UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Harvey J. Miller, professor of geography at Ohio State University, will give the talk "Mapping Columbus' Ghost Neighborhoods: Using AI and GIS to Create 3D Models of Neighborhoods Damaged by Urban Highways and Urban Renewal in the 20th Century" at the annual E. Willard and Ruby S. Miller Endowed Lecture at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, March 15.

The lecture will take place in 112 Walker Building on the University Park campus and also will be broadcast over Zoom.

Miller will discuss the "The Ghost Neighborhoods of Columbus" project, which integrates artificial intelligence and geographic information systems (GIS) with historical Sanborn Fire Insurance maps to generate 3D models of areas impacted by 20th-century urban policies. This project aims to illustrate the consequences of urban highway construction and urban renewal on communities.

Miller serves as the Bob and Mary Reusche Chair in Geographic Information Science and the Director of the Center for Urban and Regional Analysis at Ohio State University. Miller earned his doctoral degree in geography from Ohio State University and his research focuses on sustainable, resilient and equitable mobility and communities. His work contributes to the field of spatial and moving objects analytics, with a special interest in transportation, traffic safety and public health.

The Department of Geography Miller Lecture Series is designed to bring eminent geographers to Penn State and is a gift to the department from the late E. Willard and Ruby S. Miller. E. W. Miller was a professor of geography, department head, and associate dean emeritus in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. Ruby Miller, his wife significantly contributed as a teacher, artist and geographer, especially in establishing the department’s map collection, foundational to the Hamer Maps Library.