Analyzing Movement and Mobility Within Geographic Context

Call for Participation: Workshop on Analyzing Movement and Mobility Within Geographic Context

The Ohio State University
Columbus, Ohio
11-12 May 2017

Abstract submission deadline: Monday, 20 February 2017

The wealth of mobile objects data (MOD) generated by GPS, radiolocation, proximity sensors and other location-aware technologies comes with a significant cost – the lack of path semantics such as the motivations and activities associated with the mobility behavior. Consequently, methods for analyzing MOD focus on the morphology of the object’s path in space with respect to time. Ignoring the geographic context is a major weakness since this can help researchers infer among different behaviors that are consistent with the same mobility behavior, such as whether apparently coordinated movement is coincidental or indicative of a shared activity.  A vital research frontier is developing new MOD analytical techniques that go beyond the movement pattern to include the geographic context within which movement occurs.

We invite broad participation from researchers at any level and from any field of study (e.g., transportation, sociology, animal movement ecology, public health, GIS) with interests in measuring and analyzing animal and/or human movement within its geographic context. Selected participants will receive an award for travel expenses reimbursement ranging from $500-$1000, with priority to students and unfunded scholars.

This is the second of two NSF-sponsored workshops bringing together scholars working on animal movement ecology and human mobility science to generate a nascent interdisciplinary/cross-domain community focusing on the analysis of moving objects:

  1. Measuring and interpreting interactions between and among moving objects (UT – Austin, November 2016);
  2. Analyzing movement and mobility within geographic context (OSU, May 2017).

For more information and abstract submission, please see: cura.osu.edu/may17

Workshop Co-organizers

  • Harvey J. Miller (The Ohio State University)
  • Jennifer A. Miller (University of Texas at Austin)
  • Gil Bohrer (The Ohio State University)

Steering Committee

  • Somayeh Dodge (University of Minnesota)
  • Joni Downs (University of South Florida)
  • Steven Farber (University of Toronto)
  • Wayne Getz (University of California – Berkeley)
  • Trisalyn Nelson (Arizona State University)
  • Kathleen Stewart (University of Maryland)
  • May Yuan (University of Texas – Dallas)

Columbus Wins USDOT Smart City Challenge!

Columbus is the winner of the US Department of Transportation’s Smart City Challenge, beating out San Francisco, Austin, Portland, Kansas City, Denver and Pittsburgh.   Columbus will receive a $40 million federal grant combined with $10 million from Vulcan Inc. and matched by an additional $90 million from private sector partners.  The award will invest in next generation transportation technologies and services,  including driverless vehicles, advanced traffic analytics and intelligent infrastructure.

Big news – a real game-changer for Columbus!

News articles:

CURA speaker: Prof. Kajsa Ellegård on ‘Achieving sustainable resource use in everyday life’

Your friendly, neighborhood Center for Urban and Regional Analysis (CURA) is pleased to present a public lecture by Prof. Kajsa Ellegård, Linköping University (Sweden)

Achieving sustainable resource use in everyday life

Prof. Kajsa Ellegård, Linköping University

ABSTRACT: In the current debate on climate change, over-use of resources and the need for balance between human activities and the resource capacity of our Earth, there is a struggle between those who advocate structural solutions, laws and regulations, and those who prefer solutions based on changes which are generated by peoples’ own initiatives in redirecting their everyday life in a sustainable direction. The former believe that the solutions should be grounded on political decisions and policies and for the effects to be large enough big efforts must be made at national and international levels. They claim that individuals have few opportunities to make changes on their own because they are trapped in systems forcing them to use much resources. The latter expect that substantial results will emanate from voluntary activities based on information and encouragement. They mean that even though each and every individual makes a very small difference when changing course in her or his daily life, the total change generated by many people taken together will make a big difference.

Thursday, April 7, 2016 – 12:00pm to 1:30pm

Room 1080, Derby Hall | 154 N. Oval Mall, Columbus, OH 43210

Pizza and beverages will be served.  Enjoy your lunch with a stimulating lecture!

More information