Elizabeth Delmelle

Related People
Harrison Campbell
Wenwu Tang

Teaching and Research Interests

  • Urban and Neighborhood Dynamics
  • Urban Transportation
  • Spatial Analysis and Modeling
  • Geographic Information Science
  • GeoComputation

EducationEandM

  • Ph.D. (2012) Geography & Urban Regional Analysis, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
  • M.A. (2006) Geography, State University of New York at Buffalo
  • B.S. (2004) Geographic Science, James Madison University

Profile

My research interests lie within two general fields of application: urban and neighborhood dynamics and urban transportation. My work on neighborhood dynamics has sought to understand how and why neighborhoods change according to their multidimensional quality of life or socioeconomic complexion. This research has employed a variety of statistical and computational techniques to understand space-time-multidimesional patterns of change and to disentangle the drivers of change including: self-organizing maps, sequential pattern mining, and structural equation modeling. I continue to be driven by the pursuit of novel methodological techniques that can deepen our understanding of neighborhood dynamics.

On the transportation side, I have worked in the area of bicycle and pedestrian safety, performing spatial analyses of bicycle crash locations and compared neighborhood-level risk factors between bicyclists and pedestrians. I am also interested in spatial accessibility, equity, and social exclusion as it relates to public transport. Currently, I am involved in research that examines neighborhood changes in response to the placement of fixed rail transit stations. I am the former  chair of the Transportation Geography Specialty group of the AAG.

Geographic Information tools and spatial analytical/statistical methods form the core of my research methodological approach. The courses I teach are along these lines including: Spatial Thinking, Fundamentals of Geographic Information Systems, Spatial Modeling for Social and Economic Applications, and Spatial Database Development. Here is a sneak peak at a balloon mapping exercise in the Spatial Thinking course: http://inside.uncc.edu/news-features/2017-08-02/thinking-spatially-%E2%80%93-balloon-exercise-helps-students-perceive-timespace

A summary of a recent article on neighborhood change in Chicago and LA has been covered by CityLab: http://www.citylab.com/housing/2016/01/mapping-neighborhood-change-in-chicago-and-la/423807/

The city of Chicago has put the results of that analysis in action! https://www.chicagocityscape.com/maps/investmentzones.php

Some press on my work with collaborators in Austria that looks at the relationship between social satisfaction, commuting, and the urban environment: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/in-the-neighborhood/201403/how-your-commute-can-damage-your-relationships

 

 

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