Brownies for Brownfields

If you’ve spent any amount of time as a GIS analyst, particularly in the public sector, you’ve probably heard the term “brownfield”. A brownfield is a property, commercial or residential, that is affected by the existence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. Brownfields are a nuisance because they tend to be ugly and are likely to contain hazards such as unsafe structures, sharp objects, or toxic chemicals. How many brownfields are in the U.S.A. and what’s being done about them? Let’s dive in…

Wastewater-based Epidemiology: A Collective Effort to Track COVID-1

Wastewater-based epidemiology has been used for many years to understand the spread of various diseases, drugs, and contaminants throughout communities in the world. Modern examples of WBE go back to at least 1954, but we can look back to the 1800s and our friend, Dr. John Snow, for its beginnings. While Dr. Snow didn’t have access to the testing capabilities we have today, he was able to connect cholera to water contamination and saved numerous lives. Read on to learn the source of the contamination and modern-day WBE research.

Equity Mapping: How We Can Do More with GIS

“Equity mapping” has been around for at least 10 years and focuses on collecting information about topics like environmental exposure or access to healthy food. An equity map combines information about how data related to specific issues are spatially distributed and how they overlap with other demographic, economic and social vulnerability data. These maps are generally intended to help policy makers to understand where and how communities are impacted and where programs should be located. Let’s discuss what our communities should look like and how we get there.

Understanding Redlining in America through GIS

There is an apocryphal story in my family about how my Black, West Indian grandparents couldn’t purchase a home in New York’s Lower Hudson Valley where they were renters. As the story goes, the White family my grandmother worked for bought the house with my grandparent’s money and later transferred the house to them. There are some holes in this story, but it wouldn’t be unheard of in New York, or most of the United States, in the first half of the 20th century. As a documented map geek and data detective of sorts, I was intrigued to find out more about how this played out across the country.