EMERGE is an initiative that helps libraries, educators, and individuals across Florida and beyond engage in public health and environmental science using real-world data tools and citizen science.
EMERGE stands for:
- Engage communities in monitoring mosquito habitats
- Magnify the impact of educators and libraries through training & resources
- Educate the public about mosquito-borne diseases & environmental change
- Research community-collected data to support science & policy
- Gather satellite imagery & mapping to understand environmental risk
- Evaluate participation through surveys, data tracking & feedback
The EMERGE project is supported by team members from the Geospatial Digital Informatics (GeoDI) Lab at the University of Florida, as well as other individuals from Emory University, the Medical University of South Carolina, and Indiana University.
Core Operational Team
The core team is composed of:
Di Yang, PhD, is an Assistant Professor and the head of the Geospatial Digital Informatics (GeoDI) Lab at the University of Florida. Connect with her on LinkedIn.
Caroline Nickerson, PhD, is the Communications Lead for EMERGE. Connect with her on LinkedIn.
Ashley Hays is a student at the University of Florida, studying geomatics. Connect with her on LinkedIn.
Olivia Zhang is a student at the University of Florida, studying geography and data science. Connect with her on LinkedIn.
Research Leads
Xiao Huang, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at Emory University. Learn more.
Yaqian He, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. Learn more.
Abolfazl Mollalo, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at the Medical University of South Carolina. Learn more.
Advisors
Lindsay Campbell, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory. Learn more.
Jessica Mitchell, PhD, is the Director of the Spatial Analysis Lab at the University of Montana. Learn more.
Pedar Nelson, PhD, is a Senior Instructor at Oregon State University. Learn more.
Rusty Low, PhD, is the Lead Scientist for GLOBE Observer Mosquito Habitat Mapper. Learn more.
Mohamed (Moe) Sallam, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at the Uniformed Services University. Learn more.
Gonzalo Vazquez-Prokopec, PhD, is a Professor at Emory University. Learn more.
Community Partners
Florida Community Innovation (FCI)supports EMERGE operations, coordinating curriculum development, partner engagement, and program delivery. Learn more
SciStarter promotes EMERGE opportunities through its national citizen science platform and library network. Learn more
Dream in Green provides hack-a-thon coordination support and helps connect EMERGE with sustainability educators and students. Learn more
CitSci supports EMERGE by highlighting projects and stories across its community science communications channels. Learn more
Broward County Library supports outreach and logistics for EMERGE’s South Florida hack-a-thon and citizen science programming. Learn more
