Young-Kyung Kim is a student researcher with the Human Security and Geospatial Intelligence lab.
The Human Security and Geospatial Intelligence (HSGI) Lab has launched its website.
Under the direction of Principal Investigators COL [R] Steven D. Fleming, Ph.D, Professor of the Practice of Spatial Sciences and the Institute for Creative Technologies, and Andrew J. Marx, Ph.D., Associate Professor of the Practice of Spatial Sciences and the Institute for Creative Technologies, the HSGI lab is dedicated to advancing spatial algorithms and computing to inform public policy and reduce human suffering from humanitarian disasters and armed conflicts.
The HSGI Lab performs collaborative research and fieldwork with a wide array of governmental, non-governmental and human rights practitioners worldwide, including The Aerospace Corporation, Human Rights Watch, Physicians for Human Rights and the U.S. State Department.
In one project, the HSGI Lab is using computer vision algorithms to mine daily satellite imagery to detect when villages were destroyed in the recent genocide in Myanmar, corroborating in-field interviews of refugees.
Research Assistant Young-Kyung Kim, a sophomore at USC majoring in International Relations and Computational Linguistics and minoring in Human Security and Geospatial Intelligence is in her first semester at the HSGI Lab. Young-Kyung said, "Learning how to use the resources that we have ready access to--like Python--to corroborate satellite imagery with refugee accounts of being attacked in Myanmar is a really humbling experience. I'm so excited for when eventually the opportunity comes to actually address and keep international institutions accountable."
Organizations and USC students interested in opportunities at the Human Security and Geospatial Intelligence Lab are welcome to contact either Dr. Fleming or Dr.Marx for more information.
