Caitlyn Linehan, PhD Student

Caitlyn received her Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut and her Master of Science in Geographic Information Science from CUNY Lehman College in the Bronx, New York. Her primary research interests lie in exploring human movement in urban areas. She is specifically interested in modeling walkability, bikeability, and connectivity in urban areas to regions that provide environmental services such as green spaces. She has a passion for ensuring equity of green space access especially in underserved communities.

Yuyan Che, PhD Student

Yuyan received her Bachelor and Master both in Urban Planning in the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning at Arizona State University. After graduation, she worked as an research assistant in a land planning company, and then became a co-founder of an educational consulting company in China. She enjoys investigating social practical issues through spatial data. Additionally, she is interested in exploring geographical information gathering, especially in developing regions, and spatial approaches to analyze impacts on residential areas.

Jiahua Chen, PhD Student

Jiahua graduated from McGill University with a major in Environmental Science and a minor in GIS. She worked primarily on environmental data analysis and visualization during her time in the Roger Thomlinson Lab for GIScience at McGill. She joins the SPAR lab in 2022 and she is interested in exploring the potential of crowdsourced data in guiding sustainable urban development. She also leads a non-profit organization in China advocating for sustainable food systems.

Lily Heidger, PhD Student

Lily graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science from the College of Coastal Georgia and joined the SPAR lab in 2023. She previously studied the use of spatial analysis in urban heat and environmental justice research, and she also helped develop NASA’s Environmental Justice Data Catalog. Her passions include sustainable, equitable urban design and using geospatial data to identify disparities in access to safe active transportation.

Dan Willett, PhD Student

Dan holds a BS in Molecular Environmental Biology from UC Berkeley. He joined SPARLab in 2022 as a GIS Developer working on projects related to active transportation, land use planning, and coastal dune ecosystem resiliency. He is now a PhD student in the where he is interested in developing digital twins of natural systems.

Kevin Ramos, PhD Student

Kevin graduated from the University of Utah with a BS in GIS and a BA in Geography. As an undergrad, he worked at the University of Utah’s Center for Natural and Technological Hazards focusing on geospatial analysis in the realm of environmental health and environmental justice. He joined SPAR lab in 2025 where his interests focus on geospatial modeling in conservation and land use planning.

Dr. Colin Ferster, Researcher

Colin is a postdoctoral researcher working in the SPAR Lab while based at Simon Fraser University in Canada. He uses traditional and emerging sources of geographic data to study people and their environments. He completed a PhD and MSc at the University of British Columbia and a BSc at the University of Victoria — all focused on integrating diverse types of spatial data.

Dr. Achituv Cohen

Dr. Cohen was a postdoctoral scholar in the SPAR Lab from 2020-2022. Dr. Cohen’s research interests lie in the fields of urban planning, accessibility and inclusion, crowdsourced geodata and spatial data mining. Through his research, he discovered the potential of crowdsourced data analysis to evaluate the urban spaces for vulnerable groups in respect to their needs and preferences. Dr. Cohen earned his PhD from the Technion University, Department of Transportation and Geoinformation Engineering.

Karen Laberee

Former Executive Director of BikeMaps.org and Research Manager for MobilityAccess.org. With many years of research and project management experience, expertise in community-oriented outreach and engagement, and strong connections in the City of Victoria, the CRD and UVic, Karen provides on-the-ground knowledge of progress on the Victoria AAA-Network, as well as related bicycle events and activities. She also provides an information bridge between related BikeMaps.org and INTERACT projects.

Dr. Jaimy Fischer

Jaimy recieved her/their PhD from the Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University. Her graduate work used big data to investigate how investment in All Ages and Abilities (AAA) bicycle infrastructure impacts ridership, safety, and equity outcomes for different population groups. Jaimy is now a Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellow working with the Mobilizing Justice Partnership at UToronto.

Dr. Jakub Trojan

Jakub was a Fulbright Scholar in the lab from 2021-2022. He is a deputy head of the Department of Environmental Security, Faculty of Logistics and Crisis Management at Tomas Bata University in Zlin. He is one of the founding members of the Czech national citizen science portal and OpenStreeMap Czech Republic local chapter. He is focused on new technologies and innovations in regional development.

WalkRollMap.org

WalkRollMap.org was created in 2020 in the SPAR Lab as a global crowdsource platform for reporting barriers to walking and rolling using mobility assistance devices. WalkRollMap is now maintained out of Dr. Marie-Soleil Cloutier’s lab at the Centre Urbanisation Culture Société of Institut National de Recherche Scientifique in Montreal, Canada where it is supported by a dedicated research team and an engaged international community of mappers.

Lizzy Schattle

Lizzy worked as a lab manager in the SPAR Lab from 2021-2025. She is now manager of the GEOS Center and works closely with the SPAR Lab on various active transportation projects. Lizzy has a MESM from the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management and a BSA in Biology from the University of Texas.