March 17, 2021 | Atlanta, GA

By Zoe Kafkes

Assistant Professor for City and Regional Planning and Interactive Computing Clio Andris was chosen to receive the National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) award. Her proposal is called, “A Research and Educational Framework for Incorporating Spatial Heterogeneity into Social Network Analysis.”

Andris’ research is focused on social networks. She is only the second faculty member at the School of City and Regional Planning to receive the NSF CAREER award.

“This project will help create infrastructure (software, methods, best practices, tutorials, teaching resources) for the analysis of social spatial networks. These networks tell stories about how relationships persist and thrive in the built environment, who is connected to whom (and where), and where 'power' resides in the built environment. It can also show us what kinds of obstacles may hinder relationships, and what kinds of amenities can help relationships—which is important for planners,” Andris said.

Andris is the director of the Friendly Cities Lab affiliated with the Center for Spatial Planning Analytics and Visualization (CSPAV).

“Prof. Clio Andris' CAREER award is testimony to her amazing ability to develop a strong and novel research program by developing relationships across disciplines, colleges, and institutions,” Subhrajit Guhathakurta, Chair for the School of City & Regional Planning and Director of CSPAV, said.

“She occupies a unique niche in our school being the first faculty recruited to support the upcoming master of urban analytics degree and the first faculty hired with joint appointment at a school in the College of Computing. She has embraced the vision for this position and has taken it to a higher plane,” he said.

"Interactive Computing appreciates all the collaboration and interaction Prof. Andris does with us, and we were so excited to learn that she won an NSF Career Award. This will help support the great work being done in her Friendly Cities Lab,” John Statsko, Regents Professor and Interim Chair for the School of Interactive Computing, said.

The NSF CAREER award is considered among the NSF’s most prestigious awards. It is intended to support faculty early in their careers as they grow into academic leaders and role models. For more information on the NSF CAREER program, please click here.