Associate Professor of Geography and International Development and Social Change
R. Gil Pontius Jr.
Click here to read "A Talent for Maps and Models," a faculty profile.
E-mail:
rpontius@clarku.edu Read more about his Active Learning research
Tel: (508) 793-7761
Website:
Ph.D., State University of New York
Research interests: geographic information science, quantitative modeling, spatial statistics, development economics.
Gil Pontius earned a Master of Applied Statistics
from Ohio State University and a Ph.D. in Environmental Science from the
State University of New York in 1994. A returned Peace Corp volunteer
who served in Tanzania, he joined the Clark faculty in 1998. He teaches
courses in GIS, statistics, quantitative modeling, and economy and ecology in
the tropics. Pontius is the creator of Geomod2, a computer model that
analyzes land use patterns and extrapolates them into the future. His current
research examines how to prevent deforestation from threatening biodiversity
in India, how to prevent deforestation from releasing greenhouse gasses in
the Amazon and how to prevent deforestation from disturbing nutrient flows in
Massachusetts.
Selected Recent Publications:
“Detecting Important Categorical Land Changes while Accounting for Persistence.” With Emily Shusas (ES&P/M.A. '03), and M.McEachern. In Ecosystems & Environment 101 (2-3) p.251-268. 2004
“Using the Relative Operating Characteristic to Quantify Certainty in Prediction of Location of Land-cover Change in India.” With Kiran Batchu (GISDE/M.A.'02). Transactions in GIS 7(4) p. 467-484. 2003
“Estimating the Uncertainty of Land-Cover Extrapolations while Constructing a Raster Map from Tabular Data,” With Aditya Agrawal (GISDE ’02), D. Huffaker. 2003. Journal of Geographical Systems. 5(3) p. 253-273.
“Using the Relative Operating Characteristic to quantify certainty in prediction of location of land cover change in India,” Transactions in GIS. 2003.
“Detecting Important Categorical Land Changes While Accounting for Persistence,” Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment. 2003.
“Statistical Methods to Partition Effects of Quantity and Location during Comparison of Categorical Maps at Multiple Resolutions,” Photogrammetric Engineering & Remote Sensing. vol. 68(10) p. 1041-1049. 2002.
R. G. Pontius Jr. 2000. "Quantification Error versus Location
Error in Comparison of Categorical Maps," Photogrammetric Engineering
& Remote Sensing.
S. Menon, R. Pontius Jr., J. Rose, M. Kahn and K. Bawa. 2000.
"Identifying Conservation Priority Areas in the Tropics: A
Land-use Change Modeling Approach. Conservation Biology.
P. Raskin, P. Gleick, R. Kirshen, R. Pontius and K Strzepek. 1996.
"Water Futures: Assessment of Long-range Patterns and Problems."
Background document for Chapter 3 of the Comprehensive Assessment of the
Freshwater Resources of the World.
C. Hall, H. Tian, Y. Qi, G. Pontius and J. Cornell. 1995.
"Modeling Spatial and Temporal Patterns of Tropical Land-use
Change." Journal of Biogeography 22, 753-757.
C. Hall, R. Pontius Jr., L. Coleman, and J. Ko. 1994. "The Environmental Consequences of Having a Baby in the United States." Population and Environment 15 (6).
Pontius also co-authored the following peer-reviewed scientific papers with GISDE students, now alums:
R. G. Pontius Jr, Emily Shusas (ES&P/M.A. '03), and M. McEachern. 2004 "Detecting Important Categorical Land Changes while Accounting for Persistence," in Ecosystems & Environment 101 (2-3) p.251-268.
R. G. Pontius Jr. and Kiran Batchu (GISDE/M.A.'02). 2003. "Using the Relative Operating Characteristic to Quantify Certainty in Prediction of Location of Land-cover Change in India." Transactions in GIS 7(4) p. 467-484.
R. G. Pontius Jr., Aditya Agrawal (GISDE '02), D. Huffaker. 2003. "Estimating the Uncertainty of Land-Cover Extrapolations while Constructing a Raster Map from Tabular Data." Journal of Geographical Systems 5(3) p. 253-273.
Professor Pontius is also responsible for three modules that are in the Kilimanjaro version of Idrisi. The modules relate to the following publications:
“Modeling the Spatial Pattern of Land-use Change with GEOMOD2: Application and Validation for Costa Rica.” Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, vol. 85(1-3). 2001.
“Land-Cover Change Model Validation by An ROC Method for the Ipswich Watershed, Massachusetts, USA.” Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment. vol. 85(1-3). 2001.
“Quantification Error Versus Location Error in Comparison of Categorical Maps,” Photogrammetric Engineering & Remote Sensing, vol. 66(8). 2000.