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Derek Van Berkel

Derek Van Berkel
Assistant Professor
Geospatial Data Sciences
Conservation + Restoration
[email protected]
(614) 282-4870
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2538 Dana
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About

Derek Van Berkel is Assistant Professor of Data Science, Geovisualization and Design. His research examines the human dimensions of land-cover/land-use change and ecosystem services at diverse scales. It aims to use spatial analysis and geovisualizations of social and environmental data and spatial thinking to develop solutions for today’s most pressing environmental challenges. Within this growing body of interdisciplinary work, he leverages social theory, big data, machine learning, spatial-temporal computer modeling (e.g. agent-based and cellular automata) and spatial statistics. This work addresses critical domains including (i) landscape management (e.g. weighing tradeoffs between ecosystem services); (ii) conservation and recreation planning (e.g. identifying special and valued places); and (iii) development of sustainable and resilient communities (e.g. health and well-being of communities).

Publications

Campbell-Arvai, Victoria, et al. "Tree selection for a virtual urban park: Comparing aided and unaided decision-making to support public engagement in greenspace design." Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 99 (2024): 128447.

Van Berkel, D., Estabrook, T., Fox, N., Bejarano, R. A., Maillard, L., Gill, D., ... & Lemos, M. C. (2023). PPGISr: An R package for Public Participatory GIS. SoftwareX, 22, 101389.

Ghermandi, A., Langemeyer, J., Van Berkel, D., Calcagni, F., Depietri, Y., Vigl, L. E., ... & Wood, S. A. (2023). Social media data for environmental sustainability: A critical review of opportunities, threats, and ethical use. One Earth, 6(3), 236-250.

Van Berkel, D., Kalafatis, S., Gibbons, B., Naud, M., & Lemos, M. C. (2022). Planning for climate migration in Great Lake legacy cities. Earth's Future, 10(10), e2022EF002942.

Jennifer Koch, Monica A Dorning,Van Berkel, Derek B, Scott M Beck, Georgina M Sanchez, Ashwin Shashidharan, Lindsey S Smart, Qiang Zhang, Jordan W Smith, and Ross K Meentemeyer. Modeling landowner interactions and development patterns at the urban fringe.Landscape andUrban Planning, 182:101–113, 2019

Johannes Hermes,Derek Van Berkel, Benjamin Burkhard, Tobias Plieninger, Nora Fagerholm,Christina von Haaren, and Christian Albert. Assessment and valuation of recreational ecosystemservices of landscapes, 2018

Derek B Van Berkel, Payam Tabrizian, Monica A Dorning, Lindsey Smart, Doug Newcomb, Megan Mehaffey, Anne Neale, and Ross K Meentemeyer. Quantifying the visual-sensory landscape qualities that contribute to cultural ecosystem services using social media and lidar. Ecosystem Services, 2018

Boris T van Zanten, Derek B Van Berkel, Ross K Meentemeyer, Jordan W Smith, Koen F Tieskens,and Peter H Verburg. Continental-scale quantification of landscape values using social media data. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, page 201614158, 2016

Derek B Van Berkel and Peter H Verburg. Spatial quantification and valuation of cultural ecosystem services in an agricultural landscape.Ecological indicators, 37:163–174, 2014

Derek B Van Berkel and Peter H Verburg. Sensitising rural policy: Assessing spatial variation in rural development options for europe. Land Use Policy, 28(3):447–459, 2011

Google Scholar page
Research

My research examines the human dimensions of land-cover/land-use change and ecosystem services at diverse scales. It aims to use spatial analysis and geovisualizations of social and environmental data and spatial thinking to develop solutions for today’s most pressing environmental challenges. Within this growing body of interdisciplinary work, I leverage social theory, big data, machine learning, spatial-temporal computer modeling (e.g. agent-based and cellular automata) and spatial statistics.

Education

Ph.D. Spatial Analysis and Decision Support, VU University Amsterdam, 2012.
M.S. Human Geography and Urban Planning, Utrecht University, 2007.B.A. Human Geography, University of Calgary, 2004.

Affiliations

Co-PI of GLISA

In the News
Community-focused engagement approach to strengthen flood resilience across Great Lakes, South Central regions
December 16, 2024

Community-focused engagement approach to strengthen flood resilience across Great Lakes, South Central regions

A new project will partner with coastal communities in the Great Lakes and South Central regions to assess flood risks and vulnerabilities and encourage more equitable...

U-M receives NSF grant to study climate migration in Lake Victoria Basin, Great Lakes Region
June 3, 2024

U-M receives NSF grant to study climate migration in Lake Victoria Basin, Great Lakes Region

The impacts of climate change on human mobility are projected to be significant, with estimates suggesting that anywhere from 200 million to 2 billion people could be on...

An AI-identified animal: Nathan Fox trained an AI model to detect animals in photographs. The red bounding box highlights where the animal is detected, and the percentage shows how confident the AI model is in its accuracy.
November 27, 2023

Using AI to Accelerate Wildlife Conservation Efforts

Although artificial intelligence (AI) programs were first developed decades ago, they made an undeniable splash in 2023. Now, researchers at SEAS, alongside collaborators in the U-M School of Information, are focused on laying the groundwork for using AI to accelerate wildlife conservation efforts using social media.

Future of Big Data
May 22, 2023

Meet the Future: Big Data and Sustainability Solutions

Thanks to the digital revolution, a burgeoning amount of big data is available in real-time on a mass scale. Big data offers scientists unparalleled access to vast amounts of raw information that can be harvested, analyzed and translated into new solutions to the world’s most challenging problems—including sustainability and climate change. We spoke to four SEAS professors about how they are using big data to reimagine sustainability solutions to agriculture, landscape conservation, biological systems and cities.

New study shows social media content opens new frontiers for sustainability science researchers
March 17, 2023

New study shows social media content opens new frontiers for sustainability science researchers

ANN ARBOR—With more than half of the world’s population active on social media networks, user-generated data has proved to be fertile ground for social scientists who...

SEAS hosts first "Hackathon" focused on using data science in sustainability work
December 7, 2022

SEAS hosts first "Hackathon" focused on using data science to address sustainability issues

The first University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS) Hackathon, “Social Media and Visualization for Hacking Sustainability,” was held in...

Faculty Accolades
November 1, 2022

Faculty Accolades

News and updates about SEAS faculty.

Map of Social & Natural Risk: Great Lakes Region
October 6, 2022

Study: Web-based tools can help Great Lakes region plan for potential influx of climate-change migrants

Contact: Jim Erickson Communities in the Great Lakes region need to start planning now for a future that may include “climate migrants” who leave behind increasingly...

In the Media
01/24/2025
Derek Van Berkel
Even before the LA fires, Californians fled for 'climate havens' (BBC News)
10/21/2024
Derek Van Berkel
Michigan cities deemed 'climate havens' aren't truly safe from climate change effects (The State News)
09/22/2024
Derek Van Berkel
‘A break from the heat’: Americans most affected by climate crisis head midwest (The Guardian)
03/23/2024
Derek Van Berkel
Are Great Lakes cities ready for climate migrants? (Great Lakes Now)
03/18/2024
Derek Van Berkel
Are Great Lakes cities ready for climate migrants? (Great Lakes Echo)
05/12/2023
Derek Van Berkel
Preparing for climate migration: Watch MLive, Council of the Great Lakes webinar (MLive)
12/13/2022
Derek Van Berkel
Michigan is a climate haven in a warming world. Will everyone move here? (MLive)
12/06/2022
Derek Van Berkel
Twitter’s totter must prompt research rethink (Nature)
10/10/2022
Derek Van Berkel
Climate migrants could come to Great Lakes region as extreme weather grows in coming years (WEMU 89.1)
10/07/2022
Derek Van Berkel
Researchers developing tools to help region plan for potential climate change-related population growth (Michigan Radio)
03/29/2022
Derek Van Berkel
Mark Lindquist
Climate haven: Will Michigan be a future refuge? (Downtown Newsmagazine)
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