Atsushi Nara, Ph.D. - US grants

Effective evacuation during disastrous events is one of the most challenging issues for many local government agencies in U.S. This research project will develop a prototype integrated wildfire evacuation decision support system and create analytic tools that will be evaluated with evacuation planers and emergency resource managers. Our interdisciplinary research team will collaborate with the Office of Emergency Services (OES) of San Diego County, the San Diego/Imperial Counties Chapter of the American Red Cross, and 2-1-1 San Diego to develop this web-based system. This research will help emergency response agencies better understand public perceptions and needs during disastrous events, and create more effective evacuation plans for local communities. The research framework can be extended to other types of natural disasters (e.g., tsunami, hurricanes, flood hazards) with some modifications to cope with different needs of evacuation plans. The dynamic population density model developed in this project can be applied in urban planning, elections, business marketing, and facility management. The social perception analysis model and public opinion monitors can help other research domains such as traffic incident detection and public campaigns. One of the most valuable components in this project is the establishment of a resident feedback network by connecting registered local volunteers using a mobile phone application and an online forum. The project will also include involvement of graduate students, dissemination through various fora, including a project website and a discussion forum to involve multidisciplinary researchers. Three summer workshop meetings will be organized to facilitate future multidisciplinary collaborations among researchers and government agencies.

Using Big Data-driven techniques, this project will integrate multiple data sources including social media, census survey, geographic information systems (GIS) data layers, volunteer suggestions, and remote sensing data to develop an integrated wildfire evacuation decision support system (IWEDSS). This system will provide key functions for data collection, traffic demand modeling, evacuation operation, and information dissemination. It will offer scientifically-based and data-driven analytic tools for evacuation planers and government agencies to make better decisions that can reduce the evacuation time and potential number of injuries and deaths. The four main goals of this project are to (1) build a dynamic estimated population distribution (density) model in urban areas by integrating multiple data sources and GIS models; (2) design stage-based evacuation plans with population density distributions and develop robust optimization models to account for demand uncertainties; (3) create a public opinion monitor and a resident feedback network to improve evacuation plans by understanding social perception of the disasters in local communities through the real-time analysis of social media and volunteer suggestions; (4) build a web-based geospatial analytics platform and provide interactive decision support tools for decision makers, emergency resource managers, and public officers. This interdisciplinary project will rely upon a convergence among GIScience, cartography, civil engineering, transportation, and social media analytics to facilitate the transformation of traditional static evacuation planning procedures into a dynamic, user-centered, easy-to-use, and data-driven spatial decision support system.

This project will initiate the formation of a researcher-practitioner partnership (RPP) to articulate preK-14 pathways that will expand opportunities for all students to develop spatial and computational (i.e., geo-computational) thinking skills. This pilot RPP is composed of geographers, computer science educators, and geospatial technology specialists experienced in serving underrepresented minority students and communities. Under the coordination of the American Association of Geographers, this RPP will collaborate on exploratory research to inform educational standards and tested approaches to help institutions understand the capacity they need to modernize geography education and to broaden the participation of underrepresented minorities in geo-computational curriculum. Building capacity for inclusive pathways in computational geography will increase the potential of all students to contribute to the national innovative ecosystem. This pilot will provide other regions or states the foundational knowledge to design, develop, and implement a strategy to modernize their pathways to computationally-intensive jobs and college majors.

The value and intelligence gained from geospatial innovations such as mobile Global Positioning System (GPS) is such that the geospatial services industry creates approximately 4 million direct jobs and generates 400 billion U.S. dollars globally in revenue per year. The recent democratization of manufacturing geospatial hardware is a sign that this industry continues to innovate and grow. More importantly, it will generate enormous volumes of geospatial data, which will be generated at even higher rates than we are already facing. The value of these spatial data, however, hinges on a workforce that is equipped with both computational thinking and spatial thinking. In 2015 the Government Accountability Office raised concerns that "throughout the country, K-12 students may not be acquiring adequate skills in and exposure to geography, which are needed to meet workforce needs in geospatial and other geography-related industries". Graduates with a combination of training in geography and computational thinking is in even shorter supply, so employers across the public and private sectors are limited and forced to choose between hiring a geographer with limited or no computational skills, or a computer science graduate with limited or no expertise in geographic information. Main questions driving this research are: (1) What are barriers experienced by schools or departments to offer courses that involve geo-computational thinking? (2) What are barriers experienced by students at different levels to enroll or succeed in courses that involve geo-computational thinking? (3) What new skills are necessary to be productive in today's geospatial technology industry? (4) What needs to be done to expand access to high-quality geo-computational education in K-12 schools? This RPP will initiate the design of a long-term mixed-methods approach combining surveys with qualitative data collection to allow other regions or states to design, develop, and implement geo-computational curriculum at all educational levels.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

The geospatial services industry is a profitable and rapidly growing field; however, employers find it difficult to hire scientists with expertise in both geography and computer science. The limited availability of training opportunities in both computer science and geography has created a shortage of workers with the necessary knowledge and skill sets for those jobs. Through a Researcher-Practitioner Partnership (RPP), The Association of American Geographers (AAG), in collaboration with Texas State University, the University of California-Riverside, San Diego State University, the California Geographic Alliance, Sweetwater Union High School District, and San Diego Mesa College, will create an inclusive high school to college curriculum pathway that bridges concepts in computer science and geography. This RPP will support the development of a curriculum that is conceptually rigorous, inclusive, and culturally relevant. It will also produce a replicable approach for teaching geocomputation that is accessible and motivational for all learners.

The Association of American Geographers (AAG), in collaboration with Texas State University, the University of California-Riverside, San Diego State University, the California Geographic Alliance, Sweetwater Union High School District, and San Diego Mesa College, proposes a CSforALL-PreK-14 Pathways Strand project to scale up its Encoding Geography Researcher-Practitioner Partnership (RPP) activities in California. This RPP will pursue research and development activities supporting an inclusive curriculum pathway toward geocomputationally intensive majors and careers. The first year of the project will focus on baseline data collection. In year two, AAG will convene a workshop with RPP members to produce culturally relevant geocomputational lessons and being to implement those lesson in CS and geography courses in high school and college. In the final year, the RPP will revise the lessons for ongoing implementation. The AAG will also implement a dissemination plan to scale up the RPP across California and to other states. An expert committee will provide a formative and summative evaluation of the project. This RPP will produce a replicable methodology for articulating curriculum pathways in geocomputation that are inclusive, accessible, and motivational for all learners. By involving the very stakeholders with whom the curriculum is concerned, systemic change toward a more diverse workforce in geocomputation is more likely to be achieved.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.