This image shows the infrared light from the eye-tracker that is being bounced off my eyes to detect where I am looking.

Geographic Information Science:
My current research is investigating the process of visual cluster detection in animated and static maps. I recently collected eye-movement data while working with Sara Fabrikant at the University of Zurich in Switzerland. We hope this information will help us explain how map readers find moving clusters.

I am also interested in several other aspects of perception and cognition with maps and am in the process of planning research projects in these areas.

Human-Environment Interactions:
With colleagues at CSIRO-Sustainable Ecosystems, the Australian National University and the ACT Department of Health, I am looking at how how obesity can be conceptualized as a complex system, with influences that range from the individual to the global scale.

Another current project with colleagues from the School of ITEE at UNSW@ADFA and CSIRO involves using agent-based models to investigate the recent equine flu outbreak in Australia.

Recent publications:

1. Bhowmick, T., Griffin, A. L., MacEachren, A. M., Kluhsmann, B and E. Lengerich. (2008). “Informing Geospatial Toolset Design: Understanding the Process of Cancer Data Exploration and Analysis”, Health & Place, in press.

2. Banos, A. and A. L. Griffin. (2007). “A methodology for exploring urban neighbourhood shapes and sizes.” Proceedings of the 15 th European Colloquium on Theoretical and Quantitative Geography, Montreux, Switzerland, September 7-11.

3. Griffin, A.L., MacEachren, A.M., Hardisty, F., Steiner, E. and B. Li. (2006). “A comparison of animated maps with static small-multiple maps for visually identifying space-time clusters.” Annals of the Association of American Geographers. 96(4): 740-53.