Geospatial Data, Maps & Spatial Analysis

Digitization of Historical Maps in the Age of AI

December 3, 2025
Elena Stacy
by Elena Stacy. Researchers today increasingly have access to a wealth of tools to streamline or automate labor-intensive data processing and generation tasks. When it comes to mapping, progress has been slower. This blog details the author's experience tackling the digitization of a historical map in the age of AI.

Sahiba Chopra

Data Science Fellow 2024-2025
Haas School of Business

I'm a PhD student in the Management and Organizations (Macro) group at Berkeley Haas. I have a diverse professional background, primarily as a data scientist across numerous industries, including fintech, cleantech, and media. I hold a BA in Economics from the University of Maryland, an MS in Applied Economics from the University of San Francisco, and an MS in Business Administration from UC Berkeley.

My research focuses on the intersection of inequality, technology, and the labor market. I am particularly interested in understanding how to reduce inequality in...

A Participant-Centered, GIS-Based Approach to Improving Contextual Measurement

November 19, 2025
Sarah Daniel
by Sarah Daniel. Researchers increasingly recognize that neighborhoods profoundly shape life outcomes, yet measuring them remains challenging. A common approach uses administrative boundaries, such as census tracts, as proxies for neighborhoods, but this method presents three key challenges. First, administrative boundaries may fail to capture residents’ lived experiences, a limitation that is particularly concerning in marginalized communities; second, they can misrepresent contextual effects; and third, they may produce inconsistent findings. To address these issues, I advocate for the use of self-defined neighborhood boundaries as an alternative measure. I compare GIS- and non-GIS-based methods and propose that GIS-based methods offer the strongest potential for more valid measurement.

John Cherry

Consulting Drop-In Hours: By appointment only

Consulting Areas: ArcGIS Desktop - Online or Pro, Cluster Analysis, Data Sources, Data Visualization, Excel, Geospatial Data: Maps and Spatial Analysis, GIS (ArcGIS Pro, QGIS); spatial data analysis and visualization, Google Earth Engine, Mixed Methods, Public health data analysis; infectious disease mapping; rural and global health applications of GIS, Experimental Design, Spatial Statistics, Survey Sampling

Quick-tip: the fastest way to speak to a consultant is to first...

Evan Kartheiser

Consulting Drop-In Hours: By appointment only

Consulting Areas: ArcGIS Desktop - Online or Pro, Data Visualization, Geospatial Data: Maps and Spatial Analysis, Git or GitHub, Google Earth Engine, HTML / CSS, Javascript, Python, QGIS, R, Regression Analysis, SQL, Spatial Statistics, Tableau, Time Series

Quick-tip: the fastest way to speak to a consultant is to first ...

Aidan Lee

Consulting Drop-In Hours: By appointment only

Consulting Areas: ArcGIS Desktop - Online or Pro, Bayesian Methods, Causal Inference, Cluster Analysis, Data Sources, Data Visualization, Databases and SQL, Digital Health, Excel, Experimental Design, Geospatial Data: Maps and Spatial Analysis, Git or GitHub, LaTeX, Machine Learning, Means Tests, Mixed Methods, Natural Language Processing (NLP), OCR, Python, Qualtrics, R, Regression Analysis, Research Design, Research Planning, RStudio, RStudio Cloud, SAS, Software Output Interpretation, SPSS, SQL,...

Maksymilian Jasiak

Data Science & AI Fellow 2025-2026
Civil and Environmental Engineering

Maksymilian Jasiak is a PhD Student in GeoSystems Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. His research focuses on Distributed Fiber Optic Sensing (DFOS) for lifeline infrastructure monitoring. His work aims to advance critical infrastructure security and resilience. He holds a MS in GeoSystems Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley and a BS in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Sohail Khan

Senior Data Science Fellow 2025-2026, Data Science Fellow 2024-2025
School of Information

Hey everyone, I’m Sohail - a 1st years Master’s student studying Data Science at the I-School. I am interested in the intersection between Computer Science, Data Science, and Cognitive Psychology and using these tools to understand, discover, and drive the development of assistive technologies.

I have experience building with brain computer Interfaces, developing distributed data processing applications, and am currently working on a large scale archival project aimed at preserving the history and memory of resistance movements through an embedding based...

Taesoo Song

Senior Data Science Fellow 2025-2026, Data Science Fellow 2024-2025
City and Regional Planning

Taesoo is a Ph.D. candidate in the City and Regional Planning department at the University of California, Berkeley. He studies the nexus of housing policy, neighborhood change, and residential outcomes for low-income and minority households.

His dissertation aims to reassess the prevailing narrative that Asian Americans face minimal barriers in the housing market using quantitative and qualitative methods. Taesoo has worked with the Terner Center for Housing Innovation and the Urban Displacement Project at UC Berkeley, as well as the Seoul Institute in South Korea.

Scarlet Sands-Bliss

Data Science & AI Fellow 2025-2026, Domain Consultant, Research IT
School of Public Health

Scarlet Bliss is an MS/PhD student in Epidemiology in the School of Public Health. Her work focuses on mixed methods approaches to characterizing and preventing spread of antimicrobial resistance and other enteric pathogens via the environment. She has experience in statistical analysis and public health bioinformatics. She is interested in ethical use of big data as it relates to epidemiologic research.