\n social vulnerability index<\/a> that’s calculated for this huge area —kind of like Northwestern Alaska —it’s not really representative of where people are actually living, so that was sort of one of the motivations. ”\n<\/p>\n
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Most maps of Alaska show governmental boundaries and geographic features, but offer little insight into where people live or which places might be especially vulnerable to pandemic or in need of relief.<\/p>\n
A new project made by John Harley, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Alaska Southeast, attempts to show exactly that via an interactive map of the state that identifies the pockets of populations scattered throughout the state and identifies potentially at-risk areas using factors such as age, financial security and more.<\/p>\n
“The census regions and blocks and block groups that the Census Bureau uses to kind of slice up the populations, those work pretty well in heavily populated areas,” Harley said. “But one of the stipulations of those areas is they have to fill in the entire area of the stat, whereas in Alaska, you don’t have many people or any people living some pretty vast swaths of land. Having a
\n social vulnerability index<\/a> that’s calculated for this huge area —kind of like Northwestern Alaska —it’s not really representative of where people are actually living, so that was sort of one of the motivations. ”\n<\/p>\n\n