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DC gathers data, protects human subjects

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

The DC team is taking steps towards gathering heat-related data while maintaining the integrity of human subjects. Alexis Goggans notes that the team intends to overlay different layers of relevant data for determining heat vulnerability (tree cover, building age, etc.) with a map of 911 calls reporting heat-related incidents. The team anticipates that these data sets, broken out incrementally to show 5 years of trends, will illuminate 3 focus areas of most at-risk populations.
Meanwhile, Olga Wilhelmi is working on the project’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) protocol for working with human subjects. Since they are working with spatial data, the DC team must protect the confidentiality of the people whose addresses are included in the metadata. Olga will ensure that those working with these data sets are properly trained to keep human subjects anonymous. Alexis, Olga, and Juan Declet-Barreto hope to have their first round of maps by the end of June. Stay tuned for more on this exciting project!

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