Chauncy Harris Lecture
"At the Intersection of Geography and Public Health: Challenges and Opportunities"
Public health and geography are closely intertwined. Geography is an integral part of public health as it helps in understanding the spatial patterns of health outcomes, identifying vulnerable populations, and guiding public health policies and interventions. By leveraging geographic data and tools, public health professionals can make evidence-based decisions to improve the health and well-being of communities. In this presentation, I will describe how these two fields have benefited from each other, and provide an outlook on the research opportunities that lie ahead.
Eric Delmelle
Eric Delmelle is a visiting associate professor in the Department of Geography & Earth Sciences at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte, and teaching faculty in the School of Design at the University of Pennsylvania. His teaching and research interests include GIS, epidemiology, geovisualization and data science. He is also faculty associate at the University of Eastern Finland and the Vrije Universiteit Brussels.
Demelle received an MA in geography at SUNY Buffalo in 2001, an MS in industrial engineering at SUNY Buffalo in 2004, a PhD in geography at SUNY Buffalo in 2005, and a master's in biostatistics in 2022 from Erasmus University.
His research is articulated around three themes: (1) modeling and visualization of vector-borne diseases outbreaks; (2) modeling of water contamination in rural counties and risk communication to remote populations; (3) geographic access to care with a particular focus on residential mobility.
Delmelle has been funded by the March of Dimes Foundations, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the North Carolina Water Resources Research, the North Carolina Department of Justice, and the National Science Foundation. He serves as editor for Cartography and GIScience.
Students in the College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences gain Experience Points for attending this lecture. Learn more about Experience Points.