Abstract and Biogr Introduction Kelsey Jack joined the Economics Department at Tufts Uni- scale epidemiological modeling in Africa; Cybermappr, versity in 2011. She received her BA from Princeton Uni- a volunteer thinking platform for geotagging data, and versity in Public and International Affairs and her PhD in its application by UNOSAT to damage assessment in Re-Mapping Africa in GIS: Public Policy from Harvard University, followed by a year Libya; Epicollect a mobile-phone based epidemiological as a Post Doctoral Affiliate at MIT. Kelsey’s research ex- data collection platform developed by Imperial College; From Humanities to Health plores incentive based approaches to encourage the private a project to transcribe historical documents in bushman provision of public goods and the design of incentives for language, developed by the University of Cape Town. I pro-social behavior with an applied focus on the environ- will argue the importance citizen cyberscience as a low- ment in developing countries. Her research combines theo- cost, high visibility approach for scientists with limited Co-Chaired by ries from environmental economics, contract theory and resources to make a research impact. I will discuss the development economics with rigorous empirical evidence. issue of data reliability and accuracy when involving Suzanne Preston Blier, Harvard University non-expert volunteers on the Web. Finally, I will em- Julia Finkelstein, Cornell University phasize the importance of grassroots hands-on events Citizen Cyberscience for Africa (“hackfests”) in initiating new research projects, illus- Co-sponsored by Francois Grey trating this with examples of events we have run in Af- The Committee on African Studies (CAS) and rica and elsewhere. Abstract: The Citizen Cyberscience Centre is a part- Center for Geographic Analysis, Institute for Quantitative Social Science nership between CERN, the University of Geneva and Francois Grey is Professor of Distributed Scientific Comput- aphy UNOSAT, the operational satellite applications pro- ing and Deputy Director at Tsinghua University’s first inter- gramme. Our mission is to promote the use of citizen disciplinary research centre, the Centre for Nano and Micro cyberscience (volunteer computing, volunteer think- Mechanics (CNMM). He is also the coordinator of the Citi- ing and volunteer data collection) by researchers in zen Cyberscience Centre in Geneva, a partnership between Date: March 29-30, 2012 developing regions. In this talk, I will discuss several CERN, the UN Institute for Training and Research and the (end) examples of citizen cyberscience projects we have University of Geneva. Prior to moving to China in 2008, he helped initiate or develop, and that are finding use- spent six years at CERN as manager of IT Communications, Location: Tsai Auditorium, CGIS Building South, Room S010 ful applications in Africa. These include: MalariaCon- launching CERN’s LHC@Home volunteer computing project Address: 1730 Cambridge St., Cambridge, MA 02138 trol.net, a volunteer computing project developed by and promoting citizen cyberscience in the developing world the Swiss Tropical Institute, which is used for large- through the Africa@home and Asia@home initiatives. Map of the Harvard Campus: his two-day conference brings together scholars on GIS and Africa to share their knowledge and experiences; Tto explore the potential of geospatial methods in the so- cial sciences, further humanities scholarship by critically en- gaging GIS methods, and promote interdisciplinary collabora- tive research in health and humanities in the continent of Africa. The objective is to explore the application of geographic informa- tion systems (GIS) methods to health and humanities work in Af- rica, bringing together scholars from across various disciplines whose research offers answers to key questions involving Afri- ca. Scholars represent research interests in an array of disciplines, among these health, demography, government, geology, geogra- phy, biology, archaeology, economics, architecture, and art history. The keynote address, “Putting Peace on the Map” will be presented by Patrick Vinck, Research Scientist at the Harvard School of Public Health and Associate Faculty with the Harvard Humanitarian Initia- tive. The first day of this conference will include a hands-on train- ing workshop and a web-based interactive demo of the WorldMap web mapping platform. The second day will feature the keynote address, followed by a series of topical panels incorporating short talks by the invited speakers on topics including politics, environ- ment, health, change, diversity, methodologies and technologies. 11 Purchase Parking Pass: https://www2.uos.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/permit/purchase.pl Center for Geographic Analysis http://gis.harvard.edu Program farmer incentive, market forces and poor governance. ly linked to rebuilding social and political systems. My Abstract and Biogr Thursday, March 29, 2012 The Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS PhD research explores four such spatial peacebuilding NET) is a US Agency for International Development strategies: 1) the 1996 and 2004 villagisation policies; 2) 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM Hands-on Training for WorldMap Platform (Science Center, room B-09) (USAID) project designed to monitor food insecurity the ‘bye-bye nyakatsi’ program to replace grass roofs in the developing world. Understanding the spatial on houses country-wide; 3) the preservation of geno- characteristics of the factors contributing to food secu- cide sites; and 4) the Radio Soap Opera ‘Musekeweya’. 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM Live Demo of WorldMap Platform (CGIS-South Building, room S030) rity assists in anticipating locations facing hardship. The case studies illustrate a range of types of relations Identification of critical locations involves a synthesis between spatial and sociopolitical rebuilding embed- of satellite-derived meteorological data, maps of liveli- ded within: human settlement planning (villagisation), Friday, March 30, 2012 hoods, crop models, ground-sampled information and architectural aesthetics and politics (bye-bye nyakatsi), any other available input, with the hope of reducing memory studies and cultural heritage (genocide site 8:30 AM - 9:00 AM Registration and Light Refreshments (CGIS South Building, Concourse) the human impact of these conditions. This presenta- preservation), and parallels between actual and imag- tion will highlight some key datasets FEWS NET relies ined community spaces (radio soap opera). For the on to initiate activities to mitigate the threat of food purposes of the ‘Re-mapping Africa’ conference, I will 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM Introductions and Keynote Address (CGIS South, Tsai Auditorium) insecurity. present the inquiries and methodological frameworks Opening Remarks that guide my exploration of these four case studies. Caroline Elkins and Peter Bol Greg Husak is an Assistant Researcher in the Department In doing so, I hope to demonstrate how a spatial and of Geography at University of California, Santa Barbara. material culture approach brings a unique perspective Introduction of Keynote Speaker aphy Suzanne Blier and Julia Finkelstein His research efforts focus on forecasting rainfall during a to studies of the dynamics of conflict and mechanisms crop growing season, reducing uncertainty in crop produc- of conflict resolution. Keynote Address: “Putting Peace on the Map “ tion estimates, and developing tools to better monitor and Delia Wendel is a PhD candidate affiliated with Harvard’s Patrick Vinck define crop conditions based on remotely sensed data. He is Graduate School of Design, where she researches post-con- the principal investigator at the Climate Hazards Group, a flict and post-disaster rebuilding strategies. Her dissertation (Continued) research unit composed of field scientists in various regions 10:00 AM - 10:50 AM Politics Moderator: Biodun Jeyifo research focuses on postgenocide Rwanda, where rebuilding of Africa, graduate students, post-doctoral researchers and The Space of Time: Mapping Difference in the Pre-Colonial Yoruba City architecture & settlements is intimately intertwined with visiting professors. Suzanne Blier sociopolitical reconciliation. In addition to a Professional Social Media as Passive Polling: Using Twitter to Map Islamist Sentiment in Egypt Architecture degree, she holds degrees in Cultural Geogra- African Health Seen Through a Spatial Lens Todd Mostak phy (MSc, University College London) and Architectural Deterring or Displacing Electoral Irregularities? Spillover Effects of Observers in Ghana Marcia Castro History and Theory (MDesS, Harvard GSD). In 2009 Delia worked for UNHABITAT as a research consultant, and from Nahomi Ichino Abstract: The presentation will illustrate how spatial 2008-2011 as a tenure-track Lecturer at the University of Measuring Violence & Displacement in Kenya methods and technologies have opened new possibili- Edinburgh. Andy Harris ties for the study of health-related data. Ranging from visualization, spatial autocorrelation, combination of An Incentive Design Experiment in the Health 10:50 AM - 11:00 AM Coffee Break household and satellite derived data, and spatial sta- SSector: Zambia, GIS and Social Science Field Work tistical analysis, mapping health in Africa (currently Kelsey Jack and historically) has gained valuable perspectives that Moderator: Stephen Ervin 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Environment have helped and continues to help the planning, imple- Abstract: A substantial body of research investigates