Magaly Koch is a geologist specializing in the application of remote sensing and geographic information systems in the study of groundwater resources and environmental change of arid lands. She is currently leading a cooperative research project between the United States and Egypt concerning the use of space observation for monitoring/analyzing food and water nexus under changing conditions in arid regions. In recent years, she has become interested in studying the relationship between land cover/use changes, hydrology, and infectious diseases. She applied her expertise in geospatial technology in a recent project that examined the role of intensive maize cultivation in epidemic and endemic malaria in the Jimma region of southwestern Ethiopia.