Yoo Min Park is giving a presentation with Mei-Po Kwan in the UCGIS Webinar Series on Thursday 2/26. The title of their talk is: Rethinking Geographic Contexts and the Uncertain Geographic Context Problem in Environmental Health Research.
More info about attending the webinar can be found below.
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UCGIS Webinar:
Bringing the Indoors In – Rethinking Geographic Contexts and the Uncertain Geographic Context Problem in Environmental Health Research
Presenter: Yoo Min Park (University of Connecticut) and Mei-Po Kwan (Chinese University of Hong Kong)
Moderator: Wenwen Li (Arizona State University)
Time: February 26 (Thursday) 10:00am-11:00am Eastern time (7:00am-8:00am Pacific)
Abstract
Recent geospatial health research has leveraged human mobility data to advance our understanding of how geographic contexts shape health outcomes. However, most studies still overlook the impact of indoor spaces, failing to account for the complexities introduced by people traversing a variety of indoor and outdoor environments. In this talk, we will explain how uncertainties about whether a person is indoors vs. outdoors at a given geographic location (i.e., GPS coordinate), and which environmental factors (indoor vs. outdoor factors) they are exposed to, can lead to misleading conclusions. We will also discuss how integrating multiple technologies for positioning, indoor-outdoor classification, indoor localization, or context-specific environmental monitoring can help address this gap. By highlighting indoor spaces as essential geographic contexts that influence individuals’ exposure to environmental risk factors, this talk calls for expanding geography beyond outdoor environments to fully capture the spectrum of places and geographic contexts that shape human health.
A related paper (free download):
Park, Y. M., & Kwan, M. P. (2025). Revisiting the Uncertain Geographic Context Problem: Expanding Its Scope to Include Indoor Geographic Contexts and Dynamics in Environmental Health and Social Science Research. Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 115(5), 1055–1070. https://doi.org/10.1080/24694452.2025.2472974
Register for this webinar:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_nQm9j8q0QZ6-dEqqbmBi5Q
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about how to join the event.
Prof. Debs Ghosh is invited to give a colloquium talk at the 
Peter Chen for receiving the UConn College of Liberal Arts & Sciences (CLAS) 2025 Climate, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Strategic Goals Award. Peter’s work leading DEI programs funded by CLAS have been examples for efforts he is now leading at the Graduate School.