GeoData@SciLi

Head of Library GIS and Data Services

Frank Donnelly is the Head of GIS and Data Services at the Brown University Library. He manages GeoData@SciLi and coordinates the library's broader data program within the Center for Library Exploration and Research (CLEAR). Frank has over 25 years of experience with GIS and geospatial research. His particular areas of expertise include free and open source GIS, spatial databases, and government datasets. He is an expert with US census data, and is the author of Exploring the US Census: Your Guide to America's Data. He holds an MA in Geography from the University of Toronto and an MLIS from the University of Washington.

Student Workers (present)

Anna Amha is a Map Assistant who provides support for the SciLi Maps collection. Anna inventoried a quarter of our 100k USGS topo maps, processed 24k maps for several states and US territories, and did QC for the Ocean State Spatial Database and RI point features. She is pursuing a BS in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.

Eric Xia is a GIS and Data Assistant who provides support for GIS and data research. Eric has written tutorials on creating animations in QGIS and using Google Earth Engine in Colabs, provided support for screen scraping data projects, did QC for the Ocean State Spatial Database, and is processing data and writing metadata for the library's proprietary datasets. He is concentrating in Linguistics and Computer Science.

Student Workers (past)

Riley Stevenson was a Map Assistant (Sept 2023 to May 2024) who provided support for the SciLi Maps collection. Riley inventoried a quarter of our 100k USGS topo maps, 24k maps in several states, and all 63k maps in Alaska. She was the point person for our map scanner and handled several scanning requests that included geologic maps of Europe and archeological site plans in Egypt. She is pursuing a BS in Environmental Science.

Felicity Hade was a DSI Undergraduate Fellow (Oct 2023 to Jan 2024) who worked on a dedicated data project as part of DATA 1150. Felicity created a workflow, documentation, and a Python notebook for geocoding incidents from the Providence Police Logs to create an annual dataset that we will publish and regularly update. She graduated with a BS in Computer Science and Applied Math.

Abhijith Chandran was a GIS and Data Assistant (Sept to Dec 2023) who provided support for GIS and data research consultations and projects. Abhijith provided support for Twitter and web screen scraping projects, wrote spatial database queries for a global project involving earthquakes and postal code locations, and investigated possible applications for bulk geocoding with PostGIS and OpenStreetMap. He is pursuing a BS in Applied Math and Computer Science.

Kevin Moclair was a GIS Project Assistant (Sept 2022 to May 2023) who provided support for the map collection and dedicated projects. Kevin inventoried half of our 100k USGS topo maps, 24k maps for several states, and improved our map workflow with a series of SQL data tables for tracking errors and place name changes. He also managed our Gallup microdata requests. He graduated with an AB in Political Science and International and Public Affairs, and now works as a Research Assistant at the Urban Institute in Washington, DC.

Joanna Jarvis was a GIS Associate (Feb 2022 to May 2023) who provided support with GIS and data research consultations and data projects. She previously worked as a Project Assistant (Sept to Dec 2022) to support the map collection. Joanna inventoried half of our 250k USGS topo maps and 24k maps for several states. She created a web map that illustrates our new map acquisitions, used SQL to update research databases and assess resource usage, and did quality control for our Ocean State Spatial Database Project. She graduated with a BA in Urban Studies and is currently serving as a FOCUS missionary at SFSU.

Jack Walker was a GIS Associate (Sept 2022 to May 2023) who provided support with GIS and data research consultations, workshops, and data projects. Jack created many of the layers for our Ocean State Spatial Database Project, and did quality control for the database. He wrote an FAQ for ArcGIS Pro and a tutorial on the US Census Geocoder. He graduated with an MA in American Studies (MA) and BA in Literary Arts and Archaeology, and now works as a journalist for WV Public Radio, where he wrote a short piece about state GIS professionals.

Connie Liu was a GIS Project Assistant (Sept 2022 to Feb 2023) who provided support for the map collection and dedicated projects. Connie inventoried half of our 250k USGS topo maps. She graduated with a BA in Computer Science and Visual Art.

Zeke Hertz was a GIS Associate (Sept to Dec 2022) who provided support for GIS research consultations, workshops, and data projects. Zeke contributed to archiving our historical datasets and contributed layers to the Ocean State geodatabase project. He graduated with a BSc in Statistics and a BA in Political Science.

Ethan McIntosh was a GIS Associate (Jan to Aug 2022) who provided support for GIS research consultations, workshops, and data projects. Ethan wrote two tutorials about using raster data, created the workflow for processing and producing our UN Retail Price Index dataset, wrote our Python program for inventorying USGS topo maps, and supported multiple projects affiliated with CDS. He graduated with a BA in History, and is now a Senior Data Analyst as MassDOT / MBTA.

Nora Mathews was a GIS Project Assistant (Feb to May 2022) who supported dedicated projects within the lab. Nora transferred and organized proprietary data that the library had purchased over several decades, from hundreds of CDs onto the library's internal network. She also supported the reogranization and maintenance of the map collection. She graduated with a BA in Art History.

Partners

In providing our services, we support and in turn are supported by other groups on campus. Within the library we are part of CLEAR, and work closely with the Social Science librarians and the Open Sciences Librarian who coordinates research data management. Outside the library we collaborate with Spatial Structures in the Social Sciences (S4), the Population Studies Training Center (PSTC), and the Data Science Institute (DSI).