Florida State College has launched the Spatial Data Science Center (SDSC) throughout the College of Social Sciences and Public Policy (COSSPP), establishing a brand new hub for interdisciplinary analysis devoted to fixing advanced societal issues utilizing superior spatial information analytics.
Led by renowned spatial data scientist A. Stewart Fotheringham, Krafft Professor of Spatial Information Science within the Division of Geography, the SDSC leverages applied sciences reminiscent of GPS and satellite-based distant sensing to investigate human habits and societal patterns in a geographical context. The analysis will handle important points associated to public well being, transportation, crime, poverty, the atmosphere and extra.
“The Spatial Information Science Middle is dedicated to serving to present options to a few of society’s most urgent issues by way of the facility of spatial information analytics,” Fotheringham stated. “FSU’s heart comprises among the world’s most outstanding consultants on this area.”
Fotheringham joined FSU in spring 2025 and, as an elected member of the U.S. Nationwide Academy of Sciences, he’s well known for his contributions to spatial evaluation and geocomputation, together with the event of Multiscale Geographically Weighted Regression (MGWR) — a way used extensively in public well being, city planning and quite a few different disciplines.
COSSPP Dean Tim Chapin stated the middle’s launch represents a significant leap ahead for the school because it engages much more deeply within the position of massive information in society.
“These investments in spatial information science will yield highly effective insights into the well being of our folks and planet, increase our instructional packages to make sure college students are educated for a contemporary workforce, and place the school to proceed serving Florida and the U.S. as we develop options to our most urgent issues, together with political polarization and group well being disparities,” Chapin stated. “The time for a significant social science large information initiative at FSU is now, and Dr. Fotheringham and his staff are completely positioned to see the school and FSU turn out to be a pacesetter on this area and business.”
Fotheringham has based and led 5 different outstanding spatial information analysis facilities, together with the Centre for Geoinformatics on the College of St. Andrews, the Nationwide Centre for Geocomputation in Eire, and most not too long ago, the Spatial Evaluation Analysis Middle at Arizona State College.
“The time for a significant social science large information initiative at FSU is now, and Dr. Fotheringham and his staff are completely positioned to see the school and FSU turn out to be a pacesetter on this area and business.”
– Dean Tim Chapin, School of Social Sciences and Public Coverage
What units FSU’s heart aside is its deal with spatial information science, combining conventional statistical modeling with superior instruments reminiscent of synthetic intelligence (GeoAI) and machine studying to generate deeper, extra localized insights.
“A primary tenet of the SDSC is that to resolve real-world issues, we should first perceive their root causes,” Fotheringham stated. “These points typically have an uneven geographic distribution — most cancers charges, crime, home costs, site visitors congestion, weight problems, literacy charges — and understanding these patterns requires specialised spatial modeling and evaluation.”
One of many heart’s key areas of experience is the creation of native statistical fashions, based on the idea that “one dimension might not match all” in terms of figuring out efficient coverage or intervention methods.
Flagship Tasks and Innovation
Amongst its inaugural initiatives, the SDSC is conducting an in depth evaluation of U.S. presidential election voting habits throughout greater than 200,000 precincts from the 2020 and 2024 elections.
“That is enormously thrilling as we’re in a position to uncover features of voting habits at an unprecedented detailed spatial scale,” Fotheringham stated. “This entails enormous quantities of pc processing time and challenges in each analytics and visualization.”
The SDSC can also be advancing the rising area of explainable AI (XAI) in spatial analytics, growing machine studying algorithms that present clear, interpretable insights into why and the way an AI mannequin arrives at a selected consequence from spatial information.
One other key undertaking for the SDSC is the event of Multiscale Geographically Weighted Regression (MGWR), a statistical modeling framework co-developed by Fotheringham and his colleagues at FSU. MGWR is freely obtainable on the center’s website.
The SDSC staff is working to optimize MGWR for enormous datasets, aiming to cut back computation occasions so the algorithm can run on normal laptops, even with hundreds of thousands of information factors.
Collaboration and Neighborhood Impression
The SDSC is designed to foster collaboration throughout FSU and past. It invitations involvement from departments spanning public well being, transportation, sociology, political science, environmental science, city planning, economics and extra. Fotheringham emphasizes the collaborative spirit at FSU that has made launching the middle potential.
He acknowledges the help the middle has acquired from FSU administration, together with Provost James Clark, Vice President for Analysis Stacey Patterson, School of Social Sciences and Public Coverage Dean Tim Chapin and Division of Geography Chair
Anne Chin.
“FSU has some improbable skills within the space of spatial information science drawn from many disciplines, however I’ve to single out Geography,” Fotheringham stated. “The Geography Division has turn out to be a acknowledged powerhouse in spatial information evaluation, and I’m excited to work alongside such devoted college and graduate college students.”
Graduate college students additionally play a vital position within the SDSC. Moderately than emphasizing seniority or profession stage, the SDSC focuses on its members’ expertise and pursuits in spatial information science, sustaining an almost invisible hierarchy.
The SDSC at present helps round 15 graduate college students and affords funding for extra researchers. A devoted graduate scholar area is being developed within the Bellamy constructing, alongside the specialised heart’s assembly and visible show room, which is at present present process renovation.
The middle welcomes collaboration with FSU college, native and state authorities companies, nonprofits and company companions. School can e-mail Fotheringham if they’re serious about being concerned in one of many heart’s six areas of curiosity: spatial fashions, GeoAI, and spatial statistics; transportation analytics; voting analytics; city analytics, environmental analytics; and well being analytics.
The SDSC hopes to host its first campuswide discussion board in February 2026, bringing collectively FSU students and exterior stakeholders to discover how spatial information science can drive options throughout sectors.
To be taught extra about FSU’s Spatial Information Science Middle, visit cosspp.fsu.edu/sdsc or e-mail stewart.fotheringham@fsu.edu.
