Brian Tomaszewski

I am a geographic information scientist with research interests in the domains of geographic information science and technology, geographic visualization, spatial thinking, disaster management, and forced displacement. I am actively involved in international disaster management and forced displacement research with research projects funded by the US National Science Foundation (NSF) in Germany, Rwanda and Jordan as well as collaborations with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Fun fact: I was the co-creator of the Refugee GIS or ‘RefuGIS’ project that is the world’s first innovation project to empower refugees themselves to use GIS and I play the banjo.

1. How Do You Teach Applied Critical Thinking in the Context of Disaster?

I teach applied critical spatial thinking. Applied critical spatial thinking incorporates spatial concepts such as scale, uncertainty, distance, location to reasoning and decision making. In the context of disasters, I teach applied critical spatial thinking in many ways. One example is teaching students about the normalization of data presented on maps. For example, a map showing the raw counts of confirmed coronavirus at the county level is different than a map showing a normalized map of confirmed coronavirus as a percentage of the overall population within the county or the confirmed cases per 1,000 people. Applied critical spatial thinking gives students a way to meaningfully compare how people and places are impacted by disasters. 

2. Why Do You Think Applied Critical Thinking is Important in Your Domain?

Disasters are dynamic and fluid. This creates high levels of uncertainty across space and time. For example, at the time of this writing, we don’t know for certain where, when, and to what extent coronavirus will spread and how it will impact all levels of society. Applied critical spatial thinking gives students a lens to look at disasters like coronavirus that incorporates uncertainty and media literacy such as map reading that can help them make better decisions and understanding about the coronavirus situation as it evolves. 

3. Can You Share a Story Where Quality Applied Critical Thinking Was Key to Your Success?

Applied critical and critical spatial thinking has been a cornerstone of my professional success in two ways. First, I have mentored numerous undergraduate and graduate students on research projects where they used critical thinking to challenge assumptions that they were making on a given research topic. Through critical thinking, these students were able to develop scholarly works that survived academic peer-review processes. Second, I have seen firsthand how critical spatial thinking has given students perspectives on people, places and culture outside the sometimes relatively narrow world of the RIT Henrietta campus. Skype calls with Syrian refugees, leading RIT study abroad trips to Rwanda, creating funded research opportunities for RIT students to work with the United Nations in Germany, talking to local Monroe Country residents about Lake Ontario flooding are all examples of the application of critical spatial thinking to real problems facing society and how RIT students can learn from these experiences. 

4. How Do I Use Critical Thinking in Other Areas of Your Life Outside of RIT?

When the coronavirus situation escalated in March 2020, I was in Jordan working with UNHCR. I originally came to Jordan via Germany like I normally do. However, I had to quickly return back to the USA. Using critical spatial thinking, I challenged my assumption of sticking to my routine of traveling back home through Germany and decided to fly directly from Jordan to the USA. I am very glad I did this as I wound up avoiding the travel restriction on Europe and subsequent people log jams at US airports which could have potentially exposed me to coronavirus. 

5. Any Last Critical Thoughts You Wish to Share About What We Are Experiencing Now or What You Have Learned in Past Work?

Learn visual data literacy skills – don’t take everything you see on a map at face value. Maps can lie and distort – either intentionally or not. Eventually, maps at the country/state/county level will be of less value as we support our local communities. Stay home and wash your hands!