Lakshmibaur-Nalair Haor, a freshwater wetland ecosystem is situated in the north-eastern region of Bangladesh. This place hosts the second largest freshwater swamp forest in Bangladesh. Containing rich biodiversity, this unique area experiences significant landscape changes. This study examines land-use and land-cover (LULC) changes between 1989 and 2019 in the Lakshmibaur-Nalair Haor area by operating Landsat multispectral imageries through remote sensing (RS) and geographic information system (GIS) techniques. The changing status of the haor was analyzed by initiating normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and modified normalized difference water index (MNDWI). The unsupervised classification technique was implemented to classify these images into five major classes (vegetation, cropland, bare soil, shallow water, and deep water bodies) using threshold values of NDVI and MNDWI. After accuracy assessment, the post-classification comparison method was performed to evaluate the change detection. This study demonstrates that this valuable area lost ~ 2208.6 ha (37.54%) of the deep water body and 489.6 ha (8.34%) of vegetation over the last 3 decades. However, it has gained about 1729 ha (29.39%) of cropland, 2673 ha (45.44%) of shallow water and 1124 ha (28%) of bare soil. Such changes indicate significant human interventions such as expansion of croplands with increased population pressure. Gradual change of deep water into shallow water over time is enabling local community to expand agricultural lands and activities during the dry season. This study’s findings are useful in understanding and tracking changes in wetlands in Bangladesh and other similar settings.

In contemporary times, bike sharing programs are gaining importance as an influential transportation mode in both urban and rural areas. They are also used as a vital transportation mode on university campuses which serve as a healthy and environmentally-friendly transportation system. However, having an appropriate location for a bike station is important, so as to maximize the benefits of the service. This study used an origin–destination (O-D) matrix to identify appropriate bike station locations at the Morgan State University campus. The O-D matrix analysis identifies three locations Cumming Hall/University Health Center, Rawling Hall, and Center for Built Environment and Infrastructure Studies as the most appropriate locations to start a pilot, which will serve most of the campus (students, faculty, staff) and connect them to the maximum number of facilities at Morgan State University. The O-D matrix takes into account the occupancy or population of individual buildings based on enrollment over the past four years, the distance to the center of the campus where maximum facilities including the graduate and undergraduate offices are located, and the frequency of the university shuttle connecting most of the buildings. This methodology can be replicated and used on other university campuses and will help further bike sharing programs.