Category: GIS by Academic Discipline

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Data General GIS GIS in Art GIS in Computer Science Slideshow Videos

Phone-call cartography

Here’s a link to an interesting NYT story, “Phone-call cartography,”  on mapping connectedness via data points from mobile phone calls.  The accompanying map was produced by M.I.T.’s SENSEable City Lab using the origin and end point locations for cellphone traffic within the U.S. in July of last year.

Phone-call cartography video:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFKZnbIAboI

Phone-call cartography map:

 

The “Phone-call cartography” map project is just the latest in a long series of projects the SENSEable City Lab has done using cellphone data to explore the idea of connectedness.  In 2008, the group produced a map installation called “New York Time Exchange” for the NYC MoMA’s ‘Design and the Elastic Mind’ exhibition. The installation featured wall-sized maps displaying nearly real-time data on cellphone calls with origins and/or destinations in the New York City area. See this Newsweek article or this NYT article for more information about the “New York Time Exchange” exhibit and how SENSEable’s research is informing our understanding of globalization, the digital divide and other measures of connectedness.

Click here to read an article about SENSEable’s use of real-time cell phone data to analyze the economic impact of New York City’s 2008 ‘Waterfalls’ exhibit in New York Harbor.

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Bucknell/Local Interest Data Digital Humanities Environment General GIS GIS in Biology GIS in Computer Science GIS in Engineering GIS in Environmental Studies GIS in Geography GIS in Geology GIS in History GIS in Humanities GIS in Psychology GIS in Sociology Map Apps Marcellus Shale Miller Run Restoration Project Slideshow

What we’re up to this summer (and why we’re not posting)

Thanks to the Mellon grant and a huge number of faculty teaching and research projects it’s been a very busy summer of GIS work at Bucknell.  Over the coming weeks I’ll write detailed posts about the work we’re doing on each of the projects.  If I’m really ambitious I might try to post some interviews with faculty and students – and some footage of the aerial drone flights that Nick Urban ’12 is doing. But for now here’s a short overview of who’s doing GIS work at Bucknell this summer and what we’re doing:

GIS Student Assistants:

  • Chad Lawlis, Environmental Studies ’11
  • Dan Dougherty, Geography/History ’12
  • Max Stiss, Geography/Anthropology ’12
  • Nick Urban, Computer Science ’12
  • Mike Grasso, Environmental Studies ’13
  • Robby Holler, Geography/International Relations ’13 (pictured below)
  • Darin Rockwell, Geography/Geology ’13 (pictured below)
  • Dan Ladd, Middlebury College ’14 (pictured below)

Key Projects:

  • Maps for Sudan field guide atlas to mammals
  • GPS data collection for Lewisburg Cemetary
  • GPS data collection for Miller Run restoration project
  • Aerial drone data collection for Miller Run restoration project
  • Lycoming County/Williamsport community asset mapping
  • Mapping toxic contamination from Marcellus Shale natural gas wells
  • Mapping locations of Marcellus Shale water withdrawl permits
  • Georeferencing & vectorizing 19th century economic maps of Vietnam
  • Georeferencing & vectorizing maps of environmental hazards and resources in Kyrgyzstan
  • Georeferencing & vectorizing 1868 Historic Atlas of Union & Snyder Counties
  • Data development for Stories of the Susquehanna project
  • Support for student research projects – including GPS’ing dumpster locations on campus for an analysis of campus waste and recycling, and updating Arboretum tree dataset with location info for newly planted and felled trees
  • Develop pilot web map apps for showcasing faculty research
  • Develop pilot web map apps for use in teaching
  • Implement backend IT infrastructure to support ArcGIS server
  • Maps for Bucknell admin purposes, including: analysis of parking shortages on campus; maps for task force report on campus climate; maps for SBDC report on services by county; arts festival map.

 

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Bucknell/Local Interest Environment Events/Calendar General GIS GIS in Biology Slideshow

Do turtles with more powerful predators have stronger shells?

Do turtles with more powerful predators have stronger shells?

Over the last year, Biology professor Tristan Stayton used GIS and finite element analysis methods to explore this question. During Summer 2010, Prof. Stayton participated in a Library & IT workshop designed to give faculty hands-on experience using GIS for academic research and teaching.  Over the course of the summer, Prof. Stayton and his student researchers used ArcGIS to georeference and digitize turtle species ranges to convert them from image files into GIS data that could be used as input in Prof. Stayton’s analysis.  The same techniques were also used to digitize the ranges of 25 known turtle predators.

During the 2010-11 academic year, Prof. Stayton used the GIS datasets created during summer 2010 to calculate range sizes and range overlaps of turtles and their predators – and then to derive measures of turtle predation pressure. Prof. Stayton presented his conclusions last month at the Evolution 11 conference in Norman, Oklahoma and has a paper in the works as well.

The answer to the question? The short answer is that no, turtles with more powerful predators do not have stronger shells – in fact, they appear to have evolved weaker shell shapes.  But be sure to look at the poster below for a full presentation of the methodology, results and possible explanations for the findings.

Students involved in this project: Christine Vega ’11, Patrick Caloz ’13 and Joe Budzinski ’11 (georeferencing & vectorizing species ranges); Dan Ladd, GIS Student Assistant, Middlebury College ’14 (created turtle species density map shown in poster)

 

 

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Bucknell/Local Interest Environment General GIS GIS in Biology Map Apps Slideshow

Stink bug mapping tool

Penn State and the PA Department of Agriculture have just released a new web-based tool for mapping infestations of stink bugs across the state. The mapping tool collects and displays user-submitted data on stink bug sightings. After creating a login ID and passwords, users specify whether they are a farmer, nursery owner or homeowner and then identify their reporting location using either a Google Maps interface and/or a form to specify their county and municipality. Next, the user provides information on the level and type of infestation – including the number of stink bugs per type of tree, plant, and/or crop.

Read a story about the new website here. Click here to visit the Stink Bug website and map app. See below for some screenshots of the website and stink bug reporting interface.

 

 

 

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Bucknell/Local Interest Digital Humanities General GIS GIS in Environmental Studies GIS in Geography GIS in History GIS in Humanities Map Apps Marcellus Shale Slideshow Videos

Uncovering the ‘Stories of the Susquehanna’ using GIS

Bucknell faculty have long had an interest in grounding their research efforts locally – using the physical, cultural, historical and sociological landscapes of the Susquehanna Valley region as a living laboratory. The two videos below feature Prof. Katherine Faull and student Emily Bitely ’11 talking about the role of GIS in two such projects – the Stories of the Susquehanna, and the John Smith Trail Extension project (both multi-year, inter-disciplinary projects involving faculty from across the campus).

Katie Faull discussing her use of GIS for the John Smith Trail Extension and Stories of the Susquehanna project:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2eG2v8FnOA

Emily Bitely ’11 discussing her use of GIS for the same projects:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uPcaaqSzII

More about the John Smith Trail:

  • To learn more about the John Smith Trail, click here or here.
  • To view a National Geographic map detailing Captain John Smith’s voyage, click here.
  • To view a map of interpretive ‘smart’ buoys located in the river, click here.

More about the Stories of the Susquehanna project:

  • A pilot web mapping application featuring two of the ‘Stories of the Susquehanna’ is scheduled to launch this fall.  Stay tuned for more details.
  • Click here to read about the 2010 Susquehanna Valley Summer Writer’s Institute (SVSWI).  The SVSWI project is related to the Stories of the Susquehanna both in the type of local stories it explores and in its use of maps, audio, video, images and text to reflect on those stories in an interactive digital story-telling environment.
  • Click here to view the SVSWI’s interactive mapping application featuring students’ reflections on the impact of the Marcellus Shale gas boom on different populations in the Susquehanna Valley region.