Bridging Worlds: Exploring the Intersections of Social Science, Geospatial Inquiry, and Natural Science in Geography Research
Nathaniel Leung: From Map to Mandate: How Geospatial Data Gaps Shape Federal Policy
As the Canadian federal government develops larger-scale infrastructure projects in response to challenges such as population growth, aging infrastructure, and climate change, the availability of high-quality geospatial information has become increasingly critical in navigating this increasingly complex environment. My research explores what geospatial data is missing or outdated, why those gaps exist, how they affect policy decisions, and how to fix them by interviewing federal government analysts and auditing key datasets.
Abby Dooks: The Role of Tourism Development in Informal Settlement Disaster and Climate Resilience
Billions of people living in informal settlements worldwide lack sufficient institutional support to recover from extreme climate hazards and are often excluded from disaster risk reduction (DRR) initiatives. While tourism has been employed to boost economic revenue in these communities, its impact on DRR remains uncertain, with debates on whether it provides benefits or leads to negative effects such as "lock-in."
Noah Boss: Methane, Carbon Dioxide, and Warming: Predicting Peatland Responses to Climate Change
My research examines how warming affects greenhouse gas emissions in different peatlands by measuring methane, carbon dioxide, and environmental conditions in the field under control and experimental warming conditions. I will then use those data in concert with process-based modeling to predict how peatlands may respond to future climate change.
Minji Gwon: Gendered Digital Geographies of Diaspora: Tal-Joseon of Young South Korean Women and Non-binary People
Tal-Joseon, which means escape from Korea, has been a widespread digital discourse among South Korean youth in the recent decade. Young women and non-binary people reinterpreted this discourse with feminism, criticizing deep-rooted patriarchy in Korean society. This study explores how digital spaces transform gendered precarity into aspirational mobilities, forming transnational feminist diasporas, through the case of Tal-Joseon in South Korea. This research contributes to digital geographies by incorporating diaspora studies into digital geographies from a feminist perspective.