The Jeffrey L. Star lab is named after a UCSB Lecturer in Geography who helped to establish the core curriculum in remote sensing in the early 1990s and who, along with Jack Estes, identified the need to integrate remote sensing and GIS. Jeff had a PhD in Oceanography and was a brilliant computer scientist; his life was cut short by cancer in 1994.
Dr. Star was born august 11, 1953 in New York City. He received his BS degree in Environmental Science from MIT in 1975 and his PhD from Scripps Institution of Oceanography in 1980, and he joined the UCSB Department of Geography as a lecturer and researcher in 1981. In 1983, he became the Development Engineer and Manager of the Remote Sensing Research Unit which was run by Professor John (Jack) Estes, a position he held until his death.
During his 11 years as Manager of the RSRU, Star authored numerous articles on image processing, geographic information systems (GIS), and spatial analysis, coauthored a textbook on GIS, authored chapters in several books on aspects of GIS technology, and was elected a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, the Association for Computing Machinery, and the National Computer Graphic association. At the time of his death, Star was on leave from UCSB, working as a Senior Visiting Scientist for the Universities Space Research Association, attached to the Data and Information Systems Division of NASA’s Office of Mission to Planet Earth.
“Jeff exhibited a remarkable ability to understand how technology could enable significant advances in the spatial sciences. He possessed a very quick, wide-ranging, and keenly analytical mind. He had the ability to reduce complex science issues to fundamental questions and the capacity to lay out detailed plans for the use of newly evolving spatial technologies to address these questions. A good friend once remarked: ‘Jeff can’t go to sleep at night without being right up to speed on the latest developments in information system technology’” (Estes).
The other “star” of the Star Lab is Jeffrey’s mother, Lita Star, who donated the spectacular quilt on display in the lab in honor of her son. Lita is a renowned quilter whose work is widely exhibited and highly acclaimed, both home and abroad. She donated the quilt, titled “To Life,” in 2000. According to the American Quilter’s Society’s appraisal form, the hand-quilted work was created in 1996, and, according to the “provenance” details, “quilt made as a celebration of the beauty and fragility of life. Design is unique and original to maker. Quilt has been exhibited, ribboned, awarded, juried, published extensively, as is the quilt artist/maker.”
