Zachary Bortolot is an Assistant Professor of Geography with the Institute for Regional Analysis and Public Policy at Morehead State University. He received a Ph. D. in 2004 from the Department of Forestry at Virginia Tech, a M. Sc. in 2000 from the Department of Forest Resources Management at the University of British Columbia, and a Sc. B. in 1997 from the Department of Geological Sciences at Brown University. Dr. Bortolot is currently involved in three types of research: designing adaptive computer vision algorithms for automatically interpreting air photos, high spatial resolution satellite imagery, and LiDAR imagery; using high spatial resolution hyperspectral imagery to locate and identify individual animals; and designing robust algorithms for spectroscopically estimating foliar nitrogen concentrations.

In support of his research and studies, Dr. Bortolot has received several grants and awards, including a Hyland R. Johns Grant from the International Society for Arboriculture. He is also the co-director of KentuckyView, Kentucky's AmericaView affiliate.

Dr. Bortolot teaches courses on remote sensing, physical geography, and map analysis for the Department of Geography, Government, and History, and courses on computational methods and Appalachian issues for the Institute for Regional Analysis and Public Policy.