Department News
GIS Day special broadcast for Lehman GISc Lab
The Geographic Information Sciences Laboratory will be hosting a broadcast of special presentations from the University of Albany School of Public Health's 9th Annual GIS Day program. The broadcast is live and begins at 9:00 am on Tuesday, April 30, in the GISc Lab, Gillet Hall 322. Click the above image for detailed information.
Cartography and Communication at Lehman Art Gallery
Students and faculty attended a talk by Dr. Maantay at the Lehman Art Gallery on Tuesday, April 23. The gallery is hosting "Contemporary Cartographies", an exhibit of cartographically based art works. Dr. Maantay's presentation, "Cartography and Communication: Telling the story with maps" further explores the relationships maps have in our lives. Click the event poster image (above left) to view a full PDF file of the presentation.
EEGS Student for Summer 2013 Research Position
EEGS student Julissa Lora has been awarded a position in the Kent State University/Holden Arboretum REU Program for Summer 2013. Julissa will be conducting a 10-week research project with mentor Dr. Ferenc de Szalay. The intensive team-based research project will be carried out in the Biological Sciences Department, the KSU field sites and the Holden Arboretum. The award includes a stipend, accommodation and travel. Congratulations Julissa!
Lehman GISc Students Attend Environmental Summit at Dennings Point State Park, NY - “From Environmental Data to Decisions: The Expanding Role of Technology”
The Lehman College GISc contingent sat at the “Modeling & Climate Data” table. Students Zakkiyyah Shah and Annarita Macri are pictured here with Dr. Tim Hall, of NASA-GISS (Goddard Institute for Space Studies), one of the speakers on climate change.
Zakkiyyah Shah (Geography/Environmental Science double major, GISc Certificate student, GISc Lab Tutor, and NOAA-CRESt Fellow) and Annarita Macri (GISc Certificate student, Biology Graduate student, GISc Lab Tutor, and adjunct instructor in the GISc Science Academy for the College NOW! Program) attended the April 5thEnvironmental Summit with Prof. Maantay in Beacon, NY. There were speakers, panelists, field trips, and opportunities for interacting and networking with environmental professionals and other students. The event was hosted by Clarkson University's Beacon Institute for Rivers and Estuaries, The Pace Academy for Applied Environmental Studies, and the Center for Environmental Innovation and Education. For more details on the program, see http://www.environmentalconsortium.org/programs/student/event.html
Map-a-Thon for Nepal hosted by EEGS GISc Lab
The GISc Laboratory at the Department of Earth, Environmental, and Geospatial Sciences hosted an Open Source Map-a-Thon on March 23rd. Participants worked with Open Source web applications to create geospatial data for densely populated areas of Nepal, which are at particular risk from earthquake activity. Expertise and instruction were provided by Prabhas Pokharel and Lehman GISc student Shaky Sherpa, with a capacity crowd of eager volunteers listening, learning, and working throughout the afternoon session.
On-line map including features created at the Map-a-Thon
Nepal Map-a-Thon in Lehman's GISc Lab
EEGS students present at NES symposium
On March 8, 2013, the 12th Annual Nature, Ecology, and Society symposium was held at the CUNY Graduate Center, where four Lehman GISc students presented posters of their GISc-focused research projects.
Christopher Bride (MS-GISc student): "Transportation Options, Supermarket Location, & Their Relationship to Diet-Related Disease in The Bronx"
Kristen Grady (MS-GISc student): "Creating a Smooth 3D Flight Path in ArcScene: Representing a complete LTO cycle at LaGuardia International Airport"
Aviva Rahmani (GISc Certificate student): "Environmental triage for fisheries in the Gulf of Maine"
Zakkiyyah Shah (Geography/GISc student): "Climate Change And Public Health In Urban Systems: Mapping Vulnerability From Containment Mobilization Due To Flooding In NYC"
Three additional Lehman students for NYC City Planning internships
Jose Fabre, Kurt Cederholm, and Margaret Baker will be joining the trio of Lehman students currently working on internships in the GIS Unit at the NYC Department of City Planning. Their primary project will be working to identify the approximately 85,000 unclassified property footprints located within NYC's five boroughs.
New NOAA-CREST Student
Lesley Patrick, an EES doctoral student studying with Dr. Maantay, has joined the NOAA-CREST Climate Change and Public Health team at Lehman College, researching the risk and vulnerability of populations and infrastructure due to sea level rise and extreme weather events.
Urban Agriculture in the Bronx
Michelle Ottmann, a Visiting Research Scientist in the Urban GISc Lab who recently was awarded a Ph.D. from Paraná Federal University in Brazil, wrote a paper on her Bronx community garden research, which was published in Cities and the Environment on December 10th, 2012. The paper was co-authored by Dr. Maantay and Kristen Grady, CUNY Earth and Environmental Sciences doctoral student, and Nilce Fonte, a colleague in Brazil. This research is part of a larger project comparing urban agriculture in Curitiba, Brazil and the Bronx, New York. See the full text of the paper “Characterization of Urban Agricultural Practices and Gardeners’ Perceptions in Bronx Community Gardens, New York City,” at: http://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1113&context=cate
Other aspects of the research on urban agriculture and food security were conducted by doctoral student Kristen Grady (food deserts and food accessibility in the Bronx), Geography major Zakkiyyah Shah (community gardening partnerships with public schools in the Bronx), and GISc graduate student Tiffany Brown (market basket survey of food accessibility and affordability in Hunts Point in the Bronx), under a USDA grant to Lehman College and the New York Botanical Garden, with Dr. Ed Kennelly, PI, Biology Dept., and Dr. Juliana Maantay, EEGS Dept., Co-PI.
Map showing the percentages of Bronx population below the poverty level, according the 2000 US Census Data, in relation to the location of the Bronx community gardens. (Map by K.Grady)
Spatial Analysis of Community Health at Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY
Rachael Weiss, a doctoral student in CUNY’s Public Health program and a Research Fellow with Dr. Maantay inthe Urban GISc Lab for the past four years, recently accepted a position with Montefiore Medical Center as a GISc/Spatial Data Analyst. She will be working in Montefiore’s new Office of Community Health on the visualization of community health issues. Rachael’s main research interest is the neighborhood-based determinants of healthy urban aging in New York City, with a focus on geospatial analysis and measurement.
Rachael Weiss in the Urban GISc Lab
NOAA-CREST Study on the Health Impacts of Climate Change
Zakkiyyah Shah, a Geography major and GISc Certificate student, has received a Research Fellowship from NOAA-CREST (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Cooperative Remote Sensing Science and Technology) to work with Dr. Maantay on comparing the coastal cities of New York and San Juan, Puerto Rico in terms of the public health impacts of climate change.
AIDS and HIV Atlas for Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Efrata Asrat completed a GISc Internship this summer in Ethiopia, sponsored by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), African Center Statistics (ACS) Division, Data Management Section. One of the projects she worked on was creating an atlas of AIDS and HIV prevalence in Addis Ababa, the country’s capital. Efrata presented her work last week to the Environmental Modeling and Spatial Analysis GISc class, and produced a report detailing her project.
Poster of Efrata’s Asrat’s work during her Internship in Ethiopia
New course for Spring 2013
Geovisualization and Analytical Cartography
GEP 360/GEP 660
Pre-requisite: GEP 204 or 205/GEP 504 or 505, or departmental permission
4 credits
Tuesday evenings, 6:00 – 10:10 PM
Instructor: Gretchen Culp
Course Description:
Creating maps using advanced Geographic Information Science (GISc) techniques with a focus on understanding cartographic conventions and principles of good cartographic design, and analysis of complex spatial data through geovisualization methods. Maps will be studied critically in terms of their creation, interpretation, and relationship to space and place.
Course Objectives:
Understand cartographic conventions, principles of good cartographic design, and aesthetics, in order to create effective maps.
Recognize, appreciate, and utilize good cartographic principles in order to correctly interpret maps and communicate information and ideas.
Perform analysis of complex spatial data through geovisualization.
Understand the critical and social implications of maps and GISc.
Course Instructor:
Gretchen Culp is a geographer and GIS coordinator at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene's Office of Emergency Environmental Information where she maps subjects ranging from gun shot violence to soda consumption. She is also a PhD candidate in the Geography program at the CUNY Graduate Center. Her research interests include colorimetry, urban geography and the application of classical cartographic techniques to GISc.
https://sites.google.com/site/kartenzeichner/home
Above: Gretchen Culp and one of her cartographic creations.
Three Lehman GISc students receive NYC City Planning Internships
Cristina Mirco (Geography major and GISc Certificate Program), Mary Grey (GISc Certificate Program), and Joseph Paccione (MS-GISc Program) have been hired for prestigious 9-month internship positions at the NYC Department of City Planning in the department's GIS Unit. The main project that they will be working on entails the identification of approximately 85,000 property footprints that are not yet classified and captured within the five boroughs of NYC.
Masters in GISc
Our brand new Master of Science in Geographic Information Science (MS-GISc) begins this fall. We are very excited to offer such a program to our students. Given the continual growth of this dynamic and exciting field, with job and career opportunities appearing faster than they can be filled, our program is the perfect place to prepare yourself for a successful future in the Geospatial Sciences. Click here for more detailed information, or check out our MSGISc brochure.
Environmental Science Program
We are pleased to announce that our Environmental Science Program has been completely revamped. To meet the demands of this rapidly expanding career field, we've risen to the challenge and our program is more interesting, relevant, and competitive than ever. Please contact our office (Gillet Hall 315) for more information on this exciting major in which you can be successful and make a difference.
Congratulations to our Graduates!
We would like to recognize the achievements of our graduating students in the Class of 2012. We're very proud of you all, and wish you the very best of luck and prosperity in your future endeavors!
Environmental Science
Kamel Alawawda
Yane Oljirra
Jelisa Oliveras
Geology
Gloria Duran
Gabriela Aldave Jordan, Departmental Honors
Desmond Phillip
Paul Renkin, Departmental Honors
Congratulations to our students earning their GISc Certificate!
We have seven students this year who have successfully completed the requirements and will receive their Certificate in GISc. Best wishes to each one of you, your hard work is heartening as well as an inspiration to us all!
Efrata Zegey Asrat
Christopher P. Bride
Tiffany Mae Brown
Roberta Hrdy
Joshua Landecker
Robert Lupo
Annarita Macri
Last modified: May 2, 2013
