Geothink at the 2016 Annual Meeting of the American Association of Geographers

By Drew Bush From March 29 to April 2, 2016, Geothink’s students, co-applicants, and collaborators presented their research and met with colleagues at the now concluded 2016 Association of American Geographers (AAG) Annual Meeting in San Francisco, CA. Over the week, Geothinkers gave 11 presentations, organized six sessions, chaired five sessions, and were panellists on four sessions. See who attended … Read More

Moving Forward with Canadian Census Data

By Naomi Bloch Chloropleth maps of National Household Survey global non-response data at the dissemination-area level courtesy Scott Bell. Global non-response rates > 50% resulted in suppression of data for that spatial unit. All maps are classified using a quantile classification scheme. As we move forward (and backward) with the 2016 return of Canada’s long-form census, questions remain for everyone who … Read More

The Long-term Impacts of the Short-lived National Household Survey

By Naomi Bloch On November 5, Navdeep Bains, Canada’s new Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development (now that’s a mouthful!) confirmed the rumours that the country’s mandatory long-form census will be reinstated in 2016. But what are the long-term consequences of the interruption in mandatory data collection caused by 2011’s National Household Survey (NHS)? How significant is this short-lived … Read More

Geothink Video Interview 3: Our Experts Take on Crowdsourcing

By Drew Bush We’re excited to bring you our long-awaited video interview that features Geothink’s experts discussing issues of authenticity and accuracy with crowdsourced data.  Data collected through crowdsourcing methods increasingly has replaced traditional forms of data collection. This video features Geothink Head Renee Sieber, associate professor in McGill University’s Department of Geography and School of Environment; Daren Brabham, assistant … Read More

Improving Access to Canadian Healthcare Using Open Data with Scott Bell

By Drew Bush If you ask a Canadian what makes them most proud of their country, free and easily accessible healthcare would often be near the top of the list. But for one Geothink researcher, this commonly held narrative has been disproven and led him to help those in need of better healthcare. “People in the north and some rural … Read More

Studying Public Transport Behavior By Accident: Lessons Learned from A Graduate Class in Computer Science with Scott Bell

By Drew Bush  Sometimes the best research grows out of collaboration and study within the confines of a classroom. For Scott Bell, an associate professor of Geography and Planning at the University of Saskatchewan, a graduate class in computer science provided just such an opportunity. The past few years, Bell has collaborated with a colleague in Saskatchewan’s Department of Computer … Read More

Decision-Making with Uncertain Data

Professor Scott Bell Director, The Spatial Initiative University of Saskatchewan 117 Science Place, Saskatoon, SK S7N 3C8 Governments have long provided their citizens with high quality data through centralized services. Generally, these are collected as a population census with an additional and more detailed sampled survey. In Canada, the former is known as the short form census and the latter … Read More