Research

My research applies Geographic Information Science (GIS) to the quantification of human-environment relationships and the analysis of their spatial variation.  I develop methods and apply them to three interconnected themes: (1) land use change; (2) social and environmental ‘determinants’ of human health; and (3) environmental justice, sustainability, and quality of life. I integrate these themes by using mixed methods, vulnerability analysis, community-based participatory research and spatial statistical techniques.  I strive to make my research policy-relevant and useful to the local community.

1) Land-use change
In my dissertation I applied a mixed-methods approach, using remote sensing and GIS, along with field work and interviews of farmers, to develop a spatially-explicit land-use change model for the southern Yucatan peninsula of Mexico. Modeling future land use change has been one of the central concerns of the global-change research community because changes in local and regional land use impact both biogeochemical cycles that sustain the biosphere and human-environment interactions locally and regionally.  (READ MORE »)

2) Social and environmental ‘determinants’ of health
Since joining the collaborative research environment of the IDCE Department at Clark University in 2006, I have broadened my research horizons to include GIS applications for public health and environmental justice.  I have pursued my research in a series of funded and unfunded research projects, collaborative projects with local government and community organizations, and published papers.   (READ MORE »)

3) Environmental justice, sustainability, and quality of life
While well-known to the academic community in the developed world, the issues of environmental justice and its connection to sustainability have not been widely studied in other parts of the world, including the post-socialist European countries. One important contribution to this area of research is a book I co-edited with Julian Agyeman “Environmental Justice and Sustainability in the Former Soviet Union” (MIT Press, 2009).   (READ MORE »)