department of Geography and the Environment

The University of Texas at Austin
eshlemansa@utexas.edu

SUMMARY
Teaching: Visiting Lecturer, University of Central Arkansas: Earth Systems Science | Assistant Instructor,
UT Austin: Spatial Data & Analysis and The Natural Environment
Publications & Research: 9 peer-reviewed articles, 16 conference presentations, 6 invited lectures
Awards: >$235,000 in grants, fellowships, and awards; including from National Geographic Society,
Department of Defense, American Philosophical Society, Explorer’s Club, and P.E.O. Sisterhood
Service & Leadership: Organizer for 2 AAG conference sessions, graduate association president, high
school internship mentor, Intellectual Entrepreneurship Pre-Graduate School Internship mentor

EDUCATION
2024 (expected) PhD in Geography and the Environment
University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX
2018 MA in Geography and the Environment
University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX
2013 BS in Environmental Biology
Georgetown University, Washington, DC

TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Primary Instructor

University of Texas at Austin, Department of Geography and the Environment

Summer 2022, Summer 2023 The Natural Environment (GRG 401C | online)
Spring 2022 Spatial Data and Analysis (GRG 410C | in-person)
University of Central Arkansas, Department of Geography
Fall 2022 Earth Systems Science (GEOG 1400 | online)
Teaching Assistant and Laboratory Instructor

University of Texas at Austin, Department of Geography and the Environment

Fall 2021, Spring 2023 The Natural Environment (GRG 401C | in-person)
Course Development and Teaching Preparation

March 2023 Certificate of Completion | Inclusive Classrooms Leadership Certificate Seminar for
Excellence in Teaching; with UT Austin Division of Diversity and Community Engagement
and The Graduate School
Spring 2022 Course Development for summer online GRG 401C: The Natural Environment; with UT
Austin Liberal Arts Instructional Technology Services
Spring 2021 Certificate of Completion | UT Austin Faculty Innovation Center’s Teaching Preparation
Series

Updated: August 27, 2023

PUBLICATIONS
Peer-Reviewed Publications

2022 Garrison, T., A. Thompson, S. Krause, S. Eshleman, J. Diaz-Fernandez, J.D. Baldwin, and R.
Cambranes. “Assessing the Lidar Revolution in the Maya Lowlands: A Geographic Approach to
Understanding Feature Classification Accuracy” Progress in Physical Geography
https://doi.org/10.1177/03091333221138050
2021 Kwoka, J.J., T.H. Guderjan, S. Eshleman, T. Ruhl, J. Telepak, T. Beach, S. Luzzadder-Beach, W.
McClatchey, and G. Bascope. “A Multimethod Approach to the Study of Classic Maya Houselots
and Land Tenure: Preliminary Results from the Three Rivers Region, Belize” Journal of
Archaeological Science: Reports https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2021.103049
2020 Sekhon, N, T. Beach, S. Krause, and S. Eshleman. “Understanding climate trends in Central
America through practical problem-based learning” Journal of Geography in Higher Education
https://doi.org/10.1080/03098265.2020.1833318
2020 Eshleman, S. and T. Beach. “Soil fertility of cohune palm (Attalea cohune) dominant forests
compared to non-cohune forests in northwestern Belize” Plant and Soil
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-020-04575-4
2019 Beach, T., S. Luzzadder-Beach, S. Krause, T. Guderjan, F. Valdez, J.C. Fernandez-Diaz, S.
Eshleman, and C. Doyle. “Ancient Maya wetland fields revealed under tropical forest canopy
from laser scanning and multiproxy evidence” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
116(43), 21469-21477 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1910553116
2021 Ellen Mosley Thompson Award (paper of the year) from the American Association of
Geographers, Paleoenvironmental Change Specialty Group
2022 Kirk Bryan Award for Excellence from the Geological Society of America for outstanding
contributions to the interdisciplinary field of quaternary geology and geomorphology
2019 Krause, S., T. Beach, S. Luzzadder-Beach, D. Cook, G. Islebe, M.R. Palacios-Fest, S. Eshleman, C.
Doyle, and T.H. Guderjan. “Wetland geomorphology and paleoecology near Akab Muclil, Rio
Bravo floodplain of the Belize coastal plain” Geomorphology 331, 146-159
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2018.10.015
2019 Krause, S., T. Beach, S. Luzzadder-Beach, T. Guderjan, F. Valdez, S. Eshleman, C. Doyle, and S.
Bozarth. “Ancient Maya wetland management in two watersheds in Belize: Soils, water, and
paleoenvironmental change” Quaternary International 502(B), 280-295
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2018.10.029
2018 Beach, T., A. Ulmer, D. Cook, M. Brennan, S. Luzzadder-Beach, C. Doyle, S. Eshleman, S. Krause,
M. Cortes-Rincon, and R. Terry. “Geoarchaeology and Tropical Forest Soil Catenas of
Northwestern Belize” Quaternary International 463(A), 198-217
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2017.02.031
2018 Beach, T., S. Luzzadder-Beach, D. Cook, S. Krause, C. Doyle, S. Eshleman, G. Wells, N. Dunning,
M. Brennan, N. Brokaw, M. Cortes-Rincon, G. Hammond, R. Terry, D. Trein, and S. Ward.
“Stability and Instability on Maya Lowlands tropical hillslope soils” Geomorphology 305, 185-208
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2017.07.027
Publications In Progress

In preparation S. Eshleman. Paper on the scale and spatial stationarity of vegetation-topography

relationships in northwestern Belize. To be submitted to an ecology journal.
In preparation Duchicela, S., F. Cuesta, E. Pinto, E. Salazar, S. Eshleman, H. de la Cruz, K. Young. Paper
on ecological restoration in Huancavelica, Peru. To be submitted an ecology journal.

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In preparation L. Donn et al. including S. Eshleman. Paper on assessing tree health from UAV-based
hyperspectral imagery with machine learning. To be submitted to an environmental
monitoring journal.
Published Field Reports

2019 Eshleman, S., T. Beach, S. Luzzadder-Beach, and T.G. Garrison. “Investigaciones del Paleo-Medio
Ambiente” In Y.M. Guitiérrez Castillo, T.G. Garrison, J.L. Garrido López, E. Román Ramirez, and S.
Houston (Eds.) Proyecto Arqueológico El Zotz: 13a temporada de campo: Informe entregado a la
dirección general del patrimonio cultural y natural p. 307-315.
2018 Kwoka, J., T. Ruhl, and S. Eshleman. “AL17: Investigations of Ancient Maya House Lots” In T.
Guderjan and C.C. Hanratty (Eds.) The 26th annual report of the Blue Creek Archaeological Project
p. 81-92.
2017 Eshleman, S. and J. Telepak. “Groundtruthing the first results of the LiDAR Survey” In T.
Guderjan and C.C. Hanratty (Eds.) Dugout Canoes and Airplanes, Too: The 25th annual report of
the Blue Creek Archaeological Project p. 141-145.
2017 Eshleman, S. “Exploration of the Rio Hondo by dugout canoe” In T. Guderjan and C.C. Hanratty
(Eds.) Dugout Canoes and Airplanes, Too: The 25th annual report of the Blue Creek
Archaeological Project p. 147-159.
Conference Proceedings

2020 Guderjan, T., J. Kwoka, C. Hanratty, T. Beach, S. Luzzadder-Beach, S. Krause, S. Eshleman, T.

Ruhl, and C. Doyle. “Early Onset Anthropocene: Control of the landscape by the ancient Maya in
northwestern Belize” Research Reports in Belizean Archaeology 17, 105-117

PRESENTATIONS
Conference Presentations, Organization, & Chairing

2023 Eshleman, S., J. Diaz-Fernandez, and B. Snider. “Exploring the effect of ancient landscape
modifications on current vegetation structure in the Rio Bravo Conservation Area, Belize”
Society for American Archaeology.
2022 Eshleman, S. and T. Beach. “Tropical canopy height correlates with topographic metrics:
evidence from lidar remote sensing” American Association of Geographers Annual Meeting.
Virtual. Session Organizer and Chair
2019 Eshleman, S. and T. Beach. “Landscape legacies of the ancient Maya in Belize” Natural Resource
Management Symposium. Belmopan, Belize
2019 Eshleman, S. and T. Beach. “Vegetation-topography relationships in the Selva Maya” American
Association of Geographers Annual Meeting. Washington, DC. Session Organizer and Chair
2018 Eshleman, S. and T. Beach. “Origins and distribution of cohune palm (Attalea cohune)
monodominant forests within Mesoamerican mixed forests” American Association of
Geographers Annual Meeting. New Orleans, LA
2018 Brokaw, N., S. Eshleman, T. Beach, C. Doyle, S. Luzzadder-Beach, and S. Ward. “Topographic
impacts on vegetation height and composition in northwestern Belize” American Association of
Geographers Annual Meeting. New Orleans, LA. Presenting author
2017 Eshleman, S., C. Doyle, S. Krause, T. Beach, A.M. Jacoby, S. Luzzadder-Beach, T. Guderjan, and G.
Wells. “Exploring the Rio Hondo: traversing an understudied river and borderland” American
Association of Geographers Annual Meeting. Boston, MA. Session Chair

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2016 Eshleman, S., T. Guderjan, A.M. Jacoby, C. Doyle, S. Krause, J. Telepak, T. Beach, and S.
Luzzadder-Beach. “Feasibility of ancient Maya canoe travel along the Rio Hondo” South-Central
Conference on Mesoamerica. Tyler, TX.
Conference Posters and Exhibit

2019 Eshleman, S. and A. Eisenhart. UT Geography through the doctoral lens: an analysis of PhD
research trends in the first geography doctoral program in Texas. Poster. Southwest Division of
the American Association of Geographers Annual Meeting. Fort Worth, TX.
2019 Eshleman, S. and T. Beach. Topographic influences on canopy height in northwestern Belize.
Poster. Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting. Louisville, KY.
2018 Eshleman, S. and T. Beach. The influence of topographic factors on vegetation height in
northwestern Belize. Poster. Southwest Division of the American Association of Geographers
Annual Meeting. Baton Rouge, LA.
2017 Eshleman, S. and T. Beach. Interactions between cohune palm (Attalea cohune) monodominant
forests and soils. Poster. Binghamton Geomorphology Symposium. San Marcos, TX.
2017 Eshleman, S., C. Doyle, S. Krause, A.M. Jacoby, T. Beach, S. Luzzadder-Beach, and T. Guderjan.
Exploring Borderlands: A dugout canoe trip along the Belize-Mexico border. Poster. Conference
of Latin Americanist Geographers. New Orleans, LA.
2016 Eshleman, S. “Dugout Canoe near San Carlos, Belize” Photograph. Field Notes: LLILAS Benson
Student Photography Exhibition. Austin, TX.
2016 Eshleman, S. and T. Beach. “Ant”thropocene: Ecological Changes Due to Leaf-cutter Ant (Atta
sp.) Activity in Northwestern Belize. Poster. Association of American Geographers Annual
Meeting. San Francisco, CA.
2013 Eshleman, S., T. Beach, and M. Weiss. Soil Impacts of Leaf-cutter Ants (Atta sp.) in Northwestern
Belize. Poster. Undergraduate Research Conference. Georgetown University, Washington, DC.
Invited Lectures

2021 Undergraduate Course: Anthropocene | UT Austin

“Landscape Legacies of the Ancient Maya”
2019 National Geographic Explorer Academy Book Series| Austin, Texas
“The hidden ancient Maya world revealed with lasers”
2019 Programme for Belize Archaeological Project | Blue Creek, Belize
“Environmental interactions through time in northwest Belize”
2019 Undergraduate Course: Landscapes of Mexico and Caribbean America | UT Austin
“Human-Environment Interactions in the Maya World”
2018 Undergraduate Course: Ethics & Applications of Digital Spatial Data Course | UT Austin
“Lidar data applications and ethics”
2018 Undergraduate Course: Spatial Data and Analysis | UT Austin
“Distribution of vegetation heights in northwestern Belize: scale and stationarity”

GRANTS, FELLOWSHIPS, AND AWARDS

National-level Grants and Fellowship

2019 American Philosophical Society | Lewis and Clark Fund for Field Research ($4,700)
2017-2021 Department of Defense | National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG)
Fellowship (four years of graduate study; $153,600 + tuition and fees)
2017 Explorers Club | Exploration Fund Grant ($2,500)
2017 Conference of Latin Americanist Geographers | Master’s Student Travel Grant ($1,000)

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2016 South-Central Conference on Mesoamerica | Student Travel Grant ($200)
2016 National Geographic | Young Explorer’s Grant ($4,900)
University-level Grants and Fellowships

2023-2024 University of Texas at Austin Graduate School | University Graduate Continuing

Fellowship ($35,000 + tuition and fees)
2018 Oregon State University | Provost’s Distinguished Graduate Scholarship ($6,000) |
Declined
2017 University of Texas at Austin Department of Geography and the Environment | Robert E.
Veselka Grant for Field Study ($550)
2016-2017 University of Texas at Austin Department of Geography and the Environment |
Recruitment Fellowship (one year of graduate study with stipend; $35,515)
Awards

2021-2022 International Chapter of the P.E.O. Sisterhood | P.E.O. Scholar Award ($20,000)
2019 University of Texas at Austin Department of Geography and the Environment | Karl W.
Butzer Excellence Fund Fellowship ($5,000)
2018 Southwest Division of the American Association of Geographers| First place – Graduate
Student Poster Competition ($250)
2017-2020 University of Texas at Austin | Dean’s Prestigious Fellowship Supplement ($1,000
annually)

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
2020 Third Insight, Colorado | Gareth Block, Project Director
Role: Research Assistant | ecology consultant and tree health data collection
2015-2019 Maya Research Program, Belize | Thomas Guderjan, Project Director
Role: Staff | GIS consultant, ecology consultant, and project administration
2018 Andean Ecological Restoration, Peru |Sisimac Duchicela, Primary Investigator
Role: Research Assistant | botanical data collection
2018 Geomorphology of Large Floods, Iceland | Greta Wells, Primary Investigator
Role: Research Assistant | geomorphic data collection
2018 Proyecto Arqueológico El Zotz, Guatemala | Thomas Garrison and Yeny Gutiérrez,
Project Directors
Role: Research Assistant | paleoenvironment data collection
2012-2016 Maya Geoarchaeology, Belize and Mexico | Timothy Beach and Sheryl Luzzadder-
Beach, PIs
Role: Research Assistant | soil and water data collection
2014 World Wildlife Fund, Washington, DC | Nikhil Advani, Senior Program Officer
Role: Climate Change Adaptation Intern | climate change adaptation literature review
2014 Pennsylvania Game Commission | Scott Klinger, Wildlife Research Biologist 3
Role: Wildlife Biological Aide | Animal behavior and habitat data collection
2012-2013 Georgetown University Animal Behavior Lab, Australia | Janet Mann, Project Director
Role: Research Assistant | dolphin behavior data collection and management

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OUTREACH, SERVICE, AND VOLUNTEER WORK
2016-Present Graduate Association of Geography and the Environment| UT Austin
Co-President (2019-2020), Graduate Representative (2018-2019, 2022-2024)
2018-2020 Crockett High School Research Internship Program | UT Austin
Mentor
2018 Intellectual Entrepreneurship Pre-Graduate School Internship| UT Austin
Mentor

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS AND ACTIVITIES

Professional Memberships
2015-Present American Association of Geographers (AAG)
2016-Present American Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS)
2016-Present Conference of Latin Americanist Geographers (CLAG)
2017-Present Ecological Society of America (ESA)
2018-Present Society of American Archaeology (SAA)
2023-Present International Biogeography Society (IBS)

Professional Activities
Reviewer Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

UNDERGRADUATE MENTEES
Alyssa Hernandez (Spring 2023-Present) | labwork, data analysis
Ben Snider (Summer 2022-Present) | labwork
Carolyn Henein* (Fall 2019-Spring 2021) | labwork, thesis writing
Erica McCormick (Fall 2017-Spring 2021) | labwork, fieldwork, data analysis, publication preparation
Cheyenne Costello (Fall 2018-Spring 2020) | labwork, fieldwork, data analysis
Derry Xu (Fall 2017-Spring 2018) | labwork
* senior thesis committee (reader)

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