Earthquake/Tsunami relief mission with Crisis Commons – Japan/2011
It was an invaluable opportunity to use my expertise, knowledge, and professional connections in the efforts to provide assistance to people who suffer from the earthquake/tsunami disasters in my own county, Japan. It was amazing to see so many people volunteer for helping international organizations’ operations in Japan, and I was lucky to be part of it. In addition, it was a good experience for me to learn more about advanced technologies that enhance capacity of GISs by working with other GISCorps volunteers, who have technical skills and knowledge as well as a good heart.
I use GISs to process, analyze, and visualize data for my research in urban planning and policy analysis with a focus on transportation, land use, and environment. I also teach courses on applications of GISs to planning, with an emphasis on how spatial thinking and analysis could help us understand built environment, people’s living conditions, and related urban planning/policy issues. GISs have become such an important, useful tool in the field of planning. And I hope people in the field will always seek the use of GISs beyond simple data mapping/visualization.
