Profile
Dr. Daniel A. Griffith, professor of Geospatial Information Sciences in the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences, presently pursues five major research themes.
Missing geospatial data imputations statistical theory and methodology deals with small geographic area estimation as well as links between spatial autoregression and geostatistical kriging.
Spatial statistical methodology supporting sound geographical analysis and inference concerns the use of spatial statistics and geographic information systems in public health, and in demography.
Research projects to date include: pediatric lead poisoning in Syracuse, NY, environmental pollution problems – lead contamination across superfund sites, and asbestos pollution across lower Manhattan from the World Trade Center disaster – and mosquito-borne diseases (e.g., diffusion of West Nile Virus in the US).
One outcome has been a web-based spatial epidemiology course (http://zappa.nku.edu/~longa/geomed/).
Regression analysis based upon non-normal probability models when spatial autocorrelation is present addresses statistical methodology and technology needs (i.e., eigenfunction-based spatial filtering) for Poisson and binomial regression modeling that accommodate nonzero spatial autocorrelation complications.
Promoting understanding of spatial autocorrelation involves pedagogic publications and devising educational games to teach about the concept.
And, establishing a better understanding of Puerto Rico’s space-economy over the past 500 years focuses on the island’s urbanization convergence process as well as its agricultural space economy.
Past Work Experiences
University of Miami, professor (and Graduate Faculty member), 2003-2005
The University of Cambridge, Leverhulme visiting professor, Spring 2004
Syracuse University, professor, 1988-2003; Chair, Department of Geography, 1995-1997; Interdisciplinary Program in Statistics faculty, 1991-2003; Director, Interdisciplinary Program in Statistics, 1991-92 & 1993-95
SUNY/Environmental Sciences and Forestry, adjunct professor, 1992-2003
Ministerio de Educación del Perú, consultant, 2000-01 [funded by the British ESRC]
Syracuse Research Corporation, consultant, 1998-99, 2003
University of Rome "La Sapienza," 1-month visiting professor, February 1995
Erasmus University, Rotterdam, visiting professor, Fall 1992
NY State Program in Geographic Information and Analysis, Deputy Director, 1989-90
Oregon State University, Department of Statistics, visiting EPA Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program research affiliate, summers of 1990-93
State University of New York at Buffalo, assistant professor, 1978-83; associate professor, 1983-1986; professor, 1986-88
Ryerson Polytechnical University, instructor, 1975-78Awards
- John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation fellowship
- Leverhulme Trust (UK) visiting professorship to the U. of Cambridge
- Fulbright Senior Specialist, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research visiting researcher
- Fulbright Research Fellow to Canada
- ASA/USDA-NASS Research Fellow
- (1st) U. of Miami Center for Ecosystems Science and Policy (CESP) fellow
- Ashbel Smith Professorship (U. of Texas at Dallas)
- Distinguished geographer of the year, Pennsylvania Geographical Society
- J. Warren Nystrom (Assn. of American Geographers) doctoral dissertation award
- 2 Microcomputer Specialy (Assn. of American Geographers) Group software awards
Professional Organizations:
- The Association of American Geographers (MM&QMSG chair)
- The Regional Science Association (North American Council President)
- The American Statistical Association (secretary-treasurer, Syracuse Chapter)
- The Fulbright Association
- Sigma Xi (president, Syracuse Chapter)
Courses
GISC 8319: Research design in GIS
Funded Research Projects
National Institutes of Health ($1,605,302): 2004/07 (Investigator; with Dr. John C. Beier, PI) “Vector-borne disease control in urban environments,” Interdisciplinary Exploratory Centers
National Science Foundation (Geography & Regional Science/Methodology, measurement & Statistics Programs) ($420,000 + $7,500 SU/UM grant + $11,725 NSF-REU): 2002/05 “Geography-Based Exposure Assessment for Urban Metals”
National Science Foundation (Division of Mathematical Sciences and Methodology, Measurement & Statistics Programs) ($159,778): 2004/06 (with M. Tiefelsdorf) “Approximating Eigensystems of Matrices Used in Spatial Analysis”
Publications
Effective geographic sample size in the presence of spatial autocorrelation, Annals, Association of American Geographers, 95: 740-760.
A comparison of four analytical disease mapping techniques as applied to West Nile Virus in the coterminous United States, International Journal of Health Geographics, 4: 18.
(with D. Johnson, J. Hager, A. Hunt, S. Blount, S. Ellsworth, J. Hintz, R. Lucci, A. Mittiga, D. Prokhorova, L. Tidd, M. Millones, and M. Vincent) Field methods for mapping urban metal distributions in house dusts and surface soils of Syracuse, NY, USA, Science in China (Series C: Life Sciences), 47 (supplement): 1-8.
Faster maximum likelihood estimation of very large spatial autoregressive models: an extension of the Smirnov-Anselin result, J. of Statistical Computation and Simulation, 74: 855-866.
Distributional properties of georeferenced random variables based on the eigenfunction spatial filter, J. of Geographical Systems, 6: 263-288.
A spatial filtering specification for the auto-logistic model, Environment & Planning A, 36: 1791-1811.
Extreme eigenfunctions of adjacency matrices for planar graphs employed in spatial analyses, Linear Algebra & Its Applications, 388:201-219.
Invited Lectures
- Indiana U. of Pennsylvania (Geography, Mathematics)
- U. of New Mexico (Geography, Mathematics)
- U. of Alberta/Edmonton (Geography, Mathematics)
- U. of Miami Spatial Ecology workshop
- U. of Miami NIH Intervector workshop
- U. of Miami Gamma Theta Upsilon
- GEOMED 2005 (Cambridge University)
- The Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (Rostock, Germany)
- Updated: July 26, 2006
