In the Great Lakes region (GLR) the idea that climate change might cause the region to become an attractive place for people to live, a "climate refuge", has gained traction and attracted media attention. The possibility of population increase is attractive, especially given the stagnation and depopulation that has occurred in many GLR cities. However, preparing and planning for a future with a large influx of people raises many planning questions, especially given how the regions will likely need to address its own climate change and equity challenges related to aging infrastructure and provision of livable neighborhoods. To address these planning challenges, my lab, in conjunction with the GLISA project, is developing an open source urban land change model that simulates what these cities might look with new influxes of residents. Our goal is to help stakeholders learn about the complex social and climate tradeoffs of urban and regional designs and development.

My lab is using emerging “big data” such as mobile phone and social media to answer highly important sustainability question, advancing the theories and methods used in this novel research area. With more than half of the world’s population active on social media (SM) networks, unprecedented amounts of user-generated data are opening new frontiers in the investigation of human interactions with the natural environment. The interpretation of the digital traces of people’s values of nature, promises to add insight into individual beliefs and societal processes. In addition to contributing to valuation studies, my lab 1) examines the viability of using these novel data for aiding conservation and recreation stakeholders in understanding visitor dynamics; 2) investigates the socioeconomic and demographic representativeness and spatial and locational accuracy of social media content (e.g. photographs); and 3) is developing methods for estimating monetary expenditures related to nature visits. This has required innovating scalable techniques for the analysis of these big data including computer vision, machine learning and semantic analysis.

Our study of ecosystem services (ES) has been foundational in developing approaches for mapping and understanding patterns of valued landscapes and diverse perceptions of the environment. This research critically assesses if this knowledge can serves as common grounds (i.e. a boundary object) for discussing shared values and goals for conservation, and evaluating trade offs between priorities. Moreover, it aims to communicate our dependence on ecological systems and raise awareness of the efficiency with which they provide benefits (e.g. urban tree canopy add aesthetic enjoyment and reduces illness). Methodology, this has contributed to pioneering work in mapping cultural ecosystem services, developing novel methodologies for translating aesthetic appreciation to spatial representation using surveys photomanipulation, immersive environments and most recently multisensory stimuli (e.g. visual and auditory).

In my lab, we are investigating how gamification, which is the incorporation of video game elements or play into non-game contexts, can help in decision support contexts. We are curious how competition amongst several players, and depiction of actual neighborhood in design task might lead to better community resilience in the face of climate change. Gamification has yet to combine an informational goal with design-play functionality. This leverage a unique software called Land.info designed by Mark Lindquist. Land.info is an interactive Decision Support Tool (DST) that combines realistic 3D visualizations of neighborhood and a user-friendly interface to facilitate meaningful community engagement in the design of urban greenspace at multiple scales. As an online tool we aim to encourage broad participation and the crowdsourcing of effective landscape designs. We believe that such an approach can facilitate improved community engagement in greenspace planning, informing design and management strategies to ensure multiple benefits for people and the environment in climate-vulnerable cities.

How can we better help stakeholders understand the complex social and climate tradeoffs in their communities? In my lab we think that webmaps have great potential and we are developing online participatory GIS application to facilitated this place-based inquiry and prioritization. This tool can, for example, casts users in the role of a city or regional planner, asking them prioritize specific areas for development based on their understanding of residential needs (e.g lack of adequate housing). They receive feedback on their choices where measures of environmental and equity impacts are visualized based on the spatial distribution of their priority maps. The model is being built on the Shiny R platform, allowing for online and multi-user access. A modular design where different process elements can be included or excluded (e.g. full urban model process vs PPGIS alone) and flexible parameterization allows for addressing diverse questions over differing domains, timescales and locations.

Our lab is particularly proud of our community outreach efforts, serving as scientist advisors to the historically black neighborhood of the 7th Ward, New Orleans. In this project we are monitoring the social and environmental impact of a community greening project (e.g. 400 trees planted, 50 rain barrels disbursed, and numerous green infrastructure demonstration sites). Urban greening projects can improve livability, remedy urban blight and address climate change related hazards such as extreme heat and flooding. However, legacies of inequity and disenfranchisement have often left communities skeptical of the motivation of these interventions and adequate engagement is necessary to for bringing broadly and long-term benefits. To address how best the 7th Ward can benefit from these project, we are collaborating with community stakeholders - Healthy Community Services and Amy Lesen from Dillard University - on "Measuring and Monitoring the Effects of Greening on the Urban Heat Island Effect, Water Uptake, and Social Challenges" . Together we have established community baselines (i.e. web-survey, stakeholder workshops) that will aid in the long-term monitoring of community change related to ongoing greening projects (i.e. tree planting, bioswales). A broadly impactful initiative, it now has had wide community support and buy-in.