Remote Residential Research

August 2011

Candice Odgers, Associate Professor of Psychology and Social Behavior, is using Google map technology in a research study to better understand how community factors influence children's health and behavior. People who grow up in neighborhoods without a safe place to play are more likely to be obese and residents near parks or green space tend to have lower levels of anxiety and depression. The aerial maps, provided by Google Earth, help the researchers to easily distinguish and qualify green space. Street View lets them stroll remotely down a roadway and zoom in on such items as rundown buildings, vacant lots, graffiti and garbage to determine areas of concern.

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