We were required to review three articles that utilized GIS in different contexts over the course of the semester. They were landscape ecology, health geography, and Crime and GIS. These were a great way to introduce us to the various uses of GIS in a wide array of disciplines and also strengthen our abilities to critically review research. Analyzing the way other researchers conducted studies using our knowledge from labs and lecture allowed me to review material and test how well I understood. By the end of the semester, having done most of the things researchers were doing in many of the articles, my understanding of how GIS could be used for research had gotten stronger as can be seen by the downward spiral of ratings my partner and I gave the articles we reviewed. Below are the 3 articles we reviewed:
Assignment 1: Landscape Ecology
Assignment 2: Health Geography
GIS-based analysis of obesity and the built environment in the US
Assignment 3: Crime Analysis and GIS
The Crime Ecology: Ambient Temperature vs. Spatial Setting of Crime (Burglary)
In conjuction with writing the reviews everyone in the class presented their review on each topic. A review I found interesting was Camille Potier and Templar Bacha’s review of “Hot spots in mortality from drug poisoning in the United States, 2007-2009″ by Lauren M. Rossen, Diba Khan & Margaret Warner.
With the intensity of drug overdoses in Vancouver increasing due to fentanyl this analysis was interesting for the methodology of analyzing the spatial distribution of overdoses it introduced. Unlike other drug issues in Vancouver, such as those in the homeless population, which are conspicuous and generally centralized, fentanyl has affected a wide spread of the population in spatially disparate areas. Using a wide range of demographic factors and Generalized Linear and Latent Mixed Modeling (GLAMM) as they did in the paper to predict where hotspots for overdoses outside of the city center could occur could potentially safe lives. Using the identified hot spots targeted ads for fentanyl awareness such as those seen on bus stops and the distribution of naloxone kits could take pressure over the already strained emergency response teams dealing with the crisis.