Curriculum Vitae – Andrew Curtis

Andrew J. Curtis

Associate Professor of the Practice of American Studies and Ethnicity

University of Southern California

EDUCATION

  • Ph.D. Geography, State University New York Buffalo (Advisor: A S. Fotheringham) 1995
  • M.A. Geography, State University New York Buffalo 1991
  • Post Graduate Certificate Education (Geography) Oxford University 1988
  • B.A. Honors Geography and Economics, Portsmouth Polytechnic, UK 1987

ACADEMIC APPOINTMENT

University of Southern California

  • Associate Professor of the Practice of American Studies and Ethnicity 2010-- present
  • Visiting Associate Professor Department of Geography 2007 – 2010
  • Affiliated faculty American Studies and Ethnicity 2009 – 2010
  • Center for Premature Infant Health and Development, USC2007 – 2010

Louisiana State University

  • Assistant Professor Department of Geography and Anthropology 2001 – 2007
  • Adjunct faculty, Department of Environmental Studies 2003 --2007
  • Associate Director CADGIS Computer Lab 2002 -- 2007
  • Instructor, Department of Geography and Anthropology 1999 – 2001

Morehead State University

  • Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, Government and History 1996 – 1999
  • Instructor, Department of Geography, Government and History 1995 --1996

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS

  1. Recipient of the 2007 Meredith F. Burrill Award (the AAG’s award was to honor individuals or groups that have completed work of exceptional merit and quality that lies at or near the intersection of basic research in geography on the one hand, and practical applications or policy implications on the other) for the LSU GIS Clearinghouse Cooperative (group also includes Jackie Mills, Michael Leitner, Barrett Kennedy, John Pine).
  2. Los Angeles County Enhanced Comprehensive HIV Prevention Planning (ECHPP) scientific advisory committee member.
  3. Editorial Advisory Board of the journal Cartography and Geographic Information Science
  4. Spatial confidentiality consultant for the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries
  5. Popular media: New York Times, “The changing landscape of the Lower Ninth Ward” 8/27/2010 For the interactive spatial video application see:
  6. Panel Member of the National InstituteHealth RFA: Effects of the Social Environment on Health: Measurement, Method, and Mechanisms 2012
  7. Panel Member of the National Science Foundation’s Geography and Spatial Sciences Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Award 2010 – 2012
  8. Panel member: Hazards and Disasters, Linking social science data and environmental data for climate change research, The National Academies, Washington DC December 2009.
  9. Panel member of the National Science Foundation’s Cyber-Enabled Discovery and Innovation (CDI) preliminary proposal review, February 23-24, 2009, Arlington, VA
  10. Director (and previously Deputy Director) of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Remote Sensing and GIS for Public Health, located at Louisiana State University (2001 – 2007)

PUBLICATIONS

Articles in Refereed Journals

  1. Mills, J.W., Curtis, A., and J. Upperman forthcoming Using a Geographic Information System (GIS) to Assess Pediatric Surge Potential after an Earthquake Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness
  2. Guerrero, E.G., Pan, K. B., Curtis, A., and E. L. Lizano (2011) Availability of substance abuse treatment services in Spanish: A GIS analysis of Latino communities in Los Angeles County, California Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy 6:21
  3. Lentz, JA., Blackburn, J.K. and A Curtis (2011) Evaluating Patterns of a White-band Disease (WBD)

Outbreak in Acropora palmata Using Spatial Analysis: A Comparison of Transect and Colony Clustering, PLoS ONE6(7): e21830. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0021830

  1. Curtis, A., and J.W. Mills (2011) Spatial video data collection in a post-disaster landscape: The Tuscaloosa Tornado of April 28th 2011Applied Geography32 393-400
  2. Curtis, A., and J.W. Mills (2011) Crime in urban post-disaster environments: A methodological framework from New Orleans Urban Geography32 (4) 488-510
  3. Curtis, A., Mills, J.W., L. Augustin and M. Cockburn (2011) Confidentiality Risks in Fine Scale Aggregations of Health Data Computers, Environment and Urban Systems 35 57-64
  4. Curtis, A., Pine, J., Marx, B., Li, B. and J. Mills (2011) A Multiple Additive Regression Tree Analysis of Three Exposure Measures during Hurricane Katrina: Implications for Recovery in Orleans Parish Disasters: The Journal of Disaster Studies, Policy and Management 35(1) 19-35
  5. Mills, J.W., A.J. Curtis, B. Kennedy, S.W. Kennedy, and J. Edwards. (2010) Geospatial video for field data collection. Applied Geography 30(4) 533-547
  6. Curtis, A. (2010) Chronic disease as an evacuation impediment: using a GeographicInformation System and 911 call data after Katrina to determine neighborhoodscale health vulnerabilityRisk,Hazards & Crisis in Public Policy1(3) Article 5
  7. Curtis, Aand W A Lee (2010)Spatial patterns of diabetes related health problems for vulnerable populations in Los AngelesInternational Journal of Health Geographics 9:43
  8. Blackburn, J.K., Curtis, A., Hadfield, T.L., O’Shea, B., Mitchell, M.A., and M.E. Hugh-Jones (2010)Confirmation of Bacillus anthracis from Flesh Eating Flies Collected During a West Texas Anthrax Season Journal of Wildlife Diseases 46(3) 918-922
  9. Blackburn, J.K., Mitchell, M.A., Holley Blackburn, M.C, Curtis, A., and B.A. Thompson (2010)Evidence of antibiotic resistance in free-swimming top-level marine predatory fishes Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine 41(1) 7-16
  10. Curtis, A., Duval-Diop, D.,and J. Novak (2010) Identifying spatial patterns of recovery and abandonment in the Post-Katrina Holy Cross neighborhood of New Orleans Cartography and Geographic Information Science37(1): 45-56
  11. Duval-Diop, D., Curtis, A., and A. Clark (2010)Enhancing Equity with Public Participatory GIS in Hurricane Rebuilding: Faith Based Organizations, Community Mapping, and Policy Advocacy Journal of Community Development Society41(1): 32-49
  12. Boulos, K. M.N., Curtis, A. and P. AbdelMalik (2009) Musings on privacy issues in health research involving disaggregate geographic data about individuals International Journal of Health Geographics 8:46
  13. Curtis, A (2008) Three-dimensional visualization of cultural clusters in the 1878 yellow fever epidemic of New Orleans International Journal Health Geographics 7:47.
  14. Curtis, A (2008) From Healthy Start to Hurricane Katrina: using GIS to eliminate disparities in perinatal health Statistics in Medicine 27(20): 3984-3997.
  15. Mills, J.W., Curtis, A., Pine, J., Kennedy, B., Jones, F., Ramani, R. and D. Bausch. (2008) The clearinghouse concept: a model for geospatial data centralization and dissemination in a disaster Disasters: The Journal of Disaster Studies, Policy and Management32(3): 467-479
  16. Blackburn, J.K., Curtis, A., Currin Mujica, F., Jones, F., Dorn, P. and R. Coates (2008) The development of the Chagas’ Online Data Entry System (CODES-GIS), Transactions in GIS12(2): 249-265.
  17. Mills, J.W. and A. Curtis (2008) Geospatial approaches for disease risk communication in marginalized communities. Progress in Community Health PartnershipsResearch, Education and Action 2 (1): 61-72.
  18. Blackburn, J., McNyset, K., Curtis, A. and M. Hugh-Jones (2007) Modeling the geographic distribution of bacillus anthracis, the causative agent of anthrax disease, for the contiguous united states using predictive ecological niche modeling American Journal of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene 77(6): 1103-1110.

22.Curtis, A., Mills, J.W.,Kennedy, B., Fotheringham, S. and T. McCarthy (2007) Understanding the geography of post-traumatic stress: an academic justification for using a spatial video acquisition system in the response to Hurricane Katrina Journal of Contingencies & Crisis Management 15(4): 208-219.

23.Curtis, A., Mills, J.W. and J. Blackburn (2007) A spatial variant of the basic reproduction number for the New Orleans yellow fever epidemic of 1878 The Professional Geographer 59(4): 492-502.

  1. Curtis, A., Mills, J.W. and M. Leitner (2007) Katrina and vulnerability: the geography of stress Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved18(2): 315—330.
  2. Leitner, M., Mills, J. and A. Curtis (2007) Can novices to geospatial technology compromise spatial confidentiality? Kartographische Nachrichten (‘Cartographic News’) 57(2): 78-84.
  3. Dorn, P.L., Monroy, C. and A. Curtis (2007) Triatoma dimidiata (Latreille, 1811): A review of its diversity across its geographic range and the relationship among populationsInfection, Genetics and Evolution 7(2): 343-352.
  4. Curtis, A., Mills, J.W., Blackburn, J.K. and J.C. Pine (2006) Louisiana State University geographic information system support of hurricane Katrina recovery operations International Journal Mass Emergencies and Disasters 24(2):203–221.
  5. Curtis, A., Mills, J.W., and M. Leitner (2006) Spatial confidentiality and GIS: re-engineering mortality locations from published maps about Hurricane Katrina International Journal of Health Geographics 5:44.
  6. Leitner, M. and A. Curtis (2006) A first step towards a framework for presenting the location of confidential point data on maps - results of an empirical perceptual study International Journal of Geographical Information Science 20(7):797-811.
  7. Hinman, S., Blackburn, J. and A. Curtis (2006) Spatial and temporal structure of typhoid outbreaks in Washington DC 1906-1909: evaluating local clustering with the Gi* statistic International Journal of Health Geographics 5:13.
  8. Kent, J., Leitner, M. and A. Curtis (2006) Evaluating the usefulness of functional distance measures when calibrating journey-to-crime distance decay algorithms Computers, Environment and Urban Systems 30(2): 181-200.
  9. DeLyser, D., Sheehan, R. and A. Curtis (2004) e-Bay and research in historical geography: some thoughts and experiences Journal of Historical Geography 30(4): 764-782.
  10. Leitner, M. and A. Curtis (2004) Cartographic guidelines for geographically masking the location of confidential point data Cartographic Perspectives 49: 22-39.
  11. Curtis, A (1999) Using a spatial filter and a geographic information system to improve rabies surveillance data Journal of Emerging Infectious Disease 5(5): 603-606.
  12. Fotheringham, A.S. and A. Curtis (1999). Regularities in spatial information processing: implications for modeling destination choice The Professional Geographer 51(2): 227-239.
  13. Curtis, A (1998) Comparisons in the spatial knowledge surfaces of subjects from Canada and the United States Canadian Geographer 42(1): 53-61.
  14. Mitchelson, R., Pitts, T., Curtis, A. and K. Calhoun (1997) The changing South : transportation and communication since 1947 Southeastern Geographer 37(2): 268-294.
  15. Curtis, A. and A.D. MacPherson (1996). The zone definition problem in survey research: an empirical example from New York State, The Professional Geographer 48(3): 310-320.
  16. Fotheringham, A.S., Densham, P.J. and A. Curtis (1995) The zone definition problem and location-allocation modeling Geographical Analysis 27(1): 60-77.
  17. Curtis, A. and A.S. Fotheringham (1995) Large-scale information surfaces: an analysis of city-name recalls in the united states Geoforum 26(1): 75-87.

Books and Monographs

  1. Curtis, A. and J. Mills (2009) GIS, Human Geography and Disasters University Readers
  2. Antipova, A. and A. Curtis (2007) Public Health and Disasters: The Relationship Between Pregnancy Outcomes and Hurricane Andrew VDM Verlag Dr. Muller e. K (VDM Publishing House) Saarbrucken, Germany.
  3. Curtis, A. and M. Leitner (2006) Geographical Information Systems and Public Health: Eliminating Perinatal Disparity IGP/INFOSCI/IRM Press Hershey-London-Melbourne-Singapore-Beijing.
Book Chapters
  1. Aubrecht, C., S. Freire, C. Neuhold, A. Curtis, K. Steinnocher (2010) Introducing a temporal component in spatial vulnerability analysis.Spatial Assessment and Analysis of Vulnerability. Routledge Publications, Taylor & Francis.In press.

2.Curtis, A., Mills, J.W. and M. Leitner (2009) Katrina and vulnerability: the geography of stress in V.M. Brennan (ed.) Natural Disasters and Public Health The Johns Hopkins University Press

3.Curtis, A., Mills,J.W., McCarthy,T., Fotheringham, A.S and W. F. Fagan (2009) Space and Time Changes in Neighborhood Recovery after a Disaster Using a Spatial Video Acquisition System in Showalter, P and Y. Lu(eds.) Geospatial Technologies in Urban Hazard and Disaster Analysis, Springer, 373-392

4.Curtis, A., Blackburn, J.K. and Y. Sansyzbayev (2007) Using a geographic information system to spatially investigate infectious disease, in Tibayrenc, M (ed.) Encyclopedia of Infectious Diseases: Modern Methodologies, Wiley & Sons, 405-422.

  1. Curtis, A., Heath, S. and M. Hugh-Jones (2005) GIS investigations of epizootics: the limitations of surveillance data In Majumdar, S.K., Huffman, J., Brenner, F., and I.A. Panah (eds.) Wildlife Diseases: Landscape Epidemiology. Spatial Distribution and Utilization of Remote Sensing Technology, The Pennsylvania Academy of Science, Easton, PA, pp. 459-474.
  2. Leitner, M. and A. Curtis (2002) Modeling infant mortality risk factors in Baton Rouge. In Wohlschlägl, H., Leitner, M., and N. Weixlbaumer (eds.) Geographischer Jahresbericht aus Österreich, Vol. 59, Department of Geography and Regional Research, University of Vienna, 45-57.
  3. Curtis, A., Leitner, M. and C. Hanlon (2002) Using hierarchical nearest neighbor analysis and animation to investigate the spatial and temporal patterns of raccoon rabies in West Virginia. In Khan, O. A., and R. Skinner (eds.) Geographic Information Systems & Health Applications Idea Group Publishing, 155-171.
  4. Curtis, A (2001) Identifying spatial holes in a rabies surveillance surface: comparing results from cartographic visualization to spatial filter analysis in A. Flahault., Toubiana, L., and A.J. Valleron (eds.) Geography and Medicine, Editions scientifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS, 40-48.
  5. Fotheringham, A.S. and A. Curtis. (1992). Encoding spatial information: the evidence for hierarchical processing, A.V. Frank, Campari, I. and V.Formentini (eds.) Theories and Methods of Spatio-Temporal Reasoning in Geographic Space, Lecture notes in Computer Science 639: 269-287.

Other Significant Publications

  1. Curtis, A., Mills, J.W. and M. Leitner (2006) Keeping an eye on privacy issues with geospatial data. Nature 441: 7090 p150.

Book Reviews

  1. Curtis, A. (2006) America’s Forgotten Pandemic: The Influenza of 1918, Alfred W Crosby, Second Edition, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2003. Historical Geography, Special Issues: Historical Medical Geography, 34: 195-199.

Proceedings and Medical Abstracts

  1. Lee, WA and A Curtis, (2010) Evaluating the Use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) with a Novel Grid Methodology To Map Diabetes Case Level Data That Preserves the Integrity of Spatial Meaning without Violating Patient Confidentiality, Diabetes supplement ADA 70th Scientific Sessions Abstract Book, Publication Number 2334-PO.
  2. Lee, WA and A Curtis, (2010) Utilizing Modern Geographic Information System Methods To Investigate the Relationship between the Los Angeles County Environment and the Metabolic Disease Burden in the Underserved, Predominantly Hispanic LA County Community.The Endocrine Society’s 92st Annual Meeting Annual Meeting Program and Abstract Book ,June 21, 2010. Publication number: P3-497.
  3. McCarthy, T., Farrell, R., Curtis, A. and A. S. Fotheringham (2008) Integrated remotely sensed datasets for disaster management SPIE Europe Vol 7110, Cardiff
  4. Blackburn, J., McNyset, K., Hugh-Jones, M., Mitchell, M. and A. Curtis (2007) Predicting the geographic distribution of bacillus anthracis, the causative agent of anthrax, in Mexico using ecological niche modeling and outbreak data from the United States of America, Proceedings V Congreso Internacional de Epidemiología, Mexico.
  5. Leitner, M. and A. Curtis (2004) Visualizing the location of confidential crime data. The Seventh Annual International Crime Mapping Research Conference, Boston, MA, March 31-April 3 2004. (
  6. Arthold, M., Leitner, M. and A. Curtis (2004) local spatial variation of (very) low birth weight infants and their risk factors. In Strobl, J., Blaschke, T., and G. Griesebner (eds.) Applied Geographic Information Technology XVI. Herbert Wichmann Verlag, Heidelberg, 29-34.
  7. Leitner, M. and A. Curtis (2003) Cartographic guidelines for the visualization of confidential data using geographic masking 21st International Cartographic Conference, Durban, SA, 101-110.
  8. Curtis, A (2001) Using GIS to reduce Infant Mortality in Baton Rouge, combining spatial analysis and community outreach from the Association of American Geographers, NYC 2001, Abstract published in the January 2001 edition of the CDC’s electronic journal Public Health GIS News and Information.
  9. Curtis, A (1991) An investigation into the hierarchical processing of spatial information, Proceedings24 Mid-States A.A.G.

Reports

  1. Mills, J.W., Curtis, A., Fagan, W. and C. Core (2008) The spatial video acquisition system as an approach to capturing damage and recovery data after a disaster: A case study from the Super Tuesday TornadoesQuick Response Research Report Boulder, CO: University of Colorado Natural Hazards Center.
  2. Mills, J.W. and A. Curtis.(2006) Technology to empower the impacted: some routes to recovery White Paper for the Rebuilding New Orleans Conference New Orleans, Louisiana. Available online:
  3. Curtis, A., Mills, J.W., Blackburn, J.K. and J.C. Pine (2006) Hurricane Katrina: GIS response for a major metropolitan areaQuick Response Research Report 180 Boulder, CO: University of Colorado Natural Hazards Center.

PARTICIPATION AT PROFESSIONAL MEETINGS AND CONFERENCES

Workshops Organized

  • Innovations in Community Mapping: an Interactive Workshop, hosted with UC Davis Center for Regional Change and the Pacific Institute UC Davis, January 2010.

Protecting privacy and confidentiality of geographic data in health research, URISA GISinPublicHealth Conference, Providence, June 2009 (co-organized with Ellen Cromley)

Introduction to geographic information systems for eliminating health disparities CDC & ATSDR 11th Biennial Symposium on Statistical MethodsAtlanta, April 2007

Invited and Keynote Presentations

  1. Eliminating Disparities in Health Using a GIS: Quantitative and Qualitative Solutions, Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration faculty seminar, January 2011.
  2. Geography, GIS and Health vulnerability in Los Angeles: Case studies of Sexually Transmitted Infections and Diabetes California State University at Long Beach Department of Geography Colloquium, April 2011
  3. Using geospatial approaches to identify neighborhood scale health disparities Maternal, Child & Adolescent Center for Infectious Disease and Virology, USC Health Sciences, March 2011
  4. Geographic Data and Confidentiality Issues CaliforniaCancer Registry CR Scientific Conference Sacramento May, 2010
  5. Working Group 2 short presentation – Technology to Increase Societal and Infrastructure Resiliency when Exposed to Major Natural Hazards US-TaiwanWorkshop on the Advancement of Societal Responses to Mega-Disasters Afflicting Mega-Cities Taipei, Taiwan, May 2010
  6. Mapping Racial Disparities in Health from Katrina to Southern CaliforniaAmericanStudies and Ethnicity Colloquium, University of Southern California, March 2010.
  7. GIS, Geospatial Technologies and Health: Updating John Snow (with J. Mills) university lecture series, Ohio Northern University, January 2010.

8.Hurricane Katrina, GIS, Geospatial Technologies and Spatial Analysis -- implications for Public Health Research Southern California Permanente Medical Group, Pasadena, CA September 2009

9.Combining geospatial technology and community collaboration to reduce disparities in health, Environmental Justice and Climate Change Workshop, University of Southern California, June 2009

10.Geographic approaches to reducing health disparities: learning from Katrina Cities and Climate Change Conference, University of Southern California, April 2009

11.Health vulnerability and disasters California State University at Fullerton Department of Geography Brown Bag seminar, October 2008
12.Mapping Katrina Sustainable Dialogues III International Symposium, Architecture and Design Museum, Los Angeles, June 2008.
13.GIS and public health: clusters, confidentiality and Katrina Southern California Environmental Health Sciences Center seminar series, Health Sciences Campus University of Southern California, June 2008.
14.Using GIS to reveal spatial patterns in the 1878 yellow fever epidemic of New Orleans Biennial GIS Symposium: Sustaining the Future & Understanding the Past, Case Western Reserve UniversityApril 2008.
  1. Community-based evaluation and intervention strategies to eliminate the black infant mortality crisisThe Pasadena Birthing Project and the USC Center for Premature Infant Health and Developmentpublic forum December Pasadena, California, December 2007.
  2. Geospatial Technology for response and recovery in Hurricanes Katrina and Rita: bridging government and community applications in a disaster presentation (with J Mills) California Post-Earthquake Clearinghouse group Los Alamitos, California, October 2007.
  3. Public data, public access, privacy and security: us law and policy (with Mary Tsui)special session at URISA's GIS in Public Health Conference, New Orleans, May 2007.
  4. GIS & Katrina ACE Social and Economic Stability, Louisiana State University and Southern University AgCenter Annual Conference, Baton Rouge,December 2006.
  5. Vulnerable populations, community GIS and confidentiality – the US perspective GIS and Health Symposium, National Center for Geocomputation, National University ofIreland, Maynooth (NUIM) June 2006.
  6. Public health & disasters: preserving spatial confidentiality Protection, Privacy and Public GIS, Geomatics Atlantic Conference, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, June 2006.
  7. Medical geography: Using GIS for analysis of public health concerns Geographic Information Systems: The technical, legal and ethical implications of the integration of Information systems for animal and human health symposiumConsortium on Law and Values in Health, Environment & the Life Sciences, Center for Animal Health and Food Safety and the College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, May 2006.
  8. After Katrina: Using a geographic information system to respond and recover Biology Research Seminar Series, Loyola University, March 2006.
23.GIS and Emergency Management GIS in practice Symposium, National Center for Geocomputation, National University ofIreland, Maynooth (NUIM) January 2006. See
  1. The LSU GIS response to Hurricane Katrina Department of Geography, Government and HistoryColloquium Morehead State University, November 2005.
  2. Chagas Disease in Mexico: using the WebMapper Laboratory of Applied Entomology and Parasitology at Lenap, Guatemala, August 2005.
  3. Curtis, A., Leitner, M. and F. Jones. Using GIS to eliminate disparities in African American infant mortality, Congressional Breakfast, UCGIS Winter Meeting,Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton & Rep. Carolyn Maloney, SponsorsHart Senate Office Building, February 2005.
  4. The 1878 yellow fever epidemic Department of Tropical MedicineColloquium, Tulane University, October2004
  5. Using GIS to reduce infant mortality in Baton Rouge Department of Geography and Anthropology Applied Geography Conference, Louisiana State University, March 2001.
  6. Improving rabies surveillance data using a GIS and a spatial filter Department of Biology Colloquium, Morehead State University, January 1999.
  7. A spatial approach to filling in the gaps in reportable disease data: the case of rabies in Kentucky Department of Geography and Anthropology Colloquium, Louisiana State University, November 1997.
  8. Disease implications of El Nino Department of Geography, Government and History Colloquium, Morehead State University, October 1997.
  9. An information system for Histoplasmosis identification in Kentucky, gathering of state agencies, Frankfort May 1997.
  10. Locational variations in macro scale knowledge (clusters, hierarchies, and hockey teams) Department of Geography Colloquium, State University of New York at Buffalo, August 1994.

Papers Presented