Rebecca W. Loraamm, PhD

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Associate Professor, University of Oklahoma Dept. of Geography and Environmental Sustainability

Research

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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.

Publications