GISDE Final MA Projects

Each student completes a project in which an aspect of GIS analysis is applied to a problem in environment and/or development. Work begins on the project during the IDCE 391 seminar in the fall. Analysis and final summation are carried out in the summer or subsequent fall; formal presentations take place in August or December.

Claire Brill (GISDE/MA '08): Using GIS to contrast perceived verses preferred priorities for brownfield redevelopment in Worcester, MA

Rima Wahab Twibell (GISDE/MA '08): Setting the Scene for Wildfire Burn Severity Mapping Using Biophysical, Environmental, and Prior-Disturbance Controls

Marlon Ortega (GISDE/MA '08): Aracambi GIS Project
 
Ann Raj (GISDE/MA '08): “Gendering” GIS and Disaster Management

Dong-Ha Hwang (GISDE/MA '07): Using Hyperspectral Remote Sensing to Map the Distribution of Tree Species in Michigan, USA

Xiaoxiao Li (GISDE/MA '07): Method to Estimate the Land Transition Matrix from Two Erroneous Maps

John Nsibirwa Jr. (GISDE/MA '07): What are the Sources of Uncertainty in the 1951 Map of the Greater Worcester Area?

John Pearson (GISDE/MA '07): Impact of Spatial Extent on the Analysis of Land Change

Nicolas Teougan (GISDE/MA '07): Analyzing Land Transitions at Multiple Spatial Resolutions in the Plum Island Ecosystems (MA)

Alexander S. Brown (GISDE/MA '07): A Hybrid and Frequency Domain Decomposition of NDVI and SST Time Series (1983-2003)

Sean Griffin (GISDE/MA '06): Mapping the Florida Dry Prairie Using Decision Tree Classification with Special Spectral and Environmental Variables

George M. Kariuki (GISDE/MA '06): Measurement of Map Comparison at Multiple Temporal and Spatial Scales

Bang Viet Le (GISDE/MA '06): Tsunami Risk Assessment to the Vietnamese Coastal Regions

Nicole M. Alleyne (GISDE/MA '05): Mapping Flood Risk in the Soliette River Watershed in Hispaniola

Carlos Armas (GISDE/MA '05): Childhood Asthma in Relation to Traffic Flow and Socioeconomic Determinants in Worcester, Massachusetts

Christopher H. Ayers (GISDE/MA '05): Land Cover Change and Landscape Fragmentation on the Border of the Dominican Republic and Haiti

Wuni P. Dasori (GISDE/MA '05): Incorporating Empirical Models and Validation Techniques in the Analysis of Vulnerability to Climate Variability in Ghana

Joseph Sam Duncan (GISDE/MA '05): Framework for Measuring the Influence of Leakage on the effectiveness of Land Conservation in India

Sarah Elizabeth Elliott (GISDE/MA '05): Mapping and Monitoring the Composition of Kansas City, Missouri Using the Vegetation - Impervious Surface - Soli (VIS) Model with Spectral Mixture Analysis

Boriana Pangelova (GISDE/MA '05): Land Cover and Land Use Detection and Analyses in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, between 1986 and 2000

Silvia H. Petrova (GISDE/MA '05): Assessing a Predicative Model of Land Change Using Unreproducible Data

Joseph A. Prah (GISDE/MA '05): Mapping Land Cover Modifications in San Diego, California Using Multitemporal Landsat Imagery

Even P. Swain (GISDE/MA '05): Use of Remotely Sensed Imagery to Assess Land Use Change and Runoff Characteristics in the Blackstone River Wasteland

Robert Yao-Kumah (GISDE/MA '05): Using Model Validation to Determine Research Priorities for Amazonian Deforestation

Clement Alo (GISDE/MA '04): Detecting the Influence of Protection on Landscape Transformation in Southwestern Ghana (Advisor: G. Pontius)

Monique Beaujon (GISDE/MA '04): Critical Traffic Locations when Evacuating Boston (Advisor: S. Ratick)

Ahmad Bintouq (GISDE/MA '04): A Framework for a National Effort towards Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in the United Arab Emirates: A Case Study of the Government GIS (Advisor: E. Marcano)

Joseph Duncan (GISDE/MA '04): Framework for Measuring the Influence of Leakage (Advisor G. Pontius)

Sarah Elliott (GISDE/MA '04): Mapping and Monitoring the Composition of Kansas City, Missouri, Using the Vegetation - Impervious Surface Soil (VIS) Model with Spectral Mixture Analysis (Advisor: J. Rogan)

Evan Fedorko (GISDE/MA '04): The Spatial Distribution of Land Use in Regression Models of Pollutant Loading (Advisor: G. Pontius)

Kapala Hoge (GISDE/MA '04): Application of Machine Learning Algorithm to Multisensor, Multitemporal Data to Map Land Cover Change in the Chicopee River Watershed, Massachusetts (Advisor: J. Rogan)

George Kariuki (GISDE/MA '04): Map Comparison at Multiple Spatial and Temporal Resolutions (Advisor: G.Pontius)

Kristopher Kuzera (GISDE/MA '04): Statistical Agreement of Soft-classified Maps at Multiple Resolutions (Advisor: G. Pontius)

Joseph Mlotha (GISDE/MA '04): Mapping Forest Cover Change and Fragmentation in Malawi, 1973-1999 (Advisor: J. Rogan)

Louis Paladino (GISDE/MA '04): Accuracy Assessment and Uncertainty in Baseline Projections for Land-Use Change Forestry Projects (Advisor: G. Pontius)

Silvia Petrova (GISDE/MA '04): Using Imperfect Data to Validate a Land Change Model (Advisor: G. Pontius)

Joseph Spencer (GISDE/MA '04): Uncertainty in Extrapolations of Predictive Land Change Models (Advisor: G. Pontius)

Scott Sweet (GISDE/MA '04): Implementation of Remote Sensing for Accuracy Assessment of Wildland Fire Modeling (Advisor: J. Rogan)

Matt Traina (GISDE/MA '04): Spatial Epidemiology: Using Data Mining Techniques to Investigate Canine Malignant Lymphoma in Massachusetts (Advisor: E. Marcano)

Olufunmilayo Thontteh (GISDE/MA '04): Verification of Vegetation Index Predictions Using Multi-Scale Map Comparison for Real Values (Advisor: G. Pontius)

Megan Van Fossen (GISDE/MA '04): A Comparative Performance Assessment of Common Data Manipulation and Aggregation Techniques for Deriving Land Cover Transition Suitability Statements (Advisor: R. Eastman)

Robert Yao-Kumah (GISDE/MA '04): Model Validation to Determine Research Priorities for Amazon Deforestation (Advisor: G. Pontius)

Sean Grimland (GISDE/MA '03) "Prediction of mercury concentration in sediment in Maine"

David Benz (GISDE/MA '03): Inferring High-resolution Values in ASTER Band 4 Imagery (Advisor: R. Eastman)

Miguel Castrence (GISDE/MA '03): Rapid Coral Reef Assessment with Remote Sensing: Local Spatial Autocorrelation in Landsat ETM + Imagery as an Indicator of Ecosystem Health (Advisor: G. Pontius)

Mang Lung Cheuk (GISDE/MA '03): A Generalized Confusion Matrix for Comparing Maps at Multiple Resolutions (Advisor: G. Pontius)

Shalini Gupta (GISDE/MA '03): Assessing the Effectiveness of Biodiversity Conservation in India (Advisor: G. Pontius)

Maction Komwa (GISDE/MA '03): Identification of Best-bet Maize-based Cropping Systems in Malawi (Advisor: G. Pontius)

Kevin Denman (GISDE/MA '02) "Predictability of land change at multiple resolutions"

Michel Castrence (GISDE/MA '02) "Rapid coral reef assessment with remote sensing"

John Head (GISDE/MA '02) "Identifying impermeable surface from remotely sensed images"

Margaret Lowry (GISDE/MA '02) "Site Selection for the Nashua River Watershed Association"

Nathan Moore (GISDE/MA '02) "A leakage detection model for determining the value of conservation"

Deborah Parker (GISDE/MA '02) "A Method to Produce Hydrologically Corrected DEMs"

Aditya Agrawal (GISDE/MA '01) "Uncertainty Analysis in Land-Use Change Modeling with GIS: Reconstructing the Historical Landscape of the Ipswich River Watershed, Massachusetts"

Kiran Batchu (GISDE/MA '01) "Using the Relative Operating Characteristic to Quantify Uncertainty in Extrapolation of Land Cover in India"

Miriam Cope (GISDE/MA '01) "A Comparison of Classification Algorithms"

Aaron Dushku (GISDE/MA '01) "The Additionality Paradox: Assessing the Overall Effectiveness of a Carbon Offset Project with a GIS-based Model"

Kai-Chi Leung (GISDE/MA '01) "Incorporation of Spatial Configuration in Land Allocation: A Threshold Approach"

L. Ciro Marcano (GISDE/MA '01) "Information Fusion Using Ordered Weighted Averaging for Decision-Making in Geographical Informational Sciences"

Roger Meyer (GISDE/MA '01) "Evaluation of Video Data for Vegetation Mapping in Botswana"

Amy Nelson (GISDE/MA '01) "Quantifying the Effectiveness of Conservation Projects"

Cynthia Rossi (GISDE/MA '01) "The Use of GIS and Discriminate Analysis to Determine the Habitat of an Endangered Fish Species, Catostomus microps, in Northeastern California"

Beth Suedemeyer (GISDE/MA '01) "Components of Agreement in Categorical Maps at Multiple Resolutions"

Takashi Tada (GISDE/MA '01) "Land Use and Nitrate Loading in Small Stream Catchments"

John Puhakka (GISDE/MA '01) "Establishing Municipal GIS for Utilities and Excavation Damage Control"

Bob Bouvier (GISDE/MA '00) "Opium Cultivation and Land Use Change in Northeast Myanmar"

Pam Coye (GISDE/MA '00) "Modeling Land Use and Nutrient Loading for the Onota Lake Watershed"

Antonio Gonzales (GISDE/MA '00) "Environmental Justice in Puerto Rico: A GIS Approach"

Mark Hayward (GISDE/MA '00) "Using GIS to Identify Trends in Infant Mortality in Worcester, Massachusetts"

Chiyo Kigasawa (GISDE/MA '00) "Rice Cultivation and Land Use Change in the Amano Watershed, Japan"

Chien-Pin Lee (GISDE/MA '00) "Land Cover Change in China Using Time Series Analysis, 1982 - 1999"

Paolo Romero Palmero (GISDE/MA '00) "Nature Reserve Selection and Design for Species Conservation"

Ioanna Popescu (GISDE/MA '00) "Northeast Myanmar: A GIS Weight of Evidence Modeling Approach"

Andrew Alspach (GISDE/MA '99) "Appropriate GIS: A Guide for GIS Implementation in Small-Scale, Participatory Development Projects"
Abstract

Steve Ford (GISDE/MA '99) "From Paper Charts to Virtual Maps in the Marine Environment"

Daniel Juhn (GISDE/MA '99) "Modeling Forest Disturbance Resulting from Scenarios of Migration in Urubamba, Peru: Carbon Monitoring and the Camisea Gas Project"
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Daniel Koch (GISDE/MA '99) "Forest Cover Change in the Bolivian Lowlands: Modeling the Relationship between Deforestation and Market Integration"
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Mark Metevier (GISDE/MA '99) "Generation and Evaluation of Scenarios for Community Development & Planning: A Case Study in the Use of GIS in Orange, MA"
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Leonardo Sotomayor (GISDE/MA '99) "GIS Analysis, Monitoring and Modeling of Mangrove Land Cover Change of Mangroves in Muisne, Ecuador"
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Richard Ames (GISDE/MA '98) "Precision Agriculture and Time Series Analysis: An Evaluation Change and Times Series Techniques Using Near Real-Time Imagery to Predict Corn Yield Variability Early in the Growing Season"

Philip Chinnici (GISDE/MA '98) "A GIS Analysis of Urban Utilities Provision and Social Class Distribution in Cebu City, Philippines"

Anne Hillyer (GISDE/MA '98) "A Comparison of Two GIS Models for Estimating and Predicting Erosion in Haiti: Using Aerial Photography, Land-use, Soil Type and Slope"

Carrie Howard (GISDE/MA '98) "Ebola Virus Risk Regions in Congo"

Kathleen Miner (GISDE/MA '98) "Land Use and Cover Change in Mantadia National Park, Madagascar"

Kim Roberson (GISDE/MA '98) "Lighting up the Heart of Darkness: A Use of GIS in a Humanitarian Context"

Albert Villalba (GISDE/MA '98) "Paraguayan Chaco Gap Analysis: A Strategy for Biodiversity Conservation"

Leo Zulu (GISDE/MA '98) "Exploring the Potential of Sub-pixel Classification of 1.1 Km. AVHRR HRPT Data for Forest Monitoring in Malawi"

Barbara Seekins (GISDE/MA '98) "GIS Applied to Shoreline Change Analysis: A Case Study in Massachusetts on Buzzards Bay"

Bryan Slack (GISDE/MA '97) "Evaluation of Industrially Zoned Land in Fitchburg, MA"

Rhonda Davis (GISDE/MA '97) "Food Aid Distribution in Sudan"

Clare Elaine Fitzgerald (GISDE/MA '97) "An Assessment of Biodiversity in the San Juan River Watershed, Costa Rica"

Lucy Foley (GISDE/MA '97) "Detecting Changes in Forest Cover in Nyika National Park, Malawi"

Herman Garcia (GISDE/MA '97) "Modeling Wildlife Migration Using GIS to Identify Definitive Changes in Habitat Selection by Caribou in the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge"

Pablo Gonzales (GISDE/MA '97) "GIS Decision Support Techniques and an Integrated Environmental Management Plan for the San Juan River Watershed Region"

Terry L. Johansen (GISDE/MA '97) "Integrating GIS with Multi-criteria Evaluation and Fuzzy Set Theory for Ecotourism Planning in the Peten, Guatemala"

Sandra Johnson (GISDE/MA '97) "Urbanization in Gaborone, Botswana"

Dianne Kassing (GISDE/MA '97) "Planning for Public Transportation in St. Louis"

Catherine Poppenwimer (GISDE/MA '97) "Predicting Forest Susceptibility to Gypsy Moth Infestations"

Olga Ramos (GISDE/MA '97) "Assessing Vegetation Changes in Northwestern Puerto Rico Using Remote Sensing and GIS"

Behdad Sanai (GISDE/MA '97) "Famine Vulnerability Mapping Haiti"

Robert Sandev (GISDE/MA '97) "Using Census Data to Market Higher Education"

Peter William Siebert (GISDE/MA '97) "Regional and Sub-regional Long-time Series Analysis of Environmental Change: Agriculture in the Aral Sea Basin"

Davis A. Szczebak (GISDE/MA '97) "Modeling the Extensification of Agriculture in a Watershed in Madagascar"

Ramzy Kanaan (GISDE/MA '96) "Social and Ecological Perspectives on Conservation: An American Case Study"

Ian Curville King (GISDE/MA '96) "An Exploration of the Potential of GIS to Model Wave and Water Levels Resulting from a Storm Event"

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