Associate Professor, University of Oklahoma Dept. of Geography and Environmental Sustainability
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My research program centers on expanding Geographic Information Science (GIS) research to meet new or undiscovered problem sets by incorporating spatial and temporal dynamics as fundamental analytical concerns. My research program has yielded studies presenting new quantitative methodologies, applications, and publicly available software tools supporting this focus. This work is positioned to address the influx of movement data brought by the increasingly ubiquitous use of location-aware technologies in society. My key areas of inquiry include (1) developing new analytics for movement data, (2) examining how movement analysis can enrich the discourse in applied ecology, and further, (3) understanding the influence of space on sustainability in contexts both biotic and abiotic. These studies draw from a theoretical and methodological grounding in time-geography, time-series analysis, agent-based modeling, spatial optimization, suitability modelling, network analysis, point pattern analysis, and movement analysis.
My contributions to the basic methodological literature in my field include extensions to the Space-Time Prism, a strategy for estimating unobserved movement between known object location captures (ex. GPS), agent-based simulations of real movement behaviors across space, along with novel strategies for the serial comparison of movements and dynamic factors in their corresponding environmental context which may co-vary over time. I have termed these as elements of “dynamic context” in their influence on observed movements at fine spatiotemporal scales. My contributions to the ecological literature often examine the implications of animal movements and their interactions with humans and the built environment at fine scales; my laboratory and students are engaged in ongoing work in this space. Additionally, my research program has generated several products outside of methods and ecological studies towards consideration of practical public health and transport sustainability issues. My long-term research goals seek to demonstrate the intrinsic value of movement data in primary and applied spatiotemporal research; to bear on timely ecological questions. These emerging questions are interested in exploring the complex spatiotemporal links and exchange between observed movements, dynamics in the contexts where movements occur, and behavior as drivers of the movement process. Check out some of my peer review publications below or on my Google Scholar Profile. Software developed for these research efforts including PySTPrism (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.softx.2020.100499) are available on GitHub.
Rebecca Loraamm and Monica Mustain (2021). Social Deprivation and the Performance of Pedestrian Infrastructure for School Children: Identifying Need in the Putnam City School District, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Professional Geographer, 74(2) 231-245. https://doi.org/10.1080/00330124.2021.2007492
Rebecca Loraamm, James Anderson, Claire Burch. (2021). Identifying Road Avoidance Behavior using Time-Geography for Red Deer in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada. Transactions in GIS, 25(3), 1331–1346. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/tgis.12748
Michael Patten, Alexandra Barnard, Claire Curry, Henry Dang, Rebecca Loraamm (2021). Forging a Bayesian link between habitat selection and avoidance behavior in a grassland grouse. Scientific Reports, 11(1), 2791. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-82500-0
Rebecca Loraamm, Katherine Goodenough, Claire Burch, Lisa Davenport, Torbjørn Haugaasen. (2020). A Time-Geographic Approach to Identifying Daily Habitat Use Patterns for Amazonian Black Skimmers. Applied Geography, 118, 102189. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2020.102189
Rebecca Loraamm, Joni Downs, James Anderson, David Lamb (2020). PySTPrism: Tools for voxel-based space–time prisms. SoftwareX, 12, 100499. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.softx.2020.100499
Claire Burch, Rebecca Loraamm, Joni Downs, Thomas Unnasch (2020). Utilizing ecological niche modelling to predict habitat suitability of eastern equine encephalitis in Florida. Annals of GIS, 26(2), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1080/19475683.2020.1730962
Claire Burch, Rebecca Loraamm, Travis Gliedt (2020). The “Green on Green” Conflict in Wind Energy Development: A Case Study of Environmentally Conscious Individuals in Oklahoma, USA. Sustainability, 12(19), 8184. http://doi.org/10.3390/su12198184
Katherine Ho, Rebecca Loraamm (2020). Analyzing Pedestrian-Involved Crash Hotspots in Hillsborough County, Florida. Southeastern Geographer, 60(2), 121-140. http://doi.org/10.1353/sgo.2020.0011
Rebecca Loraamm. (2019). Incorporating behavior into animal movement modeling: a constrained agent-based model for estimating visit probabilities in space-time prisms. International Journal of Geographical Information Science, 34(8), 1607-1627. https://doi.org/10.1080/13658816.2019.1658875
Rebecca Loraamm, Joni Downs, David Lamb. (2019). A Time-Geographic Approach to Quantifying Wildlife-Road Interactions. Transactions in GIS, 23(1), 70-86. https://doi.org/10.1111/tgis.12497
Joni Downs, Mark Horner, David Lamb, Rebecca Loraamm, James Anderson, Brittany Wood. (2018). Testing time-geographic density estimation for home range analysis using an agent-based model of animal movement. International Journal of Geographical Information Science, 32(7), 1505–1522. https://doi.org/10.1080/13658816.2017.1421764
Joni Downs, Rebecca Loraamm, James H Anderson, Jacqueline Perry, Jessica Bullock (2017). Habitat Use and Behaviours of Introduced Muscovy Ducks (Cairina moschata) in Urban and Suburban Environments. Suburban Sustainability, 5(1). http://doi.org/10.5038/2164-0866.5.1.1028
Rebecca Loraamm, Joni A. Downs, Robert Bair, Onur Ozcan, Daniel Yeh. (2017). Towards Food Service Sustainability in Suburban Environments by Optimally Locating Shared Anaerobic Digester Units. Suburban Sustainability, 5(1). http://doi.org/10.5038/2164-0866.5.1.1031
James Howard Anderson, Joni Downs, Rebecca Loraamm, Steven Reader (2017). Agent-based simulation of Muscovy duck movements using observed habitat transition and distance frequencies. Computers Environment and Urban Systems, 61(A), 49-55. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.compenvurbsys.2016.09.002
Preston Hartman, Travis Gliedt, Jeffrey Widener, Rebecca Loraamm. (2017). Dynamic capabilities for water system transitions in Oklahoma. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 25, 64-81. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eist.2016.12.004
Rebecca Loraamm, Joni A. Downs. (2016). A wildlife movement approach to optimally locate wildlife crossing structures. International Journal of Geographical Information Science, 30(1), 74-88. http://doi.org/10.1080/13658816.2015.1083995
Rebecca Loraamm (2015). Measuring pedestrian accessible bus transit supply in St. Petersburg Florida. The Florida Geographer, 46, 1-11. https://journals.flvc.org/flgeog/issue/view/4234
Joni A. Downs, David Lamb, Garrett Hyzer, Rebecca Loraamm, Zachary J. Smith, Blaire M. O’Neal (2014). Quantifying spatio-temporal interactions of animals using probabilistic space-time prisms. Applied Geography, 55, 1-8. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2014.08.010
Joni A. Downs, Mark W. Horner, Garrett Hyzer, David Lamb, Rebecca Loraamm. (2014). Voxel-based probabilistic space-time prisms for analysing animal movements and habitat use. International Journal of Geographical Information Science, 28(5), 875-890. http://doi.org/10.1080/13658816.2013.850170
Lin Yuan, Yanbo Huang, Rebecca Loraamm, Chenwei Nie, Jihua Wang, Jingcheng Zhang. (2014). Spectral analysis of winter wheat leaves for detection and differentiation of diseases and insects. Field Crops Research, 156, 199-207. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2013.11.012
Jingcheng Zhang, Lin Yuan, Ruiliang Pu, Rebecca Loraamm, Jihua Wang. (2014). Comparison between wavelet spectral features and comparison spectral features in detecting yellow rust for winter wheat. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 100, 79-87. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.compag.2013.11.001
Joni A. Downs, Mark W. Horner, Rebecca Loraamm, James H. Anderson, Hyun Kim, Dave Onorato. (2014). Strategically locating wildlife crossing structures for Florida panthers using maximal covering approaches. Transactions in GIS, 8(1), 46-65. http://doi.org/10.1111/tgis.12005
Lin Yuan, Jingcheng Zhang, Ke Wang, Rebecca Loraamm, Wenjiang Huang, Jihua Wang, Jinling Zhao. (2013). Analysis of spectral difference between the frontside and backside of leaves in yellow rust disease detection. Precision Agriculture, 14(5), 495-511. http://doi.org/10.1007/s11119-013-9312-y
Patrick T. Vander Kelen, Joni A. Downs, Lillian M. Stark, Rebecca Loraamm, James H. Anderson and Thomas R. Unnasch. (2012). Spatial Epidemiology of Eastern Equine Encephalitis in Florida. International Journal of Health Geographics, 11(1), 47. http://doi.org/10.1186/1476-072X-11-47
Joni A. Downs, Justin H. Heller, Rebecca Loraamm, Dana Oppenheim, Cassandra McDaniel, Dave Onorato. (2012). Accuracy of home range estimators under assumptions of stationarity and nonstationarity. Ecological Modeling, 225, 66-73. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2011.11.010