National Science Foundation Build & Broaden Grant Award
The Center for Data Analytics and Visualization in Urban Research
DATA LITERACY ~ DEMOCRATIZATION OF DATA KNOWLEDGE ~ CROSS-DISCIPLINARY RESEARCH
Undergraduate Research Fellows
Student Opportunity: The Faculty Fellows affiliated with the Kean University Center for Data Analytics and Visualization in Urban Research seek undergraduate students in social science and urban studies related majors to work alongside Faculty Fellows engaged in cross-disciplinary research in social sciences using data analytics and visualization to advance research on urban studies.
Undergraduate Research Fellows will be paired with Faculty Fellows and Mentors to form interdisciplinary research teams conducting collaborative research for a one-year commitment. Undergraduate Research Fellows participate in the intellectual life of the Center and over the course of the summer, receive a stipend of $3,500 (8 weeks of work in support of research project, 30 hours/week, $15/hour). Students are supported and expected to present their contributions to the project at Kean University Research Days or similar event. They are also expected to attend the two data analytics and visualization workshops per semester during the academic year (AY). The Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships (CURF) from the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP) will provide a $1,000 stipend for the Fall semester and the National Science Foundation, Build and Broaden Program will provide $1,000 for the Spring semester. The total stipend, including the AY and Summer will be $5,500. Undergraduate Research Fellows with the support of their Faculty Fellows and Mentors, may have the opportunity to present their work at regional or national conferences.
Project Overview: The purpose of this project is to build a scholarly community whereby faculty in the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Disciplines (SBE) and STEM disciplines at Kean University can leverage their discipline-specific knowledge and skill sets to engage in cross-disciplinary, collaborative, data-driven urban research through the following initiatives:
- To build an ecosystem whereby faculty in the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Disciplines (SBE) and STEM disciplines at Kean University can leverage their discipline-specific knowledge and skill sets to engage in cross-disciplinary, collaborative, data-driven urban research.
- To cultivate the Center of Data Analytics and Visualization in Urban Research to support urban research and examine the different possibilities for urban knowledge produced by Kean University scholars.
- To increase the number of undergraduate students conducting SBE urban research with data analytics and visualization.
- To build foundational concepts, including data literacy, democratization of data, knowledge, and cross-disciplinary collaborative research for faculty and students.
Principal Investigator: Julia Nevárez, Ph.D.
National Science Foundation / Build and Broaden 2023-2026
Terms of Undergraduate Research Fellowship
Application Link:
- Application opens on May 1st
- Application will close on June 15th
Eligibility Requirements:
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Currently enrolled Sophomore or Junior at Kean University
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A minimum GPA of 3.2 or above
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Analytical and Evaluative skills
Duration of the Internship
- One year commitment starting Fall 2025
Lauren Schiller, Ph.D. & David Joiner, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor & Associate Professor
College of Education & College of Science, Mathematics and Technology
Directory (Joiner)
Directory (Schiller)
Leveraging cognitive neuroscience to enrich urban teachers’ rational number understanding and build data literacy
Background and Motivation:
Poor rational number knowledge has consequences for educational, health, and financial outcomes. To address these issues, much of past research has focused on within-notation knowledge (e.g., which is larger: ¼ vs. ½?) rather than cross-notation knowledge (e.g., 0.25 vs ½). Recently, cross-notation knowledge has come into the spotlight, as it has proven predictive of many outcomes, above within-notation knowledge, including math achievement among children and adults (Schiller et al., 2025). This project aims to extend this research 1) by advancing our understanding of the brain basis of rational number processing and 2) by sharing recent research advances with urban teachers to strengthen their rational number instruction. Recent neuroimaging research has suggested that understanding how the brain represents rational numbers could inform instructional design and ameliorate the challenges with these numbers (Rosenberg-Lee, 2021). Yet, neuroimaging studies have crucially neglected cross-notation comparisons. Further, given that teacher knowledge influences children’s learning (Hill et al., 2004), capacity building for urban educators’ integrated number sense and pedagogical knowledge could have the potential to support equitable education in urban settings.
Aim(s) and Research Questions:
Aim 1 - Extend theories of number processing to account for neural processing- The first goal is to understand individuals’ neural processing of rational numbers in all notational formats, including percentages, whole number frequencies, and cross-notation comparisons.
Aim 2 – Leverage cognitive neuroscience to build capacity with urban educators – The second goal targets building data literacy and supporting equitable education in urban settings. Specifically, I will leverage cognitive neuroscience research to design/evaluate a professional development experience, aimed at improving pre/in-service teachers’ integrated number sense and pedagogical knowledge.
Hypothesis/Approach:
Addressing Aim 1, I will analyze my project, “Neural Representations of Magnitude for Fractions, Decimals, Percentages, and Whole Numbers,” where I am scanning participants at the Rutgers University Brain Imaging Center (Summer 2025).
Addressing Aim 2, I will implement a randomized control trial with pre/in-service educators, who will receive professional development aimed at improving integrated number sense skill and pedagogical knowledge (adapted from Schiller et al. 2024) as compared with a control. Our pilot study with urban preservice teachers (N= 36) suggested that nearly three-quarters lacked integrated number sense but our 20-minute intervention improved it. We plan to extend these findings to determine whether it results in changes in pedagogical knowledge on data literacy in urban settings.
Selected Bibliography:
Schiller, L. K., Abreu-Mendoza, R. A., Siegler, R. S., Rosenberg-Lee, M., & Thompson, C. A. (2024). Building integrated number sense in adults and children: Comparing fractions-only training with cross-notation number line training. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 246, 106017. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2024.106017
Schiller, L. K., Abreu-Mendoza, R. A., Fitzsimmons, C. J., Siegler, R. S., Thompson, C. A., & Rosenberg-Lee, M. (2025). Lack of integrated number sense among college students: Evidence from rational number cross-notation comparison. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 51(1), 70–91. https://doi.org/10.1037/xhp0001268
Alka Bishnoi, Ph.D. & Nazif Durmaz, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor & Associate Professor
College of Health Professions and Human Services & College of Business and Public Management
Directory (Bishnoi)
Directory (Durmaz)
Breath, Beat, and Brain: Mapping Cardiopulmonary Effects on Neural Function
Background and Motivation:
Hypertension, a chronic condition affecting over 103 million adults in the United States, is a well-established contributor to cognitive decline, executive dysfunction, and mobility impairments—particularly among older adults. These impairments not only increase the risk of falls but also diminish independence and quality of life. The burden is especially pronounced in underserved urban populations, where access to preventive care and rehabilitative resources is limited.
Emerging research highlights the intricate relationship between cardiovascular health and brain function. Hypertension has been linked to non-amnestic cognitive impairments and increased risk of dementia, with executive function playing a critical role in regulating gait and balance. Despite these connections, few interventions have directly targeted the integration of cognitive and motor functions in hypertensive individuals.
This project builds on growing evidence that dual-task paradigms—such as walking while performing cognitive tasks like serial subtraction—can uncover subtle deficits in executive function and serve as effective, non-pharmacological interventions. Unlike traditional strength training, dual-task training engages both cognitive and physical domains simultaneously, potentially offering greater benefits for brain health and mobility.
By leveraging multimodal data analytics—including EEG, functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), and cardiopulmonary metrics—this research aims to compare the efficacy of dual-task training versus strength training in improving cognitive and mobility outcomes. The study also incorporates student training in systematic review methods, data visualization, and collaborative research, fostering the next generation of scholars in neurorehabilitation and public health.
Ultimately, the broader goal is to develop scalable, cost-effective strategies that reduce fall risk and cognitive decline, particularly in urban hypertensive populations. This inclusive and translational approach seeks to inform clinical practices and public health interventions that enhance functional independence and quality of life for at-risk communities.
Aim(s) and Research Questions:
The proposed study will fill these gaps through the following aims:
Aim 1: To evaluate the impact of dual-task training (e.g., serial subtraction while walking) versus strength training on executive function and gait performance in hypertensive adults. Research Question: Can dual-task training lead to greater improvements in prefrontal cortical activation and functional mobility compared to strength training?
Aim 2: To investigate cardiopulmonary influences (e.g., heart rate, heart rate variability, respiration) on brain activity using EEG and develop a conceptual Cardiopulmonary–EEG Index (CPEI).
Research Question: How do cardiopulmonary metrics interact with neural activity during cognitive-motor tasks, and can these interactions inform targeted interventions?
Aim 3: To train undergraduate students in systematic review methods, data analytics, and research ethics while contributing to collaborative projects on pain processing and dual-task walking.
Research Question: How can student-led research contribute to the development of translational frameworks for understanding cognitive-motor decline in hypertensive populations?
Approach:
This study uses a randomized controlled trial design to compare dual-task and strength training interventions. Assessments includes Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to measure prefrontal cortical activation, Gait system to assess gait and dual-task costs, EEG and cardiopulmonary metrics to explore brain-body interactions
The project also includes a scoping review of cardiopulmonary effects on EEG, development of the CPEI framework, and student-led data visualization and poster presentation. Undergraduate students will be trained in systematic review methodology (PRISMA), IRB writing, and data analysis using collaborative datasets.
Selected Bibliography:
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Bishnoi, A. (2024). Hypertension, Heart Rate Reserve, and Cognitive Impairment: Exploring Relationships, Implications, and Measurement Techniques. In: Mittal, M., Narayan, J. (eds) Intelligent Cyber-Physical Systems for Healthcare Solutions. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-8983-2_5.
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Bishnoi, A., Hernandez, M.E. (2025). Association of Heart Rate Variability with Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Healthy Adults. In: Narayan, J., Gritli, H. (eds) Design and Control of Rehabilitation Robots. Studies in Systems, Decision and Control, vol 585. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-86977-8_7.
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Bishnoi, A., Hernandez, M.E. (2025). Heart rate reserve effects on brain activation and cognitive motor performance while doing an instrumented trail walking task in middle- aged to older adults. Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics Plus.
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Bishnoi, A., Chaparro, G.C., Hernandez, M.E. (2021). Effect of Heart Rate Reserve on Prefrontal Cortical Activation while dual task walking in older adults. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.
Venesa Alicea-Chuqui & David Joiner, Ph.D.
Architect & Associate Professor
Michael Graves College & College of Science, Mathematics and Technology
Directory (Alicea-Chuqui)
Mapping Paths to Healthier Urban Futures: Energy, Housing, and Connectivity Background and Motivation
Background and Motivation:
This urban data research proposal starts with existing research currently taking place at the School of Public Architecture in partnership with the Watson Institute for a Neighborhood Revitalization Plan for an area historically called Coalport which lies currently at the intersection of the Ewing + Carroll and East Trenton neighborhoods in Trenton, NJ. This Research shows the increasing and layered inequitable conditions, including environmental injustices, such as a lingering superfund site designation, brownfields, redlining, and community demolition for a revitalization effort that never fully materialized. This community is largely made up of African American and Latino immigrants, two population groups that are particularly vulnerable but for different reasons. The data visualization work which we are proposing as part of this urban research effort would support the larger revitalization project to describe in more depth the complexity of factors contributing to the state of the community. This work would form a critical part of a conversation with the community about where they come from to jointly design a new future where the community can thrive.
Aims and Research Questions:
Our aim is to help visualize both qualitative and quantitative data to inform the development of a neighborhood revitalization plan that integrates the needs of the community. This will then be used to create a vision of a future community that includes better opportunities for housing, work, open space and health for residents.
Hypothesis and Research Question:
This research addresses the following overarching questions: How can enhanced public spaces, new and renovated affordable housing, and improved connections to adjacent communities be implemented as part of a neighborhood revitalization plan? How can renovated and new housing and building stock support clean energy goals while also improving public health of residents and provide opportunities for workforce development?
Approach:
Our approach will include both qualitative and quantitative research methods. Geo-visualization tools will be used to map out historical data that leads to a current state; this will then inform our future scenario of planning efforts with the community. Making the information visually accessible for community engagement is a top priority. Engagement strategies include questionnaires and interviews that would be used to inform story maps. Data informing the visualization will be from multiple disciplines, architecture, planning, public health, sociology, economics and environmental science.
Selected Bibliography:
Carter, Majora. Reclaiming Your Community: You Don’t Have to Move out of Your Neighborhood to Live in a Better One. First edition, Berrett-Koehler, 2022.
Fullilove, Mindy Thompson. Root Shock: How Tearing up City Neighborhoods Hurts America, and What We Can Do About It. New Village Press Edition. Second Edition, New Village Press, 2016.
Rothstein, Richard. The Color of Law. Liveright Publishing Corporation, 2018. U.S. Department of Transportation. “Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods.” Storymaps.arcgis.com, August 19, 2024, https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/fe16ad992fc949e5b3d9f8d56659f9db.
Jamie Pelling, Ph.D. & Derrick Swinton, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor & Associate Professor
Department of History & School of Integrative Science and Technology
Directory (Pelling)
Mapping Urban Imaginaries: 19th Century Fantasies of Istanbul and London
Background and Motivation:
Cities are imaginary creatures. They are imbued with fantasy characteristics and stories. We know New York as the city that never sleeps and we act accordingly. We often understand these imaginaries as marketing taglines rather than as establishing archetypes that continue to color our understanding of what it means to live in densely populated urban environments. If cities are imaginary, then this is perhaps because they are overwhelming. The density of the people, each with their own lives running alongside, but almost totally independent of, our own overloads our cognitive processes. Cities present a challenge to human cognition; they push our capacity for co-existence to the limit. At this limit, they become the home of both society’s great achievements and also all of its failings. They are places of celebration, condemnation, political contestation, and diverse cohabitation. In the 19th century, as today, they were at the center of history. New ideas about evolution, civilization, and modernity wrote themselves into the mythos of the city. Urban centers were the laboratories of modernity, spaces of the future, and also markers of decline and degeneracy. They were boundary markers of civilization, where historical progress was built and also where this progress was most vulnerable to corruption. In looking to London and Istanbul, we can explore contrasting tales of two imperial cities as they were imagined, distorted, and then experienced according to fractious fantasies of urban life. Through this project, we will build an archive of thoughts, fears, and hopes for these two cities. We will then sift through this affective archive of human reactions to the city to explore how fantasies of the city are formed, how they map onto historical reality, and finally how the shape our understanding of what it means to live life together.
Aims and Research Questions:
The aim of this study is to develop our understanding of city life through the study of the affective environments of Istanbul and London. This project is driven by theoretical questions: what does a city feel like? is there a shared experience to living in a city? and is this feeling/experience (or some part of it) shared across all cities? When situated in our historical data, these theoretical questions become more specific: what were the common fantasies of London and Istanbul in the 19th century? How did these fantasies relate to the international political environment of high imperialist modernity? Did a similar future-oriented feeling of optimism or progress appear in different urban environments in the 19th century? Was this mirrored by a similar fear of loss or regression? How did visitors to 19th century cities process the affective intensities of city life?
Approach:
Throughout this project, we are compiling an affective archive of London and Istanbul through the accounts of travelers from the Ottoman Empire to London and also Anglophone travelogues of visitors to Istanbul. In the affective archive, these accounts are not taken either at face value or read with a hermeneutics of suspicion. Instead, we understand that they are necessarily fantastical texts engaged in producing a stylized and imaginary city for their readers. For example, in an 1872 essay, noted Ottoman intellectual Namık Kemal wrote a love-letter to London, describing the city in glowing terms as the model for Ottoman progress and as a model for a future Istanbul. The London that he described is so fantastical that it simply never existed. In placing his words next to photographs, etchings, paintings, and other accounts of London in the 1860s, we will use the contrast between the words, which are imbued with Kemal’s hopes for the city, and the images to map this gap between the reality of London and Kemal’s fantasy of it. This is slightly beyond a comparative perspective in that we show that fantasies of London and Istanbul were actually made together in the same urban imaginary. We will then produce an interactive digital map which will include excerpts from our sources, historical images, and visualizations of key quotations to bring these fantasies to life.
Selected Bibliography:
Berlant, Lauren, Desire/Love, (Punctum Books, 2012)
Berlant, Lauren, On the Inconvenience of Other People, (Duke University Press, 2022)
Crawford, Francis Marion, Constantinople, (New York, 1895)
Freeley, John, Istanbul, (Norton, 1983)
Findley, Carter Vaughn, Turkey, Islam, Nationalism, and Modernity: A History, 1789-2007, (Yale University Press, 2010)
Kemal, Namık, “Progress”, Tanin, 1872
Matera, Marc, Black London: The Imperial Metropolis and Decolonization in the Twentieth Century, (University of California Press, 2015)
Pelling, Jamie, “Progress” in “Anxiety and Optimism in the late-Ottoman Empire”, (PhD Dissertation, Princeton University, 2023)
Eli Kochersperger, Ph.D. & Nazif Durmaz, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor & Associate Professor
College of Business and Public Management & College of Business and Public Management
Directory (Kochersperger)
Mapping Reverse Commutes: Urban Structure, Labor Markets, and Spatial Mismatch
Background and Motivation:
Urban economic theory has long emphasized the role of agglomeration economies in shaping city structure and labor market outcomes. However, in many metropolitan areas, traditional patterns of commuting are shifting. Increasingly, residents of central cities are traveling outward to suburban job centers—a pattern known as reverse commuting. This emerging trend complicates monocentric models of urban form and raises important equity questions. Are workers voluntarily choosing suburban jobs, or are they being priced out or excluded from access to urban employment hubs? How do housing affordability, job decentralization, and transit access interact to shape these flows? Despite its growing policy relevance, reverse commuting remains understudied—due in part to limitations in both data integration and analytical frameworks that can capture spatial labor dynamics at scale.
Aims and Research Questions:
This project seeks to identify and map reverse commuting patterns across U.S. metropolitan areas, understand the economic and structural factors driving these patterns, and evaluate their implications through the lens of spatial mismatch and “consumer city” dynamics. Specifically, we aim to investigate where reverse commutes are most prevalent, how they have evolved over time, and to what extent they are driven by housing constraints, suburban employment growth, or systemic barriers to urban labor market access. We also hope to demonstrate how network-based tools can improve our understanding of labor market connectivity and urban form.
Hypothesis and Research Question:
We hypothesize that reverse commuting patterns are shaped not only by voluntary residential and employment choices, but also by structural constraints such as housing affordability and limited access to central-city labor markets. The guiding research question is: to what extent are reverse commutes the product of worker preference versus systemic exclusion from urban employment opportunities?
Approach:
The analysis will draw on origin-destination commuter flow data (such as the LODES dataset and ACS Journey-to-Work tables), paired with tract-level housing and employment variables. We plan to use network centrality measures—particularly eigenvector centrality—to characterize each node’s relative importance in the commuting network and distinguish reverse from traditional commute patterns. Spatial econometric techniques will then be used to assess the relationship between reverse commuting and key drivers such as rent burdens, suburban job concentration, and public transit access. We will be conducting the analysis and visualizations in R, with GIS tools used for mapping and spatial overlay.
Selected Bibliography:
Brueckner, J. K., & Zenou, Y. (2003). Space and unemployment: The labor-market effects of spatial mismatch. Journal of Labor Economics, 21(1), 242–262.
Glaeser, E. L., & Gottlieb, J. D. (2006). Urban resurgence and the consumer city. Urban studies, 43(8), 1275–1299.
Kain, J. F. (1968). Housing segregation, negro employment, and metropolitan decentralization. The quarterly journal of economics, 82(2), 175–197.
Liu, C. Y., & Painter, G. (2012). Immigrant settlement and employment suburbanisation in the us: Is there a spatial mismatch? Urban Studies, 49(5), 979–1002.