Rob Feick

Degrees

Ph.D. Geography, Waterloo, Canada, 2000

M.A. Geography, University of Waterloo, Canada, 1991

B.A. Geography (Economics Minor), Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada, 1987

Professor Feick's research interests focus broadly on methods for using geospatial information technology and data to support decision making and public participation in land management and planning. His current research focuses on citizen participation in smart city contexts, spatial data quality, volunteered geographic information (VGI), methods to extract place-based knowledge from big geodata, and spatial multi-criteria analysis.

Research grants/projects

• GIS-based virtual and augmented reality apps
  (CFI-ORF, with P. Deadman, 2019-2021)  

• Citizen-generated geographic information and contested places: Enhancing citizen participation in community planning
  (SSHRC, PI, 2017- 2023)

• Global Water Citizenship - Integrating networked citizens, scientists and local decision makers
  (CFREF, with C. Robertson, 2017 - 2020)

• Integrating social media, geospatial information, and sentiment analysis for the analysis of acute and chronic stress in urban environments
  (SSHRC, C. Robertson PI)

• How the Geospatial Web 2.0 is Reshaping Government-Citizen Interactions
  (SSHRC, R. Sieber PI, 2012 - 2019)

• Strengthening the local climate change visioning process for community decision-making
  (Deputy Leader, Geomatics for Informed Decisions - GEOIDE, 2009-2012)

• Promoting sustainable communities through participatory spatial decision support
  (PI, GEOIDE , 2005-2009)

Contact Rob Feick for more information on research opportunities.

Graduate student supervision

Recent/key publications

[* = student co-authors]

• * Hojati, M., Farmer, C., Feick, R., & Robertson, C. (2021). Decentralized geoprivacy: leveraging social trust on the distributed web. International Journal of Geographical Information Science, 1-27. https://doi.org/10.1080/13658816.2021.1931236
• * Gray, A., Robertson, C., & Feick, R. (2021). CWDAT - An open-source tool for the visualization and analysis of community-generated water quality data. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information, 10(4), 207. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi10040207
• * Akbari, A., Pittman, J. & Feick, R. (2021) Mapping the relative habitat quality values for the Burrowing Owls (Athene cunicularia) of the Canadian Prairies using an innovative parameterization approach in the InVEST HQ Module. Environmental Management. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-021-01502-w
• * Prescott, M., Miller, W. C., Borisoff, J., Tan, P., Garside, N., Feick, R., & Mortenson, W. B. (2021). An exploration of the navigational behaviours of people who use wheeled mobility devices in unfamiliar pedestrian environments. Journal of Transport & Health, 20, 100975. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jth.2020.100975

• Feick. R. (2021). Spatial data quality and public participation in the smart city, in Judge, E., Solomon, S, and Bush, D. (eds.), Cities, Citizens and Locational Technology: Mapping Power and Justice. UBC Press. (In press)

• Feick, R. and Robertson, C. (2021). “Geographic expertise and citizen science: Planning and co-design implications”, in Skarlatidou, A. and Haklay, M. (eds.), Geographical Citizen Science Design: No One Left Behind, pgs. 107-129, UCL Press. https://www.uclpress.co.uk/products/125702 

• *Lawrence, H., Robertson, C., Feick, R., and Nelson, T. (2020). The spatial-comprehensiveness (S-COM) Index: Identifying optimal spatial extents in user generated content. International Journal of Geographic Information, https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi9090497 

• Robertson, C. and Feick, R. (2019). Geographical expertise: From places to processes and back again. In D. Caudill (ed). The Third Wave of Science & Technology Studies. Palgrave MacMillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14335-0_6

• Shankardass, K., Robertson, C., Shaughnessy, K., Sykora, M., & Feick, R. (2018). A unified ecological framework for studying effects of digital places on well-being. Social Science & Medicine, 227, 119-127. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.09.022

• Robertson, C., & Feick, R. (2018). Inference and analysis across spatial supports in the big data era: Uncertain point observations and geographic contexts. Transactions in GIS, 22(2), 455-476. https://doi.org/10.1111/tgis.12321

• Shaughnessy, K., Reyes, R., Shankardass, K., Sykora, M., Feick, R., *Lawrence, H., & Robertson, C. (2018). Using geolocated social media for ecological momentary assessments of emotion: Innovative opportunities in psychology science and practice. Canadian Psychology/Psychologie canadienne, 59(1), 47-53.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/cap0000099

• Robertson C., Feick R., Sykora M., Shankardass K., Shaughnessy K. (2017) Personal Activity Centres and Geosocial Data Analysis: Combining Big Data with Small Data. In: Bregt A., Sarjakoski T., van Lammeren R., Rip F. (eds) Societal Geo-innovation. AGILE 2017. Lecture Notes in Geoinformation and Cartography. Springer, Cham https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56759-4_9

• *Zhang, S. and Feick, R. 2016 Understanding public opinions from geosocial media. International Journal of Geo-Information. 5(6). http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijgi5060074
• Robertson, C. and Feick, R. 2015. Bumps and bruises in the digital skins of cities. Cartography and GIScience. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15230406.2015.1088801
• Feick, R. and C. Robertson. 2015. Geographical analysis of geotagged photographs for characterizing urban environments: A multi-scale perspective. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems.
• Danahy, J., R. Wright, *J. Mitchell, and R. Feick. 2013. Exploring Ways to Use 3D Urban Models to Visualize Multi-Scalar Climate Change Data and Mitigation Change Models for e-Planning. International Journal of E-Planning Research 2(2): 1-17.
• Feick, R and R. Roche. 2013. “Understanding the value of VGI”, In D. Sui, S. Elwood, and M. Goodchild (eds.), Crowdsourcing Geographic Knowledge, pgs. 15-29, New York: Springer.

Courses taught

• PLAN 105: Planning Analysis
• PLAN/GEOG 387: Spatial Data Bases
• PLAN/GEOG 481: Geographic Information Systems Project
• PLAN/GEOG 487: Management Issues in GIS
• PLAN 657/GEOG 609: GIS and Spatial Decision Support for Planning and Resource Management