Brian Tomaszewski Headshot

Brian Tomaszewski

Professor

School of Interactive Games and Media
Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences

585-259-9678
Office Location

Brian Tomaszewski

Professor

School of Interactive Games and Media
Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences

Education

BA, University at Albany; MA, University at Buffalo; Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University

Bio

Brian Tomaszewski PhD is 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. His published research on geographic information systems (GIS) and disaster management related topics has appeared in top scientific journals and conferences such as Information Visualization, Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, Computers and Geosciences, the IEEE Conference on Visual Analytics Science and Technology, the IEEE Conference on Global Humanitarian Technology, and The Cartographic Journal. He also regularly publishes in popular GIS trade magazines such as ArcUser and ArcNews. He is the author of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for Disaster Management, second edition published 20202 by Routledge Press and which is one of the first book???length treatments on the topic. He is actively involved in international disaster management and refugee affairs research with research projects funded by the US National Science Foundation (NSF) in Rwanda, Germany and Jordan as well as collaborations with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Rwanda and Jordan. He is an adjunct professor with the Centre for Disaster Management and Mitigation at the Vellore Institute of Technology, India and is an Professor in the School of Interactive Games and Media at the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, NY USA.

585-259-9678

Personal Links
Areas of Expertise

Select Scholarship

Published Conference Proceedings
Tomaszewski, Brian, et al. "Towards a Geospatial Household Natural Hazard Resilience Model in Rwanda." Proceedings of the 13th annual IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC). Ed. Edward G Perkins. Villanova University,, Pennsylvania, USA: n.p., 2023. Web.
Tomaszewski, Brian. "Field Research and Teaching about Disasters and Displacement: Experiences from the International Research Experiences for Students (IRES) program Rwanda." Proceedings of the American Association of Geographers Annual Meeting. Ed. Unknown. Denver, CO: n.p., 2023. Web.
Schwartz, David, et al. "Game Design for Critical Infrastructure Resilience: Game Engine Integration with Geospatial Technology." Proceedings of the 91st Symposium of MORS (Military Operations Research Society). Ed. Unknown. West Point, NY: n.p., 2023. Web.
R., Rupa, et al. "Exploring the socio-historical complexity of disasters through serious games: Virtual insights into the diverse experiences and challenges of living and working in a flood-prone region." Proceedings of the NEEDS Conference “Building Disaster Resilient Societies”. Ed. Unknown. Enschede, Netherlands: n.p., 2023. Web.
Schwartz, D. I. and B. Tomaszewski. "When Virtual and Real Worlds Collide: Civil Engineering and Location-based Games." Proceedings of the Middle Atlantic American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Conference. Ed. Unknown. Villanova, PA: n.p., 2021. Web.
Wolters, Madeline, Alexandra Leader, and Brian Tomaszewski. "A sub-National Investigation of the Geographic Information Capacity (GIC) Profile for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR)." Proceedings of the American Association of Geographers Annual Meeting. Ed. AAG. Washington, D.C.: n.p., 2019. Web.
Tomaszewski, Brian. "Mapping Refugee Camp Economies in Rwanda." Proceedings of the Africa GIS. Ed. University of Rwanda. Kigali, Rwanda: n.p., 2019. Web.
Moore, Elizabeth, et al. "Geospatial Analysis of Electric Vehicle Battery Re-Use Pathways for Urban Resilience and Disaster Preparedness." Proceedings of the American Association of Geographers Annual Meeting. Ed. AAG. Washington, DC: n.p., 2019. Web.
Moore, Elizabeth, et al. "End-of-Vehicle Circular Economy Strategy: Secondary Lithium-ion Battery Deployment for Urban Resilience." Proceedings of the A Climate for Change: Engineering Sustainability Conference. Ed. Pitt.edu. Pittsburgh, PA: n.p., 2019. Web.
Leader, Alexandra, et al. "Geographic Information Capacity Profile for Disaster Risk Reduction." Proceedings of the Association of American Geographers Annual Conference. Ed. AAG. Washington, DC: n.p., 2019. Web.
Kotak, Chanvi Kiran, Erik Golen, and Brian Tomaszewski. "3-1-1 Calls Hot Spot Analysis During Hurricane Harvey: Preliminary Results." Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (ISCRAM). Ed. Kees Boersma and Brian Tomaszewski. Rochester, New York: n.p., 2018. Web.
Ruggero, Tayler and Brian Tomaszewski. "Geographic Information Capacity (GIC) Across International Scales: Comparing Institutional Structures of Germany to the United States." Proceedings of the Association of American Geographers Annual Conference. Ed. AAG. New Orleans, Louisiana: n.p., 2018. Web.
Ruggero, Tayler and Brian Tomaszewski. "Geographic Information Capacity (GIC) Across International Scales: Comparing Institutional Structures of Germany to the United States." Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management. Ed. Kees Boersma and Brian Tomaszewski. Rochester, New York: n.p., 2018. Web.
Sutherby, Zach and Brian Tomaszewski. "Conceptualizing the Role Geographic Information Capacity has on Quantifying Ecosystem Services under the Framework of Ecological Disaster Risk Reduction (EcoDRR)." Proceedings of the Association of American Geographers Annual Conference. Ed. AAG. New Orleans, Louisiana: n.p., 2018. Web.
Sutherby, Zach and Brian Tomaszewski. "Conceptualizing the Role Geographic Information Capacity has on Quantifying Ecosystem Services under the Framework of Ecological Disaster Risk Reduction (EcoDRR)." Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management. Ed. Kees Boersma and Brian Tomaszewski. Rochester, New York: n.p., 2018. Web.
Tomaszewski, Brian. "Enabling International Geographic Information Science and Technology Disaster Management Research and Education: Lessons and Experiences." Proceedings of the Association of American Geographers Annual Conference. Ed. AAG. New Orleans, LA: n.p., 2018. Web.
Tomaszewski, Brian, Anthony Vodacek, and Gaspard Rwanyiziri. "Innovation for Education, Spatial Thinking and GeoICT: A Rwandan Case Study." Proceedings of the 8th annual IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC). Ed. Paul Cunningham. San Jose, CA: IEEE, 2018. Web.
Vishwanath, Varsha Hassan and Brian Tomaszewski. "Flood Hazard, Vulnerability, Risk Assessment for Uttarakhand State in India." Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (ISCRAM). Ed. Kees Boersma and Brian Tomaszewski. Rochester, NY: n.p., 2018. Web.
Mooney, Daniel, Brian Tomaszewski, and Bryan French. "Development of a Block Level Geovisualization Tool of Zaatari Refugee Camp Community Asset Data." Proceedings of the IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC). Ed. Paul Cunningham. San Jose, CA: IEEE, 2017. Web.
Tomaszewski, Brian. "Teaching Spatial Thinking Skills with Drones: A Flipped Approach." Proceedings of the Association of American Geographers Annual Conference. Ed. AAG. Boston, MA: AAG, 2017. Web.
Tomaszewski, Brian, et al. "Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in Za’atari Refugee Camp, Jordan for Refugee Community Information Management and Mobilization: The RefuGIS Project." Proceedings of the IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC). Ed. Paul Cunningham. San Jose, CA: IEEE, 2017. Web.
Tomaszewski, Brian and David I. Schwartz. "Critical Spatial Thinking and Serious Geogames: A Position." Proceedings of the AGILE 2017 Workshop on Geogames and Geoplay. Ed. AGILE. Wageningen, the Netherlands: AGILE, 2017. Web.
Wronko, Elizabeth, et al. "Geospatial Risk Analysis and Freshwater Ecotoxicity Assessment of Potential Nanomaterial Release in the Great Lakes Region." Proceedings of the Engineering Sustainability 2017 Innovation and the Triple Bottom Line Conference. Pittsburgh, PA: AASHE, 2017. Web.
Wronko, Elizabeth, et al. "Geospatial and Toxicity Assessment of Carbon Nanomaterial Release." Proceedings of the ISIE-ISSST 2017 Conference: Science in Support of Sustainable and Resilient Communities. Chicago, IL: ISIE-ISSST, 2017. Web.
Ruggero, Tayler, Josephine Kennan, and Brian Tomaszewski. "ArcGIS and Refugees: Practical Lessons Learned from the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) Kigeme Refugee camp , Rwanda Humanitarian Field Work Mission." Proceedings of the 25th Annual Geographic Information Sharing/Special Interest Group (GIS/SIG) Conference. Ed. Daniel Allen. Pittsford, NY: n.p., 2016. Web.
Schmitt, Paul, et al. "Community-Level Access Divides: A Refugee Camp Case Study." Proceedings of the International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development (ICTD 2016). Ed. Kentaro Toyama. Ann Arbor, MI: n.p., 2016. Web.
B., Tomaszewski, and Griffin, Amy L. "Students Learning about Disaster Situation Training using Serious Games for GIS (SerGIS)." Proceedings of the Association of American Geographers Annual Conference. Ed. Sarah Witham Bednarz. San Francisco, CA: n.p., 2016. Web.
Tomaszewski, Brian, David I. Schwartz, and Joerg Szarzynski. "Crisis Response Serious Spatial Thinking Games: Spatial Think Aloud Study Results." Proceedings of the 13th International Conference of the International Association For The Study Of Information Systems For Crisis Response And Management (ISCRAM). Ed. Marcos Borges. Rio de Janerio, Brazi: n.p., 2016. Web.
Tomaszewski, Brian, et al. "Infrastructure Evolution Analysis via Remote Sensing in an Urban Refugee Camp - Evidence from Za’atari." Proceedings of the Humanitarian Technology: Science, Systems and Global Impact 2016, HumTech2016. Ed. Andy Vidan. Boston, MA: n.p., 2016. Web.
Tomaszewski, Brian and Kenneth Tomaszewski. "Refugee Spatial Awareness: Evidence from Za’atari." Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Geographic Information Science (GIScience 2016). Ed. Renee Sieber. Montreal, Quebec: n.p., 2016. Web.
Tomaszewski, Brian, et al. "Displacement and Visual Analytics: Case Studies and Applications." Proceedings of the SpatialVA workshop @ GIScience 2016. Ed. Anthony Robinson. Montréal, Quebec: n.p., 2016. Print.
Tomaszewski, Brian, et al. "Spatial Thinking for Educational Innovation: The Rwandan Iwacu Project." Proceedings of the International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development (ICTD 2015). Ed. Nanyang Technological University. Singapore, Singapore: n.p., Web.
Tomaszewski, Brian and Vodacek, Anthony. "Moving Toward Online Spatial Thinking and Geographic Education in the Developing World - A Rwandan Case Study." Proceedings of the Association of American Geographers Annual Conference. Ed. AAG. Chicago, Illinois: n.p., Web.
Tomaszewski, Brian, Fahed Alhaj Mohamad, and Yusuf Hamad. "Refugee Situation Awareness: Camps and Beyond." Proceedings of the Humanitarian Technology: Science, Systems and Global Impact 2015, HumTech2015. Ed. Andy Vidan. Boston, MA: n.p., Web.
Xu, Ying, Maitland, Carleen, and Tomaszewski, Brian. "Promoting Participatory Community Building in Refugee Camps with Mapping Technology." Proceedings of the International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development (ICTD 2015). Ed. ICTD. Nanyang Technological University, Singapore: n.p., Web.
Tomaszewski, Brian, Joerg Szarzynski, and David Schwartz. "Serious Games for Disaster Risk Reduction Spatial Thinking." Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on Geographic Information Science (GIScience 2014). Ed. Andrew U. Frank. Vienna, Austria: n.p., 2014. Web.
Tomaszewski, Brian, et al. "Visually Contextualizing Social Media within Spatial, Temporal and Thematic Constraints for Disaster Situation Awareness." Proceedings of the Workshop on GeoVisual Analytics: Interactivity, Dynamics, and Scale @ GIScience 2014. Ed. Gennady Andrienko. Vienna, Austria: n.p., 2014. Web.
Alnabhan, Ahmed and Brian Tomaszewski. "INSAR: Indoor Navigation System using Augmented Reality." Proceedings of the 6th ACM SIGSPATIAL International Workshop on Indoor Spatial Awareness (ISA). Ed. Sisi Zlatanova. Dallas, Texas: n.p., 2014. Web.
Mathews, Alyssa, et al. "Disaster Risk Reduction Spatial Thinking: A Serious Games Approach." Proceedings of the 11th International Conference of the International Association For The Study Of Information Systems For Crisis Response And Management (ISCRAM). Ed. Andrea Tapia. State College, PA: n.p., 2014. Print.
Tomaszewski, Brian, et al. "Promoting Spatial Thinking in Natural Resource Management Through Community Mapping: The Case of Urban and Rural Secondary Schools of Rwanda." Proceedings of the AfricaGIS 2013. Ed. Harlan Onsrud. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: n.p., 2013. Web.
Feeney, E., et al. "Serious Gaming and Spatial Thinking - Emergency Response Case Study." Proceedings of the 2013 ESRI International User Conference. Ed. Esri. San Diego, CA: n.p., 2013. Web.
Mathews, Alyssa and Brian Tomaszewski. "A Serious Game for Quantifying Spatial Thinking." Proceedings of the 2013 NYS GIS Conference. Ed. Ann Deakin. Saratoga Springs, NY: n.p., 2013. Print.
Bouchard, Beau and Brian Tomaszewski. "Automated GLIDE Number Resource Consolidation for Rapid Disaster Location Identification." Proceedings of the 9th International Conference of the International Association For The Study Of Information Systems For Crisis Response And Management (ISCRAM), Vancouver, Canada. Ed. Zeno Franco. Vancouver, Canada: ISCRAM, 2012. Print.
Tomaszewski, Brian and Edward Holden. "The Geographic Information Science and Technology and Information Technology Bodies of Knowledge: An Ontological Alignment." Proceedings of the 13th Annual Conference on Information Technology Education, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Ed. B. Lundt. Calgary, Canada: ACM, 2012. Web.
Book Chapter
Tomaszewski, Brian. "Teaching Forced Displacement with Geospatial Technology in Refugee Camps: Lessons from Rwanda and Jordan." Migration, Displacement, and Higher Education: Now What. Ed. Brittany Murray, Matthew Brill-Carlat, and Maria Höhn. Cham, Switzerland: Springer - Palgrave MacMillan, 2023. 163-171. Print.
Tomaszewski, Brian. "Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Displacement." ICTs for Refugees and Displacement. Ed. Carleen Maitland. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2018. 165-184. Print.
Tomaszewski, Brian, et al. "GIS and Serious Games." Comprehensive Geographic Information Systems. Ed. Thomas J. Cova and Ming-Hsiang Tsou. Unknown, Unknown: Elsevier, 2018. 369–383. Print.
Journal Paper
Tomaszewski, Brian and David J. Alexander. "GIS&T and Disaster Management." The Geographic Information Science & Technology Body of Knowledge. (2022): 1-10. Web.
Tomaszewski, Brian, et al. "Building Video Games with ArcGIS Technology: Lessons Learned and Experiences." ArcUser 25. 1 (2022): 58-61. Print.
Tomaszewski, Brian, et al. "Developing a Geographic Information Capacity (GIC) Profile for Disaster Risk Management under United Nations Framework Commitments." International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 47. (2020): 101638. Web.
Tomaszewski, Brian, et al. "Supporting Disaster Resilience Spatial Thinking with Serious GeoGames: Project Lily Pad." ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information 9. 6 (2020): 405. Web.
Moore, Elizabeth A., et al. "Spatial Modeling of a Second-use Strategy for Electric Vehicle Batteries to Improve Disaster Resilience and Circular Economy." Resources, Conservation and Recycling 160. (2020): 104889. Web.
Moore, Elizabeth A., et al. "Spatial Perspectives Enhance Modeling of Nanomaterial Risks." Journal of Industrial Ecology 24. 4 (2020): 855-870. Web.
Sherbinin, Alex de, et al. "Climate vulnerability mapping: A Systematic Review and Future Prospects." Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change 10. 5 (2019): 1-20. Web.
Leader, Alexandra, et al. "The Consequences of Electronic Waste Post-Disaster: A Case Study of Flooding in Bonn, Germany." Sustainability 10. 11 (2018): 4193. Web.
Tomaszewski, Brian, Jean Laurent Martin, and Yusef Hamad. "GIS for Refugees, by Refugees." ArcNews 39. (2017): 4-5. Print.
Rusatira, Jean Christophe, et al. "Needs Assessment for User-Centered Development of Mobile Medical Educator Apps: Enabling Access to Medical and Health Education in Rwanda Using Mobile Technology." JMIR Medical Education 2. 1 (2016): e7. Web.
Tomaszewski, Brian, et al. "Spatial Thinking Ability Assessment in Rwandan Secondary Schools: Baseline Results." Journal of Geography 114. 2 (2015): 1-10. Print.
Brian, Tomaszewski,, et al. "Geographic Information Systems for Disaster Response: A Review." Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management - Special issue on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Crisis, Disaster, and Catastrophe Management 12. 3 (2015): 571-602. Web.
Goe, Michele, Gaustad, Gabrielle, and Tomaszewski, Brian. "Tradeoffs in Siting a Solar Photovoltaic Recovery Infrastructure." Journal of Environmental Management 160. (2015): 154-66. Print.
Ebner, Jacqueline and Brian Tomaszewski. "Rochester Institute of Technology's Food Waste Resource Locator." ArcUser 17. 1 (2014): 18-19. Print.
Goe, Michele, Brian Tomaszewski, and Gabrielle Gaustad. "Infrastructure Planning for Solar Technology Recycling." ArcUser 16. 1 (2013): 20-23. Print.
Blochel, Kevin, et al. "A Serious Game for Measuring Disaster Response Spatial Thinking." ArcUser 16. 3 (2013): 12-15. Print.
Arnold, Garth, et al. "GIS Modeling of Social Vulnerability in Burkina Faso." ArcUser 15. 1 (2012): 20-23. Print.
Tomaszewski, Brian and Alan MacEachren. "Geovisual Analytics to Support Crisis Management: Information Foraging for Geo-Historical Context." Information Visualization 11. 4 (2012): 339-359. Print.
Tomaszewski, Brian, et al. "Supporting Geographically-aware Web Document Foraging and Sensemaking." Computers, Environment and Urban Systems 35. 3 (2011): 192-201. Print.
Tomaszewski, Brian and M. E. Smith. "Polities, Territory and Historical Change in Postclassic Matlatzinco (Toluca Valley, Central Mexico)." Journal of Historical Geography 37. 1 (2011): 22-39. Print.
Tomaszewski, Brian. "Situation Awareness and Virtual Globes: Applications for Disaster Management." Computers and Geosciences 37. 1 (2011): 86-92. Print.
Full Length Book
Tomaszewski, Brian. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for Disaster Management. Second ed. Rochester, United States: Routledge, 2020. Print.
Tomaszewski, Brian. Geographic Information Systems for Disaster Management. First ed. Boca Raton, FL: Taylor and Francis (Distributed Through CRC Press), 2015. Print.
Invited Article/Publication
Tomaszewski, Brian. "Helping Syrian refugees share their stories with Esri Story Maps." Story Maps Community. (2019). Web.
Tomaszewski, Brian. "I Teach Refugees to Map Their World." The Conversation. (2018). Web.
Journal Editor
Boersma, Kees and Brian Tomaszewski, ed. Conference Proceedings: 15th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (ISCRAM 2018). Rochester, NY USA: n.p., 2018. Web.
Tomaszewski, Brian, ed. Future Internet: Special Issue on Geovisual Analytics. Bern: MDPI, 2012. Web.
Tomaszewski, Brian, Massimo Mecella, and Francisco Nobre, ed. Geographic Information Science and Technology and Crisis Management Special Paper Session for the 9th International ISCRAM Conference. Vancouver, Canada: ISCRAM, 2012. Print.
Tomaszewski, Brian, ed. Future Internet: Special Issue Geovisual Analytics. Basel, Switzerland: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI), 2011. Web.
External Scholarly Fellowships/National Review Committee
1/5/2018 - 1/7/2018
     National Science Foundation (NSF) Directorate for Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences (SBE)
     Amount: 1000
5/5/2018 - 11/25/2018
     National Science Foundation (NSF) Office of International Science and Engineering (OISE)
     Amount: 1000
5/30/2017 - 5/31/2017
     National Science Foundation Office of International Science and Engineering (OISE)
     Amount: $3000
4/15/2017 - 4/17/2017
     National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) - Public Safety Innovation Accelerator Program
     Amount: $2000
11/21/2016 - 11/22/2016
     National Science Foundation - Office of International Science & Engineering (OISE) - Review Panel
     Amount: $3000
Invited Keynote/Presentation
Tomaszewski, Brian. "Research Methods in Geographic Information Systems for Disaster Response." University Seminar. Columbia University Global Mental Health Program. New York, NY. 28 Nov. 2018. Keynote Speech.
Tomaszewski, Brian. "From Rochester to Rwanda: Enabling GIS Around the World." 27th annual Geographic Information Sharing Special Interest Group (GIS/SIG) conference. Geographic Information Sharing Special Interest Group (GIS/SIG). Pittsford, NY. 15 Apr. 2018. Keynote Speech.
Tomaszewski, Brian. "Crisis Mapping: Old Problems, New Challenges." Emergency and Disaster Management Program. Georgetown University. Washington, DC. 21 Sep. 2016. Guest Lecture.
Tomaszewski, Brian. "Disasters, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Spatial Thinking: Case Studies and Examples." Symposium on Advanced Techniques for National Geographic State Monitoring (NGSM). Wuhan University. Wuhan, China. 17 Dec. 2016. Keynote Speech.
Tomaszewski, Brian. "Invited Lecture." Prince Abdullah Bin Ghazi Faculty of Information Technology. Al-Balqa Applied University. Al-Balqa, Jordan. 15 Nov. 2015. Guest Lecture.
Tomaszewski, Brian. "Crisis Maps, Mapping and Spatial Thinking." 6th Annual International Conference of Crisis Mappers. Crisis Mappers. New York, NY. 7 Nov. 2014. Conference Presentation.
Tomaszewski, Brian, Jules Maurice Mupenzi Karasira, and Anthony Vodacek. "Teaching Spatial Thinking in Rwanda with Free and Open Source GIS." Esri Education GIS Conference. Esri. San Diego, CA. 20 Jul. 2014. Conference Presentation.
Tomaszewski, Brian. "20th Anniversary of Rwandan Genocide." Good Day Rochester. 13WHAM ABC TV. Rochester, NY. 7 Apr. 2014. Guest Lecture.
Tomaszewski, Brian. "GIS for the GIS: Opportunities and Applications." Golisano Institute for Sustainability Seminar Series. RIT. Rochester, NY. 3 Mar. 2014. Guest Lecture.
Tomaszewski, Brian. "New Humanities" Have Gone Digital." Faculty Institute on Teaching and Learning. Rochester Institute of Technology. Rochester, New York. 22 May 2013. Guest Lecture.
Tomaszewski, Brian. "Spatial Thinking and Serious Games: A Deeper Look at Geospatial Technology Practice." Sustainable Urban Development: International Perspectives on The University as Partner in the Transformation of The Post-Industrial City symposium sponsored by Malmo University, Malmo Sweden and Rochester Institute of Technology. Rochester Institute of Technology. Rochester, New York. 4 Oct. 2013. Lecture.
Tomaszewski, Brian and Anthony Vodacek. "Spatial Thinking, Disaster Risk and Visual Analytics: Case Studies from Rwanda." Geography Colloquium. University of Bonn Geography Department. Bonn, Germany. 15 Jul. 2013. Guest Lecture.
Tomaszewski, Brian. "Geographically Contextualizing Disasters." Ph.D. Program Colloquium series. GCCIS Computing and Information Sciences Ph.D. Program. Rochester, New York. 11 Jan. 2013. Lecture.
Tomaszewski, Brian. "Understanding Global Shock Impacts Through Natural Disasters: An Overview of the United Nations Global Pulse Rapid Impact and Vulnerability Analysis Fund (RIVAF) Project." American Association of Geographers Annual Conference. American Association of Geographers. New York, NY. 15 Feb. 2012. Conference Presentation.
Tomaszewski, Brian. "Locally Contextualizing Global Shocks." Coffee Hour series. Penn State Geography Department. State College, PA. 27 Nov. 2012. Keynote Speech.
Tomaszewski, Brian. "The Rochester Institute of Technology: Opportunities for Collaboration." Guest Lecture Series. United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS). Bonn, Germany. 15 Jul. 2012. Guest Lecture.
Tomaszewski, Brian. "A Visual Analytics Approach to Identifying Vulnerabilities Created by Global Shocks as Revealed by Natural Disaster Impacts." University of Buffalo Department of Geography Colloquium Series. University of Buffalo Department of Geography. University of Buffalo North Campus, Buffalo, NY. 14 Oct. 2011. Lecture.
Tomaszewski, Brian. "A Visual Analytics Approach to Understanding Poverty Assessment through Disaster Impacts in Latin America and Africa." Towards a Real-Time Understanding of Emerging Vulnerability. United Nations Global Pulse. UNICEF Headquarters, New York, NY. 14 Jul. 2011. Conference Presentation.
Published Game, Application or Software
Tomaszewski, Brian, Heintz, Andrew, and Mupenzi, Jules. Iwacu Spatial Thinking Android App. Phone or Smart Device App. Google Play. 2015.
Tomaszewski, Brian and Siddesh Pillali. ViruWiga Mobile Medical Education Android App. Phone or Smart Device App. Google Play. 2015.
Vo, Minh Quang, Bouchard, Beau, and Brian Tomaszewski. A Practical Approach to Mapping Job Growth in the GIS Industry. Software. RIT. 2012.
Shows/Exhibits/Installations
Tomaszewski, Brian. Geographic Information Science and Technology Exhibit. 5 May 2012. ImagineRIT, Rochester, NY. Exhibit.
Ziemke, Jen. Crowdsourced Data, Volunteer Activism and Crisis Mapping from a GIS Perspective. Director. Brian Tomaszewski. 25 Apr. 2012. Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY. Performance.
Tomaszewski, Brian. Visual Analysis of Global Shocks. 14 Nov. 2011. 3rd International Conference of Crisis Mappers, Geneva, Switzerland. Exhibit.

Currently Teaching

IGME-386
3 Credits
This course is targeted to students with a serious interest in geographical problem solving via underlying spatial algorithms. Students will learn how to compare and contrast different specific spatial algorithms for solving specific geographic problems and develop proficiency with encoding and implementing spatial algorithms in computer programs. Students taking this course will gain a broad interdisciplinary skill set in how to think spatially and computationally through critical engagement of geographical problem solving.
IGME-599
1 - 6 Credits
The student will work independently under the supervision of a faculty advisor on a topic not covered in other courses.
IGME-771
3 Credits
This online course introduces students to the world of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Course lectures, reading assignments, and practical lab experiences will cover a mix of conceptual, practical and technical GIS topics. Topics include GIS data models, basic cartography, geodatabases, spatial analysis, GIS software, and theory and concepts from the Geographic Information Science and Technology domain.
IGME-772
3 Credits
This course examines concepts and techniques associated with dynamic map construction, usage, and assessment. Specific topics include thematic cartography, geographic information visualization, sources of dynamic geographic information, developing animated and interactive maps, mapping mashup development, using maps as a means to support group work, usability of dynamic maps, and current geovisualization research areas. Development of a visualization prototype and an associated scholarly paper in an area related to thematic cartography and geographic visualization are required.
IMGS-790
1 - 6 Credits
Masters-level research by the candidate on an appropriate topic as arranged between the candidate and the research advisor.
IMGS-799
1 - 4 Credits
This course is a faculty-directed tutorial of appropriate topics that are not part of the formal curriculum. The level of study is appropriate for student in their graduate studies.

In the News

  • January 9, 2023

    mosaic of five images of person with a tablet in a remote area, person with an off-road vehicle, person singing, person in a lab, and person with a leafy plant.

    Staying busy between semesters

    During the 15 weeks between spring and fall semester, RIT students are finding ways to embrace new challenges. Some are taking the stage and performing. Others are winning club championships. For many, summer is a time to get work experience and participate in research projects, traveling abroad, and helping others while pursuing their passions.