@amherst.eduscholar.social/@aza
Academic Technology Services
Data Science and Spatial Analysis, et al.
There's always a way to hack your data!
I work with faculty and students to support their use of the software applications ArcGIS, Mathematica, and Matlab, along with mapping technologies such as GPS and Google Earth, academic applications of Excel, R, SPSS, and databases, various programming languages, Unix applications, high-performance computing, and virtual reality. I also support our classroom response systems (aka clickers) and build interactive web sites when appropriate. I provide secondary support for graphics applications such as Illustrator / Inkscape, Photoshop / GIMP, and InDesign / Powerpoint, and academic use of the College Web sites and the Moodle learning management system (LMS).
I teach short courses on these technologies, I’m occasionally involved in semester courses to varying degrees, and I provide one-on-one assistance.
I am also the academic technology consultant for these academic departments and programs: Biochemistry & Biophysics, Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Economics, Environmental Studies, Geology, Mathematics & Statistics, Neuroscience, and Physics & Astronomy.
Because of the widespread applicability of geographic information systems (GIS), I also often find myself working with faculty and students in History, American Studies, and digital humanities. In addition, I am an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Environmental Conservation at the University of Massachusetts.
I have a Ph.D. in Physics, and more than thirty years experience in research, teaching, and using and supporting academic technology in higher education.
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My Activities
— Teaching — Projects — Presentations — Conferences
— Faculty Projects and Student Theses for Which I've Provided Support
Teaching
A UMass Course, GIS Programming (2023, et ante) Image
Cross-listed with the Department of Environmental Conservation and the Data Analytics and Computational Social Science Program.
Workshops for the Course Cartographic Cultures (2023, et ante)
- Georeferencing hand-drawn maps
- Annotating and embellishing maps
Summer Research Gatherings & Workshops (2022, et ante)
Workshops for the First-Year Seminar “Finding Your Roots”: Narratives of Self and Community (2020, et ante)
- Interviewing Your Relatives
- Sprouting Your Family Tree
- Investigating Primary Sources
News: A story in Amherst Magazine about the seminar, Rooted: First-year students tested their DNA in a new course inspired by the PBS series Finding Your Roots.
A Research Seminar, Cities, Schools, and Space (2020, et ante)
News: A write-up of the first offering of this seminar in Spring 2011 appeared in Amherst Magazine; scroll down to “Improving Faculty-Student Research in the Humanities and Social Sciences”.
Interterm Courses (2020, et ante):
News: A short photo log of this course, “The 2020 Interterm Experience”, appears in Amherst Magazine.
A UMass Honors Discovery Seminar, Our Environment of Light (2019)
More…
Projects
American Association of Geographers Redistricting Panel Series: Wisconsin Fair Representation (2022)
Organized, introduced, and moderated a panel presentation that included a demographer, a political scientist, a government redistricting representative, and an activist.
Assessing the Impact of the Inner Belt: MIT, Highways, and the Housing Market in Cambridge, Massachusetts
A research paper in the Journal of Urban History,
written with Prof. Hilary Moss and Yinan Zhang ’12.
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Tutorial
Mapping Beyond Shangri-La
The Immigrant City: A Mapped-Based Augmented Reality Game
Cityscapes, An Online Discovery Tool for Urban and Cultural Studies
Light Pollution in Massachusetts
More…
Presentations
Our Environment of Light: An Interdisciplinary Survey Course
Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences Annual Conference, July 2020
Finding Your Roots: Understanding America’s Immigrant History Through Genealogy
Bucknell Digital Scholarship Conference, October 2018
Open Educational Resources for Community Service with Web-Based Geographic Information Science and Technology
NERCOMP Professional Development Opportunity on OER: Obtaining Exceptional Results, College of the Holy Cross, February 2018
Cities, Schools, and Highways Powerpoint PDF
Institute for Social Science Research, University of Massachusetts Amherst, December 2015
Research Computing at Amherst College
Future Directions in Research Computing in the Northeast, Waltham MA, September 2015
Community Service with Web-Based Geographic Information Science and Technology (GIST): Blended Pedagogies for the Twenty-First Century
Five College Blended Learning Institute, Amherst College, May 2015
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Conferences
Co-organizer, Amherst Student Summer Research Poster Session, September 2019, et ante.
Program Committee Chair, Free and Open Source Software for Geography (FOSS4G), Boston, August 2017.
Co-organizer, NEArc Spring Conference, May 2015, et ante.
Co-organizer, Amherst Explorations: A Celebration of Student Research and Creative Work, April 2015, et ante.
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Faculty Projects for Which I've Provided Support
Professor Robert Benedetto
Article: “Small Dynamical Heights for Quadratic Polynomials and Rational Functions”
Professor Ronald Rosbottom
Map of Hitler’s Tour of Paris for the book: When Paris Went Dark: The City of Light Under German Occupation, 1940–1944
News: “Rosbottom Reflects on the Success of ‘When Paris Went Dark’”
Professor Larry Hunter
Article: “Using the Earth as a Polarized Electron Source to Search for Long-Range Spin-Spin Interactions”
News: “Physicist’s Work Sheds New Light on Possible ‘Fifth Force of Nature’”
Professor George Greenstein
Web Site: Interesting Problems for Astronomy 101 or 102
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Student Projects for Which I've Provided Support
Economics Major Fabián Rivera Reyes ’19
Thesis: “The Economic Effects of Insurrectionary Activity”
English Major Christin Washington ’17
Thesis: Black Brooklyn
Neuroscience Major Christianna Mariano ’21
News: “The Sound of Science”
Economics Major Alvaro Morales ’14
Thesis: “The Effect of Civil Conflict on Child Abuse: Evidence from Peru”
History Major Larissa Davis ’13
News: “A Staunch Advocate for a Better Amherst College”
More…