ISSUES : DATA SET Investigating Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) Ecologies Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Maruthi Sridhar Balaji Bhaskar 1,* , Jason A. Rosenzweig 2 and Shishir Shishodia2 1Department of Environmental and Interdisciplinary Sciences, Texas Southern University, 3100, Cleburne Street, Houston, Texas, 77004 2Department of Biology, Texas Southern University, 3100, Cleburne Street, Houston, Texas, 77004 *Corresponding author: Maruthi Sridhar Balaji Bhaskar () Geographic Epidemiology of Chlamydia in Texas THE ECOLOGICAL QUESTION: What are the magnitudes and spatial prevalences of Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs), such as chlamydia and gonorrhea in Texas? How do the social and economic factors explain the spatial and temporal trends of STD prevalence in Texas? ECOLOGICAL CONTENT: Disease ecology, human ecology and behavior, bacterial infections, spatial and temporal spread of disease, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) WHAT STUDENTS DO: The students explore and analyze data on two Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD) - chlamydia and gonorrhea - at the county level. The students download the spatial and temporal datasets of the diseases for the period of over 15 years, from 2000 to 2014, at the county level for the entire state of Texas. The students then process the datasets and import them into Geographic Information Systems (GIS) using ArcGIS software. Spatial and temporal maps of the disease distribution over the entire geographical region are developed for each year. The students use the datasets to develop disease maps for chlamydia and gonorrhea occurrence in Texas for the time period of 2000 to 2014. All the maps developed by the students are put together and discussed at the end of the project. STUDENT-ACTIVE APPROACHES: or , cooperative learning SKILLS: The students become adept in the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to analyze and explore health science and biological problems. They analyze the long-term datasets using Microsoft Excel and learn ArcGIS Desktop (Version 10.5) software, including importing tabular data into GIS and create effective maps.
ISSUES : DATA SET Investigating Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) Ecologies Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Maruthi Sridhar Balaji Bhaskar 1,* , Jason A. Rosenzweig 2 and Shishir Shishodia2 1Department of Environmental and Interdisciplinary Sciences, Texas Southern University, 3100, Cleburne Street, Houston, Texas, 77004 2Department of Biology, Texas Southern University, 3100, Cleburne Street, Houston, Texas, 77004 *Corresponding author: Maruthi Sridhar Balaji Bhaskar () Geographic Epidemiology of Chlamydia in Texas THE ECOLOGICAL QUESTION: What are the magnitudes and spatial prevalences of Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs), such as chlamydia and gonorrhea in Texas? How do the social and economic factors explain the spatial and temporal trends of STD prevalence in Texas? ECOLOGICAL CONTENT: Disease ecology, human ecology and behavior, bacterial infections, spatial and temporal spread of disease, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) WHAT STUDENTS DO: The students explore and analyze data on two Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD) - chlamydia and gonorrhea - at the county level. The students download the spatial and temporal datasets of the diseases for the period of over 15 years, from 2000 to 2014, at the county level for the entire state of Texas. The students then process the datasets and import them into Geographic Information Systems (GIS) using ArcGIS software. Spatial and temporal maps of the disease distribution over the entire geographical region are developed for each year. The students use the datasets to develop disease maps for chlamydia and gonorrhea occurrence in Texas for the time period of 2000 to 2014. All the maps developed by the students are put together and discussed at the end of the project. STUDENT-ACTIVE APPROACHES: or , cooperative learning SKILLS: The students become adept in the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to analyze and explore health science and biological problems. They analyze the long-term datasets using Microsoft Excel and learn ArcGIS Desktop (Version 10.5) software, including importing tabular data into GIS and create effective maps.
bhaskar.docx