Department of Geography's COVID-19 Mapping Project for Connecticut
Project Description:
Beginning in December 2019, a novel coronavirus (Covid-19) emerged and quickly spread around the world. In response to the pandemic, researchers across the globe harnessed their expert skills to help support, inform, and understand the rapid spreading of Covid-19. One of the ways that Geographers have been able to respond to the pandemic is by creating online interactive dashboards used for visualizing and tracking the spatial extent of Covid-19. While these dashboards provide useful and up-to-date information globally, regionally, or statewide, their ability to fully describe the state of the pandemic for local communities is limited. Realizing these limitations, a team of students and faculty from the Department of Geography at UConn came together to build a dashboard, tailored to meet the needs of the local communities, public health organizations, and researchers of Connecticut with just the right amount of information and easy-to-understand visuals. Initially, we manually updated the dashboard each night as new data came in. During these very initial stages, we quickly realized this was not a sustainable approach and we would not be able to maintain the dashboard in the long run. It was during this time that we developed a semi-automated workflow. Eventually, we were able to leverage the robust CT Data online resource via their API for consuming all the data necessary for maintaining our dashboard. Our dashboard along with our policy interventions dashboard can be found in the link above.
This work was awarded the Provost's Award for Excellence in Community Engaged Scholarship in the student team category.
Connecticut Department of Transportation Open Data Project
Project Description:
The Connecticut Department of Transportation in partnership with the Connecticut Transportation Institute (CTI) at UConn built out an enterprise data warehouse designed to serve as the central repository of data (spatial and non-spatial) for the CTDOT. The Transportation Enterprise Database (TED) allows for the creation and storage of a transportation geographic information system (GIS) which integrates geospatial data, tools, and applications all through a share ArcGIS Portal. This allows for partners and customers with the CTDOT to consume, visualize, analyze, and publish enterprise data and reports. Through the Connecticut Transportation Safety Research Center (CTSRC) within the CTI a team of PhD students developed various management tools for different CTDOT assets such as, roadways, traffic signals, guiderails, curb ramps, and crosswalks. Additionally, a crash dashboard was developed to interact with the crash data repository maintained at CTI. More about this work can be found in the link above.
My efforts revolved around developing a workflow for assessing ADA curb ramp compliance, roadway speed limit inventory, and assisting with the development of various crash dashboards. Additionally, I assisted with spatially rectifying curb ramps, crosswalks, traffic signals, and guide rails throughout Connecticut.