Portfolio Projects

Data Analytics

Modelling Covid-19 Case Outcomes in New York City

Predicting and Visualizing Urban Deforestation in Philadelphia

Tree canopy is defined as the area of land covered by trees when viewed from above, and offers public health, recreational, and environmental benefits to cities. In the past 10 years, Philadelphia has lost more than 1000 football fields’ worth of tree canopy. In this semester-long project, my team helped the USDA Forest Service understand risk factors and spatial trends in tree canopy loss between 2008-2018 using open source data provided by the city. We identified construction and transportation land use as key risk factors for loss, and recommended that further tree planting efforts focus on South and Northeast Philadelphia. To help tree planting agencies and the City of Philadelphia allocate their resources, we visualized these trends on a web application along with alternative scenarios for tree loss based on 5 construction scenarios.

Forecasting Ambulance Demand in Santa Monica

I collaborated with Bingchu Chen to build an algorithm which predicts future EMS calls in Santa Monica. Using this algorithm, fire stations can forecast future EMS demand and dispatch ambulances to be close to hotspots before emergencies occur. We developed this into an idea for an app, Siren, which alerts EMTs of impending demand hotspots and navigates them to the area.

Pechakucha presentation about Siren

Predicting Arrest Risk in Chicago

Bingchu Chen and I created this model to predict future arrest risk in Chicago, Illinois. Our goal is to identify communities which are projected to experience a high incidence of arrests and allocate social services to these hot-spots.

Github repository

Estimating Home Sale Prices in Miami

Bingchu Chen and I designed this model to predict home sales prices in Miami and Miami Beach, Florida.

Github repository

Allocating Home Repair Subsidies

Bingchu Chen and I made this algorithm to help the Department of Housing and Community Development(HCD) allocate marketing resources for a home repair tax credit program. Using this algorithm, HCD can identify the homeowners most likely to take the credit and increase theirs and their neighbors’ home values.

Github repository

Publications

Economic Motives of County Jail Expansion 1970-Present

This paper analyzes policies and economic trends at local, state, and national levels to illuminate the incentives driving the expansion of rural incarceration. This paper is published in the Johns Hopkins Macksey Journal.

Conference presentation

Time-varying accessibility to senior centers by public transit in Philadelphia

In this paper which I co-authored with Shengxiao (Alex) Li, Haoyu Hu, and Tony Smith, we examine older adults’ time-varying accessibility to Philadelphia senior centers via public transit. We also compare accessibility across census tracts and demographics. We presented this research at the International Association for China Planning Annual Conference and the Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting this winter.

Additional Writing

Journalism
I reported for Penn’s independent student newspaper, The Daily Pennsylvanian, for one year, focusing on research and politics stories.
Centering Equity in Transportation Planning
Is COVID-19 the End of Cities?
Over the summer of 2020, I was one of 5 Jacques Gordon Fellows who received a stipend to pursue an internship around improving the quality of life in cities. At the end of the summer, as a reflection piece, my fellowship cohort co-authored an article about our thoughts on COVID-19 and the future of cities.
Recidivism Prediction Memo In this memo, I recommend that the City of Chicago adopt a new algorithm to use for allocating spots in an ex-offender job training program. I address algorithmic fairness concerns and advocate for the financial and societal benefits of identifying ex-offenders at high risk of recidivism to allow into the program.
An Ode to Urban Density
My blog piece on leaving Shenzhen for college and what this city taught me about urbanism.
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