Human Factors in GIScience Lab

Alex Klippel ...

..... directs the Human Factors Lab and is an Assistant Professor for Geographical Information Science at the GeoVISTA Center, Department of Geography at Penn State. His research interests center on multidisciplinary topics at the interface between spatial cognition and GIScience, especially the area of geographic event conceptualization and the integration of cognitive factors into formal characterizations of dynamic spatial processes. A second line of his research at Penn State is the interaction of people, environments, and mobile and static devices, i.e. location based services (LBS).

Before Alex came to Penn State he worked as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the CRC for Spatial Information, Geomatics Department, and was a founder member of the Spatial Information Science Research Group, The University of Melbourne. He also spent time at the Geography Department and Cognitive Science Emphasis at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Alex received his Ph.D. in Informatics from the University of Bremen, co-authored the project MapSpace which is part of the Transregional Collaborative Research Centre for Spatial Cognition and worked in the AspectMap project (Spatial Cognition Priority Program, German Science Foundation). He started his Ph.D. studies in Hamburg at the Graduate Program for Cognitive Science.

Frank Hardisty ...

..... is a senior researcher at the Geography Department, an instructor in the he Certificate and Master's Programs in GIS, offered through the World Campus, and a member of the GeoVISTA Center. His research interests are in visualization, spatial statistics, and combining the two to improve the provision of health services. Frank also is the creator of the GeoViz toolkit. More information can be found on his personal homepage.

Anthony Robinson ...

... is a research associate and member of the graduate faculty in the Department of Geography's GeoVISTA research center. Robinson's research focuses on the science of interface and interaction design for geographic visualization software tools. He has developed interface design and usability assessment methods for integrating geographic visualization tools with work in epidemiology, crisis management, and homeland security. Robinson's recent research projects have focused on the design of map symbol standards, developing tools for collecting and adding meaning to geographic information, and eye-tracking to design new geovisualization techniques. In addition to externally-funded research activity, Robinson teaches cartography & GIS courses for the Geography undergraduate program and the Penn State M.S. in GIS program. More information can be found on his homepage.