Current Projects
Recreational Impacts on Cliff Resources at the Harpers Ferry National Historical Park
Location: Harpers Ferry National HIstorical Park, WV/MD, USA
Short Project Description:
Impacts caused by trampling and recreational activities potentially have unintended consequences on shoreline and cliff resources, such as erosion and loss of rare plant species and communities. This study proposes to evaluate the impacts of recreational activities (e.g., fishing, hiking, rock climbing, and general visitation) on the shoreline, cliff-face, and cliff-top environments throughout the Maryland Heights portion of the Harpers Ferry National Historical Park (HAFE), Harpers Ferry, WV. CLICK FOR MORE INFO
Developing an interactive portal for connecting vulnerable communities to the science of urban heat mitigation
Location: New York City, NY, USA
Short Project Description:
We will develop new algorithms and data pipelines to automate key urban heat data products from earth observation data, weather stations, and socioeconomic variables to generate heat vulnerability maps. We will also develop core analytical models to connect heat vulnerability and heat mitigation strategies. We will incorporate the mechanisms of local governments' urban heat-related decision-making processes in an interactive portal. Finally, we will develop local governments' and community groups' guidelines for communicating/utilizing urban heat-related knowledge through story maps and other visualization methods.
Plants for ecosystems services (Plants4Es): emerging professional planting practice in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic U.S.
Location: Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic States, USA
Short Project Description:
Currently, the planet is facing a biodiversity crisis. Non-indigenous and aggressive weeds are displacing indigenous plant life, thus disrupting the ecosystem services the indigenous plant communities provide (e.g., water quality, mitigating urban heat islands, etc.). Additionally, these plant communities face many climate change-fueled threats – disrupted weather patterns, drought, fire, and flooding, to name a few. While there is a wealth of academic research on designing and planting best practices to address the previously mentioned concerns, there is a complete lack of knowledge on how theory has translated into professional practice. Additionally, there is a lack of knowledge regarding how the theory works in real-world applications. This project seeks to fill these two gaps.
Assessing urban forest mosaic patterns impacts on urban surface temperature mitigation
Location: Baltimore, MD, USA
Short Project Description:
This project explores the impacts that existing urban forest patterns have on urban heat island
(UHI) mitigation at the site and regional scale. The UHI effect is where urban temperatures are higher
than surrounding rural areas, due to the built environment, causing quality of life and ecological issues.
Indeed, the UHI effect has been linked to increased extreme heat event deaths and disrupted
urban ecosystem services. While research has shown that urban forests can lower both surface and
ambient UHI temperatures, it is unclear if different urban forest patterns have differing mitigating
capacities or if the benefits various patterns provide differ across climatic conditions. Thus, this study aims
to evaluate the existing urban forest patterns by using landscape metrics and their associated impacts
on urban heat mitigation, specifically, assessing land surface and ambient temperatures using remotely
sensed data.
Automating design computing and analyses for analyzing the equitability and diversity of urban street trees
Location: USA
Short Project Description:
Street trees are a vital part of a city’s urban forests and the Nature-based Solutions (NbS) that cities use to tackle climate change. Benefits of urban forests include carbon storage to mitigate climate change, urban heat island mitigation, preventing further increases in storm severity and frequency, pollination services and nesting habitat, stormwater management, and treatment of air and water pollution (Wong et al., 2021). However, street trees are declining due to various natural and anthropogenic forces, including a lack of biodiversity, thus negatively affecting ecosystem service benefits. Street trees are also inequitably distributed – exacerbating environmental injustices and lack of access to ecosystem services (Hoffman et al., 2020). We propose to use design computing to create an automated data processing and analyses dashboard that 1) facilitates landscape architects’ abilities to understand contextual street tree diversity when making planting choices and 2) compares various tree programs' equity and diversity outcomes.
Previous Projects
Assessing the spatial characteristics of New York City Cool Roof Policy
Location: New York City, NY, USA
Short Project Description:
This project examines the observable results of New York City’s (NYC) efforts to implement its Cool Roof Urban Heat Island (UHI) Mitigation Program. Specifically, we evaluated the following three questions:
1) What are the trends in cool roof implementation between 2010 and 2020?
2) To what degree are cool roofs providing land surface temperature mitigation?
3) To what degree are cool roofs implemented in the most heat-vulnerable neighborhoods?
CLICK FOR MORE INFO
Connecting policies to actions for creating a just, biodiverse, and climate-resilient urban forests
Location: Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Short Project Description:
Urban forests in the U.S. have declined, are inequitably distributed, vulnerable to climate change and pests, and are inadequate to provide essential ecosystem services (E.S.) such as urban heat island mitigation and enhancing urban biodiversity. This project seeks to connect geospatial analysis, alternative futures modeling, public and private tree program policy analysis, and community and stakeholder engagement to reveal barriers and test management alternatives to creating just, biodiverse, and climate-resilient urban forests. CLICK FOR A SHORT VIDEO PRESENTATION
