Activities
April 2012
- Attended / Presented at Barcamp Rochester: Social Media in Emergency Response
March 2012
- Attended the University at Buffalo Hackathon Tech Talks (http://ubhacking.com/)
- Attended the Erie County Local Emergency Planning Committee meeting (http://www.erie.gov/depts/lepc/about.asp)
February 2012
- Installed and configured new Apache server for LESAM website (lesam.org)
- Installed WordPress and completely redesigned LESAM website
October 2011
- Presented at 2011 Technology and Homeland Security conference in Niagara Falls, NY at the Seneca Niagara casino about using social media to enhance emergency response and planning w/LESAM members Graham Hayes and Martin Minkowski under the label of Infraguard and Erie Co. LEPC.
September 2011
- Army Corps Workshop, pt 2 – created webpage, survey, and photo albums to use. Presention on how mobile devices (HTC G2 smartphones) can be used in place of handheld GPS devices. Helped with general facility setup & logistics. Prepared computers for use and distribution to stakeholders (installed software and operating system updates).
- Designed and built computer for LESAM lab, designed specifically for optimum GIS and Remote Sensing application performance. Installed and configured all software.
- Presented to Jay Yang’s research group at UC San Diego via Skype: “From Here to Anywhere, to There, and Back: Issues with Location Attributes, Storage, and Retrieval in Social Media”
- Traveled to Schoharie Creek to collect data, post-Hurricane Irene flood damage with LESAM members. Took many photos, recorded location, tested different configurations of phone with Twitter.
- Army Corps Workshop pt 1: developed slideshows, tested software and equipment, developed informational website, including using own server for surveys. Helped with general setup and cleanup of equipment and supplies.
May 2011
- COM.Geo 2011 Volunteer – Traveled to Washington DC. to help with registration and general setup of conference. Attended presentations during non-scheduled work hours. Theme of conference was ‘An Internet of Things’
Documents
Testing the Effectiveness of Various Cartographic Techniques using Point Data - May 2010
One of the challenges in cartography is the visualization of point data when working with large amounts of data. Too much information on a map makes interpretation difficult. For this reason, we decided to explore using various visualization techniques to make maps that may be easier to read and comprehend.
Chemical Spill Modeling with Geographical Information Systems - May 2010
Three scenarios will be simulated through the use of this model. Constants for each scenario will be stream flow, stream geometry, atmospheric conditions, and release rate. The cause of the spill is an overturned tanker carrying gasoline and will take place within the Cattaraugus Creek watershed in New York. Spill locations are located in three risk zones: low, medium, and high. Chemical spread patterns will be discerned through the implementation of maps produced at varying time intervals.
Erie County LEPC Report - November 2009
The LEPC works closely with the government, facilities using hazardous substances, and emergency responders to create plans for situations including hazardous chemical spills, fires, and terrorist attacks. The research for this report involves gathering available information to determine the LEPC’s involvement in the Cattaraugus Creek watershed. Additional LEPCs will be examined to determine how organizations interact with each other, the government, and the general public. After research is complete, this report will be made available to the Erie County LEPC. This report uses a framework for integrated watershed management as an approach to determine the effectiveness of the committee.
Software & Programming
ArcGIS 9.3 Desktop (Student version and extensions), Quantum GIS (QGIS), Python, Java, Linux, Apache, Microsoft Office
Videos
I needed to instruct some colleagues on the use of QGIS, but couldn’t help them when they were available. So, I tried to hit on the major pieces so they could get themselves up and running until I could meet them. These were my first instructional videos.
Part 1:
Part 2:
I also provided a little commentary about the work I did to aid in the 2010 Haiti earthquake recovery efforts:
Zachary Baliva created a video for our Integrated Watershed Management course. This video is a summary of the course taught by Professor Chris Renschler at the Univsersity at Buffalo. The course examines how stakeholders interact within a watershed to maintain health and security of the system.