Resources for teaching and learning
Northeastern: When Airbnbs increase in a neighborhood, so does crime. Here’s why. - The relationship is likely because the highly transient housing “pokes holes in the social fabric of the neighborhood,” says Dan O’Brien, associate professor of public policy and urban affairs who, with his colleague Babak Heydari, associate professor of engineering, recently published a comprehensive study of Airbnb listings and crime rates in neighborhoods throughout Boston." Via Sarah Bourne (who recently retired from working for the Commonwealth of MA; congrats!).
Go Anacortes: Samish Indian Nation celebrates language, seasons - "The Samish people live in a year dictated by the 13 lunar cycles. Those 13 moons help guide the Samish through the year. A new storymap from the Samish Indian Nation explores that cycle, detailing what happens within the tribe during each of the phases as well as tying into native language."
NC Policy Watch: Geography, politics loom large as COVID-19 vaccination momentum wanes - A geographic look at the state's response. "Vaccine refusal and lack of access are twin dilemmas health officials are trying to solve as vaccination rates decline and the highly contagious Delta variant gains a toehold."
On and off campus
Around the O: UO public safety app helps large events run smoothly - The public safety department created its own tool, ORION, to manage events like the recent Olympic Track and Field trials. "Part communications center, part notification tool, part interactive map, the ORION system is a single, online dashboard designed to enhance communication and decision-making in response to incidents during any type of large event."
University of Hawaii: UH Hilo geographers’ digital project speeds response to public access queries - "Geographers at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo recently completed a pilot project with the County of Hawaiʻi Department of Planning to help modernize the county’s public access program. Shoreline public access locations and associated permitting documents were digitized in a pilot geospatial database by UH Hilo geographical data experts and UH Hilo department of geography and environmental science students and recent graduates."
Berkeley: A machine learning breakthrough uses satellite images to improve lives
- "Now a new system, developed in research based at the University of
California, Berkeley, uses machine learning to drive low-cost,
easy-to-use technology that one person could run on a laptop, without
advanced training, to address their local problems."
Programs and courses
Downtown T-REX: Introducing GeoHornet Lab: Harris-Stowe State University’s Geospatial Hub at T-REX - "Harris-Stowe State University, a historically Black public university addressing the higher education needs of the St. Louis Region, today unveiled a new satellite location focused on advancing academic opportunities and career development initiatives within the geospatial technology industry. GeoHornet Lab, based out of the T-REX Innovation Center in Downtown St. Louis, will introduce students to geoscience technology, build relationships with government and corporate partners, and forge workforce pathways in this rapidly growing sector."
SDSU: Results from Geography Alumni Survey 2020 (pdf) - There is a map of the 73 alumni respondents. Twenty three are professors and one is an animal trainer! Via @theAAG.
Meanwhile in education
BBC: Climate change 'benefits' taken out of SQA Geography course - This is a follow up on a story from a few weeks ago. "Scotland's exams body will no longer ask pupils to give explanations on the 'positive' effects of climate change."
Meanwhile in our industry
TechCrunch: Superpedestrian acquires Navmatic to detect and control unsafe e-scooter rider behavior
- "The Navmatic purchase means Superpedestrian can apply the startup’s
Super Fusion technology to enhance its vehicle safety systems. Pedestrian Defense,
as the new system is called, can detect unsafe riding behaviors — like
riding the wrong way down a one-way street, aggressively swerving,
sidewalk riding or repeated hard braking — and either notify the rider
or correct the rider’s behavior in real time by slowing or stopping the
scooter. Riders receive a safety rating at the end of the ride that is
used to deliver customized safety training, to incentivize good behavior
via discounts or to blacklist chronically unsafe riders."
Data points
HERE: I was surprised to hear an audio ad for HERE Technologies in the pre-roll ads for a favorite podcast, the Daily Tech News Show.
LinkedIn: Paul DeVos (who I do not know) asked his followers how they learned to code. The results are at right. He commented: "It really *is* incredible how little coding are in most college majors. Pretty much the same story for me in my Math/Chem/Physics studies. Some Excel & a little bit of a graphing software called Maple for my Calculus courses." I think this reinforces the importance of learning how to learn both during your formal education and as a lifelong learner.
LinkedIn: I saw a post from Daniel Elroi noting he'd been invited to be on the advisory board for the UCLA Master of Applied Geospatial Information Systems and Technologies. If your program doesn't have an external advisory board, I'd recommend considering one. It's valuable to hear from "those in the trenches" about what should be taught, especially as technology is changing so fast.
Esri
ArcNews: How Minnesota Is Making Maps Accessible - There are some good rules of thumb and resources here.
ArcGIS Blog: ArcGIS for Personal Use and Student Use just got better, again - Students have even more reasons to consider their own (not for commercial use) license as they move through their studies. My favorite change: "the default number of credits has been increased from 100 to 1000."