Molly Foley

Molly joined the Remote Sensing and Environmental Informatics Group in 2022 as a Geospatial Software Engineer. She works to develop and maintain geospatial infrastructure, environmental and hydropower datasets, and web mapping applications for the HydroSource project. She also assists the Modern Nuclear Instrumentation & Control group with the development of a nation-wide hydropower fleet analytics dashboard.

Prior to joining ORNL, Molly worked as a spatial data analyst for the National Bobwhite & Grassland Initiative, a 25-state coalition of biologists focused on northern bobwhite quail conservation. She graduated from University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point with a B.S. in Wildlife Ecology: Research and Management and advanced to North Carolina State University to obtain a Master of Geographic Information Science and Technology. Her capstone project involved the identification of suitable bat habitat for eight different species of bats in the western region of Washington by analyzing proximity to important habitat features and also automating the identification of cliff faces that align with species’ preferences using DEM data.

In her free time, you can often find Molly researching reptiles, building vivariums for her geckos, walking her dog, hiking, and reading.