Dr. Rana N. Jawarneh is an associate professor of GIS and Remote Sensing at the department of Geography, Yarmouk University. She earned her Ph.D degree in 2012 from the University of Oklahoma and the Master’s degree in 2008 from University of Arkansas, USA. Her research focuses on studying spatio-temporal dynamics of land cover-land use, modeling urban growth, and assessing land degradation in semi-arid regions. She developed the first compatible Land Cover Database for Jordan (JNLCD) for which she was awarded the prestigious award for distinguished research in the fields of humanities and national security by Jordan Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research.