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School of Physical, Environmental and Mathematical Sciences |
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Research Interests:
Geographic Information Science
Biography
I am currently a Lecturer in the School of Physical, Environmental and Mathematical Sciences at the University of New South Wales @ADFA, where I teach both undergraduate and postgraduate courses in GIScience. I completed my PhD at the GeoVISTA Center in the Department of Geography at The Pennsylvania State University in 2004.
Teaching
I currently teach an undergraduate unit on Environmental Hazards, a general education unit called Mapping the Sports Geography of Australia and a postgraduate unit on customizing GIS applications with programming languages.
Research
My research has two thrusts: (1) Geographic Information Science, with a focus on theoretical aspects of visual representation; and (2) human-environment interactions, particularly taking a complex systems science view of both chronic and infectious disease drivers.
Geographic Information Science:
My current research is investigating the process of visual cluster detection in animated and static maps. I recently collected eye-movement data while working with Sara Fabrikant at the University of Zurich in Switzerland. We hope this information will help us explain how map readers find moving clusters.
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This image shows the infrared light from the eye-tracker that is being bounced off my eyes to detect where I am looking. |
This image shows an introduction screen from the test instrument that we use to investigate visual cluster detection. |
I am also interested in several other aspects of perception and cognition with maps and am in the process of planning research projects in these areas.
Human-Environment Interactions:
With colleagues at CSIRO-Sustainable Ecosystems, the Australian National University and the ACT Department of Health, I am looking at how how obesity can be conceptualized as a complex system, with influences that range from the individual to the global scale.
Another current project with colleagues from the School of ITEE at UNSW@ADFA and CSIRO involves using agent-based models to investigate the recent equine flu outbreak in Australia.
Grants and Awards
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2005 Estelle Canning Memorial Prize for the best paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Australian Map Circle.
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2003 Penn State Alumni Association Dissertation Award.
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1999-2002: National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship.
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1997-1998: Fulbright Fellowship, Ruhr Universitaet, Bochum, Germany.
Select Publications
Peer Reviewed Publications:
Bhowmick, T., Griffin, A. L., MacEachren, A. M., Kluhsmann, B. and E. Lengerich. (2008). 'Informing Geospatial Toolset Design: Understanding the Process of Cancer Data Exploration and Analysis', Health & Place, in press.
Scheyvens, R., Griffin, A. L., Jocoy, C., Liu, Y. and M. Bradford. (2008). 'Experimenting with active learning: Dispelling the myths that perpetuate resistance.' Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 32(8): 51-69.
Banos, A. and A. L. Griffin. (2007). 'A methodology for exploring urban neighbourhood shapes and sizes.' Proceedings of the 15th European Colloquium on Theoretical and Quantitative Geography, Montreux, Switzerland, September 7-11.
Griffin, A. L. , MacEachren, A. M., Hardisty, F., Steiner, E. and B. Li. (2006). 'A comparison of animated maps with static small-multiple maps for visually identifying space-time clusters.' Annals of the Association of American Geographers. 96(4): 740-53.
Griffin, A. L. (2002). 'Feeling it out: The use of haptic visualization for exploratory geographical visualization.' Cartographic Perspectives. 39:12-29.
Harrower, M., MacEachren, A. M. and A. L. Griffin. (2000). 'Developing a geographic visualization tool to support earth science learning.' Cartography and Geographic Information Science. 27(4): 279-294.
Book Chapter:
Griffin, A. L. (2007). 'Visual Variables.' In Encyclopedia of Geographic Information Science. Kemp, K. (Ed.).Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications. pp. 506-9.
Service and Professional Society Memberships:
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Editorial Board: Cartographic Perspectives (2006-2007); Cartographica (2007-).
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Manuscript reviewer for: Guilford Press, Cartography and Geographic Information Science; American Journal for Preventive Medicine; Annals of the Association of American Geographers; Computers, Environment and Urban Systems; Cartographica; MODSIM; Professional Geographer; Environment and Planning B; International Journal of Geographic Information Science; International Journal of Health Geographics; Journal of Spatial Science; New Zealand Association for Research in Education.
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Secretary, Institute of Australian Geographers (IAG) GIScience, spatial analysis and modelling study group.
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Member, Undergraduate Education Committee UNSW@ADFA, Postgraduate Education Committee UNSW@ADFA.