Data for Social Impact
Using high-resolution satellite imagery and advanced big data analysis tools, Jennifer Burney, professor and co-director of the Big Pixel Initiative, is turning to the trees to gauge the health of semi-arid ecosystems, which are home to the world’s poorest populations and among the areas most affected by climate change. Prototyping this assessment tool in Sertão, Brazil, she develops tree density maps for specific regions that can then be “ground-truthed” and linked to farm-level management data. The goal is to use this novel technique across the world’s semi-arid regions to provide high-resolution indicators of overall ecosystem health.
In the News
Data from Behind Enemy Lines: How Russia May have Used Twitter to Seize Crimea
Jan. 23, 2020 | By Christine Clark | UC San Diego News
New research shows real-time social media data may have been a source of military intelligence for the Kremlin and potentially other governments
Interdisciplinary research, from the brain up
Oct. 19, 2017 | GPS News
Meet GPS’s new assistant professor, Uma Karmarkar, a neuroeconomist who looks at consumer behavior in theory driven-frameworks
A living, learning laboratory: Inside the Geo4Dev symposium
Sept. 29, 2017 | GPS News
Led by Ran Goldblatt and featuring GPS faculty, this international development symposium seeks to address our world’s greatest challenges, at scale, with the UC San Diego Big Pixel Initiative
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Faculty and Research
Related Faculty
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John Ahlquist
Associate Professor
Research Fields: political economy, comparative politics, labor market institutions, income inequality, international trade
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Roger Bohn
Professor
Research Fields: high-tech and international manufacturing, electronics and data storage industry, product development, organizational management
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Jennifer Burney
Associate Professor
Research Fields: climate impacts and adaptation, food-energy-water systems, food and nutrition security, land use, economic development
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Maria Carreri
Assistant Professor
Research Fields: comparative political economy, political selection, executive competence, local politics
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Michael Davidson
Assistant Professor
Research Fields: China, electricity markets, energy policy, climate change policy
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Jesse Driscoll
Associate Professor; Chair, Global Leadership Institute
Research Fields: comparative politics, international relations, civil war, voting, Central Asia -
Francisco Garfias
Assistant Professor
Research Fields: comparative political economy, state capacity, taxation, social conflict, Latin American politics, Mexican politics, econometrics
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Alexander Gelber
Associate Professor
Research Fields: public finance, particularly issues relating to taxation and social insurance
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Joshua Graff Zivin
Professor and Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs
Research Fields: environmental, public health, development, innovation economics
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Emilie Hafner-Burton
John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Professor of International Justice and Human Rights; Co-director, Laboratory on International Law and Regulation
Research Fields: international law and regulation, human rights, election violence, trade and investment, behavioral economics, political psychology, and social networks
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Zoltan L. Hajnal
Professor
Research Fields: racial and ethnic politics, urban politics, immigration, election administration, voting rights, American politics, political behavior
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Ruixue Jia
Assistant Professor
Research Fields: China, development economics, economic history, political economy
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Munseob Lee
Assistant Professor
Research Fields: macroeconomics, growth and development, firm dynamics, Korea
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Gordon McCord
Assistant Teaching Professor
Research Fields: development economics, public health, environment
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Craig McIntosh
Professor; Co-director, Policy Design and Evaluation Lab
Research Fields: development economics, agricultural and resource economics, program evaluation, microeconomics, anti-poverty policies
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Barry Naughton
Sokwanlok Chair of Chinese International Affairs
Research Fields: Chinese economy, foreign trade and investment, economic reform
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Agustina Paglayan
Assistant Professor
Research Fields: political economy, comparative politics, education systems, labor market institutions, state capacity, applied econometrics, historical research methods, politics of policymaking in Latin America and the U.S.
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Lauren Prather
Assistant Professor
Research Fields: foreign policy, migration, democracy
promotion and democratization, Middle East -
Nico Ravanilla
Assistant Professor
Research Fields: comparative politics, public policy, governance, Southeast Asia
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Krislert Samphantharak
Associate Professor and Associate Dean
Research Fields: corporate finance, economic development, family businesses, business groups in East and Southeast Asia, financial institutions in village economies, Thailand
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Victor Shih
Ho Miu Lam Chair in China and Pacific Relations, Associate Professor
Research Fields: China, political economy, Chinese banking policies, Chinese politics
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David Victor
Professor; Co-director, Laboratory on International Law and Regulation; Center for Global Transformation Endowed Chair in Innovation and Public Policy
Research Fields: human rights, international law, energy policy, climate change policy
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Barbara F. Walter
Professor
Research Fields: international security, civil wars, terrorism/counter-terrorism
Related Research Centers and Programs
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Big Pixel Initiative
Designing research methods for scalable satellite image ingestion, processing, computing and visualization for the next generation of global change research in geospatial big data. This initiative at UC San Diego is co-led by GPS Professor Gordon Hanson. -
Center on Global Transformation
Examining central questions about economic growth, equality and market change in the Pacific, this center brings together the worlds of academic inquiry and policy analysis. -
Policy Design and Evaluation Lab
Combining advanced social science methodology with the power of information technology,this lab designs policies and programs that alleviate poverty; promote health,welfare and security; and enhance accountability.
Learn more about our degree programs
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