We have ongoing projects in the following areas:
Twin Cities Metropolitan Area (TCMA): we have excellent data and a research library focused on land use, its determinants, and its impacts on human and environmental systems (1949-present). These data range from the parcel level (over one million parcels) to broader data sets pertaining to environmental and social factors that influence the human-environment condition in the region.
Ongoing projects
- Steven Manson: modeling population and health dynamics at small scales
- Debs Ghosh: using geographically weighted regression (GWR) to examine land use
- Debs Ghosh: examining West Nile virus
- Joe Song: linking cellular automata to urban growth
- Heather Sander: modeling human-environment dynamics
- Shipeng Sun: using agent-based modeling to explain development
- See also: North American Land Change: Decision Making in Coupled Human-Environment Systems
Open projects
- Cellular models of land use
- Time series analysis of interactions among land use parcels (1990-2005)
- Long-term reconstruction of land use with multiple data sources (1880s-2005)
Past projects
- Joy Chen: using logistic regression to explain water complaints in St. Paul
- Eric Myott: looking at transportation linkages to sprawl as both a process and pattern
- Chad Riley: using fuzzy set theory to create composite maps of urbanization
Funding
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration, New Investigator Program in Earth-Sun System Science. North American Land Change: Integrated Research and Education on Decision Making in Coupled Human-Environment Systems
- Minnesota Population Center Faculty Proposal Development Grant, University of Minnesota. Development and Application of a Twin Cities Geographic Dataset for Population Research
- Grant-In-Aid Of Research, Artistry and Scholarship, Office of the Dean of the Graduate School, University of Minnesota. Does Sprawl Beget Sprawl? Urbanization in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, 1990-2005
- McKnight Land-Grant Professorship, University of Minnesota. Nature, Causes, and Impacts of Changing Urban and Rural Landscapes
- Faculty Interactive Research Program, Center for Urban and Regional Affairs, University of Minnesota. Assessing and Forecasting Land Use and Land Cover Change in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area
Multifunctional Agriculture : in collaboration with researchers in rural sociology and agronomy, we have started a multi-year project on the environmental and institutional ramifications and possibilities of sustainable agriculture in rural MN.
Ongoing projects
Open projects
- Creating time series from remote sensing data
- Using geographically weighted regression (GWR) to examine land use
- Time series analysis of interactions among land uses over time
- Creating scenarios of future land use
Funding
- National Science Foundation. BE/CNH: Understanding the Importance of Weak-Tie Networks in Complex Human-Environment Systems: Ecosocial Feedback in Multifunctional Agriculture
- Intercollegiate Research Network, University of Minnesota. Testing a Novel Mechanism for Sustainable Development of Agriculture
Human-Environment Education and Spatial Thinking : The HEGIS lab is combining spatial thinking and environmental education in collaboration with Eco Education. EcoEd is a successful and long-established non-profit environmental education organization based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It has served over 130,000 students since 1991. EcoEd is "committed to making environmental education relevant to urban learners and to helping them address their unique environmental concerns." We also conduct research on integrating GISc with post-secondary education
Ongoing projects
Open projects
- Working with local educators to create GIS-based exercises for grades 4-12
Past projects
Funding
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration, New Investigator Program in Earth-Sun System Science. North American Land Change: Integrated Research and Education on Decision Making in Coupled Human-Environment Systems
- Office for Public Engagement, University of Minnesota. Strengthening Public Engagement Through a Web-Based Curriculum on Spatial Thinking in Environmental Education
- Information Technology Fees Committee, College of Liberal Arts, University of Minnesota. Minnesota Interactive Mapping Project.
- Information Technology Fees Committee, College of Liberal Arts, University of Minnesota. Spatializing the Undergraduate Curriculum
Southern Yucatan Peninsular Region (SYPR): we have a large amount of data focused on land use and its determinants in this region of Mexico, ranging from household interviews to GIS layers on environmental systems and social institutions (1987-2005).
Ongoing projects
Open projects
- Using geographically weighted regression (GWR) to examine land use
- Time series analysis of interactions among land uses over time
- Creating scenarios of future land use
- Examining relationships between agriculture and social and/or ecological well being
Funding
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration, New Investigator Program in Earth-Sun System Science. North American Land Change: Integrated Research and Education on Decision Making in Coupled Human-Environment Systems
- Minnesota Population Center Faculty Proposal Development Grant, University of Minnesota. Development and Application of a Twin Cities Geographic Dataset for Population Research
- McKnight Land-Grant Professorship, University of Minnesota. Nature, Causes, and Impacts of Changing Urban and Rural Landscapes
- Minnesota Population Center Development Grant, University of Minnesota. Land Change in the Southern Yucatan Peninsular Region of Mexico: Linking Household Decision Making to Social and Ecological Systems
- National Science Foundation. BE/CNH: The Vulnerability and Adaptive Capacity of Coupled Human-Environment Systems in the Southern Yucatan Peninsular Region
- Faculty Summer Research Fellowship Program, College of Liberal Arts, University of Minnesota. Global Environmental Change: Local Dimensions of Human Vulnerability and Resilience in Mexico
Minnesota Wolf Habitat: we have data sets for wolf and deer populations in addition to several data sets for human and environmental habitat factors (1987-2000). We also have working relationships with the MN Department of Natural Resources, who provide data and expertise.
Open projects
- Creating an agent-based models of wolf dynamics
- Using geographically weighted regression (GWR) to examine a broader set of habitat variables
- Time series analysis of wolf populations (1990-2005)
- Time series analysis of deer-wolf interactions (1990-2005)
Past projects
- Matt Vavra: using logistic regression to model wolf habitat (2000)
- Mike Engels: using geographically weighted regression to model wolf habitat (2000)
Methods and Models
Ongoing projects
- Shipeng Sun: using agent-based modeling to compare decision making approaches
- Shipeng Sun: advanced programming in agent-based models
Open projects
- Creating next generation agent-based models
- Creating next generation cellular automata models
- Advancing geographically weighted regression
- Multicriteria evaluation with genetic programming
Past projects
- Tom Swanson: integrating GIS with next generation agent-based models
- Paul Wickman: working with the REPAST agent based modeling system
Archeological Prediction: we have a number of students using GIS to examine anthropological and archeological issues, particularly predicting where to find sites. We have one data set for Colorado and the potential to develop more for MN.
Open projects
- Location of house mounds in Colorado with a genetic programming
- Location of house mounds in Colorado with an expanded fuzzy MCE model
Past projects
- Hugh Dittrich: location of house mounds in Colorado with a fuzzy MCE model
- Jason Menard: least cost measures applied to roman roads in the UK
- Brian Meuller: location of house mounds in Colorado with overlay model
- Jeremy Nienow: spatial interaction models of settlement locations in MN
Environmental Analysis
Ongoing projects
- Ryan Kirk: reconstruction of long term land cover time series
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