Jennifer Mason

Biography

Assistant Professor of Practice (career-track) teaching in the online GIST program in the School of Geography and Development. I have focused my research on topics surrounding uncertainty visualization, spatial cognition, geovisualization, cartography, and geographic information science. In recent research, I take a cognitive approach towards addressing the visualization of complex geospatial data uncertainty and how we make decisions under uncertain conditions. One project focuses on evaluating evacuation decisions people make under uncertainty when interacting with the National Hurricane Center storm surge flood maps. Prior to this project I designed a visual summary that depicts the various topics of geospatial uncertainty research. Using this visual summary to shade in topics within the diagram, you can discover the specific sub-topics covered in any given paper at a glance.

In a broader sense, I seek to examine how we interact with geospatial visualizations, draw insight or reason with the information, and how we might make subsequent decisions. This includes looking at individual differences and heuristics that may drive these processes.

Degrees

• Ph.D. Geography
• The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, United States
• Domains of Uncertainty Visualization Research
• M.S. GIScience
• San Diego State University, San Diego, California, United States
• Effective Color Schemes for 3D Animations of Urban Landscapes with a Spatial and Temporal Dimension
• B.A. Geography
• University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States