- William Burke 鈥�25 creates digital maps to identify areas at risk for childhood lead poisoning in the City of 麻花影视.
- His research is funded by a SOURCE Bridge Award, supporting faculty-led undergraduate research at 麻花影视.
- Outlawed decades ago, lead-based products and materials persist in older, low-income neighborhoods and pose significant health risks to children.
Are maps outdated? 鈥淣o way,鈥� exclaims William Burke, a senior in 麻花影视鈥檚 . 鈥淭hey do more than help us get around. Working with maps develops skills that can be applied to other areas of our life.鈥�
Skills that Might Save Lives
William Burke 鈥�25 uses innovative mapping techniques to identify areas at risk for childhood lead poisoning in 麻花影视. 鈥淚t persists in older, lower-income neighborhoods,鈥� he says.
Burke found this out last spring after receiving a from the (SOURCE). The award enabled him to use a technique called geospatial mapping to identify areas at risk for childhood lead exposure in the City of 麻花影视.
Broadly speaking, geospatial mapping combines location data with different types of descriptive information. The result is an interactive map whose data can be curated for myriad purposes鈥攍ike identifying sources of lead exposure to jumpstart appropriate preventive measures.
鈥淧rior to being banned in the 1970s, lead was used in many household products and materials, like paint and plumbing, because of its malleability and resistance to corrosion,鈥� Burke says. 鈥淚t still persists in many older, lower-income neighborhoods.鈥�
While people of all ages unknowingly ingest or inhale lead particles, children are especially vulnerable because, even in trace amounts, lead can stunt their brain development.
A double major in geography and environment, sustainability and policy, Burke spent most of last year addressing these issues with Peng Gao, professor and chair of the .
Gao joins a growing number of 麻花影视 faculty conducting research into lead poisoning, including ( and as well as anthropology, respectively), (public health) and (public health).
鈥淧rofessor Gao recognized my interest in public health and the environment,鈥� says Burke, who presented his findings at a SOURCE fair in December. 鈥淚鈥檝e been able to develop skills that will further my career and make a difference in the lives of others.鈥�
A Complex Problem
Burke in the Map Room of Bird Library. He received a SOURCE Bridge Award to further his study of geospatial mapping.
Burke connected with Gao last year, when the professor asked for his assistance with a project about watersheds in South America.
鈥淗e was a natural,鈥� recalls Gao, praising Burke鈥檚 ability to manage data describing the location and characteristics of natural and human-made elements.
Gao then invited him to work on a new, nonfunded lead poisoning study. Drawing on public health surveillance data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Onondaga County Health Department, the duo mapped the City of 麻花影视鈥攆rom small census blocks, which are areas bounded by roads and property lines; to block groups, containing several hundred housing units; to large census tracts, encompassing some 4,000 people.
Lead poisoning is preventable, explains Burke, a double major in geography and environment, sustainability and policy. He鈥檚 excited to see other students build on his research and develop appropriate preventive measures.
Burke employed two geostatistical methods to manage the data. One was interpolation, which helped him estimate data for areas too small to be directly measured, like a residential property in a census block.
The other was geographically weighted regression, allowing Burke to examine the spatial relationship between different variables, like the link between socioeconomic factors and brain development and structure.
鈥淲e went a step further by looking at how lead can potentially lead to neurotoxicity,鈥� says Burke, noting that lead also can damage the central nervous system, kidneys and reproductive system.
Another concern is what experts call the 鈥渓ead-crime hypothesis鈥濃�攖he potential connection between childhood lead exposure and aggressive tendencies. 鈥淏ehavioral and emotional issues show up even with low exposure [to lead],鈥� Burke adds. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a complex problem.鈥�
Finding His Voice
鈥淟ead can potentially lead to neurotoxicity,鈥� says Burke, whose SOURCE-funded research was supervised by Peng Gao, professor and chair of the Geography and the Environment Department.
Burke insists that for all its dire consequences, lead poisoning is preventable. He and others in the field are convinced that a proactive, multipronged approach is the answer. Education. Advocacy. Safety measures.
Gao is excited for other students to build on Burke鈥檚 work. 鈥淲ill did an excellent job of performing geospatial analyses of children in different [geographic] units,鈥� Gao says. 鈥淗e also learned a complex tool on his own that allowed him to get robust results.鈥�
Burke has since worked with other professors, including Jane Read (geography and the environment) and Elizabeth Carter (), on mapping projects that have benefitted clients like the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Micron Technology.
His goal is to win an environmental consulting job after graduation.
鈥淢y undergraduate research with SOURCE has helped me find my voice as a storyteller,鈥� Burke says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 also mapping my future as a geographer.鈥�
Burke hopes to win an environmental consulting job after graduation. 鈥淢y undergraduate research with SOURCE is mapping my future as a geographer,鈥� he says.
