Wiesam Essa (Wisām ‘Īsā) (وسام علي عيسى) was a professor in the Department of Geography at al-Aqsa University – Khan Yunis campus – from 2005, with a partial appointment in the Department of Computer Science, as well. He was a consummate researcher with expertise in geo-informatics and remote sensing, and their application to geo-environmental issues in Palestine. 

Professor Essa was born in Gaza on 20 February 1975 and completed his primary and secondary education in Rafah. In 1997 (or 1998), he graduated from the Islamic University of Gaza with a BS in Environment and Earth Science. Over the next 13 years, he pursued specialized studies and graduate degrees outside Gaza. While he began an MS degree in Remote Sensing and GIS at Ben Gurion University (BGU) in 1999, he could not complete it because of Israel’s closure of the Gaza Strip. However, he earned a master’s in Land Degradation and Conservation in 2004 from the Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation at University of Twente in the Netherlands. Four years later, while holding a formal teaching position in Gaza, he entered a PhD program in Belgium, in the Department of Hydrology and Hydraulic Engineering at Vrije Universiteit Brussel and earned his doctorate  in 2012 with a thesis entitled, Thermal Subpixel Estimation in Urban Areas with Spaceborne Sensing. Several articles based on his dissertation research were published in refereed journals (e.g., 2013, 2017).

Professor Essa built his career at al-Aqsa University. For three years (2015-18), he was Managing Director of its Geospatial Data Center for Education, Research and Development, at the same time as he taught in the Geography Department. A prolific scholar, as evidenced by his many publications, he was also committed to training younger Palestinians and encouraging the growth of a scientific community at home. 

Professor Essa enjoyed collaborative relationships with scholars and institutions abroad. He was a Visiting Fellow in the Department of Geography at University of Manchester (6/2019-3/2021), with funding from the UK-based Council for At-Risk Academics (CARA). There, he conducted research and taught in the MSc program in Geographical Information Science. Among his research foci was a satellite remote sensing-based analysis of water usage in Palestine. Partially funded by a grant from the (British) Royal Geographical Society, this study resulted in a co-authored conference paper in 2020 and a co-authored article in 2022. Another co-authored article on a related topic was published in 2023.

Wiesam Essa was killed during the first week of January 2024 when his apartment block in Khan Yunis was bombed by Israeli air strikes. (One site says he was killed on 14 December 2023.) His wife was injured but survived, as did their four children. Dr. Essa was 48 years old. One month before his death, CARA and the Institute of International Education’s Scholar Rescue Fund (IIE-SRF) secured an academic placement for him in the UK, but it proved impossible for him to leave Gaza.

Obituaries attest to his many qualities: He “is fondly remembered by colleagues in Geography …as a regular and cheerful presence in the Department, contributing enthusiastically to the Mapping, Culture and GIS research group. He was especially keen to develop collaborations to further his research in Palestine” (University of Manchester). “Wiesam was an extraordinary academic who was committed to improving conditions in the Gaza Strip, a dedicated father and spouse, and a kind man.” (CARA-IIEE/SRF)

(Dr. Essa with his wife and daughter, Shahd, who ranked first in Palestine in the university qualifying exams in the sciences (2023)

Photo credits: Gigaza; University of Manchester; Nabd.com