Cooper
Goodman

What does a typical day look like for you in your position?

A typical workday for me involves using a combination of Python, GitHub, SQL, and enterprise GIS applications to extract, transform, and load data (ETL), fix bugs, and document workflows. Most projects are prompted by inquisitive research questions presented in the workspace. As the project matures I assess its feasibility and produce digestible insights – by using available data, and geospatial software packages – for the management/stakeholders.

What is your favorite thing about your current position?

I enjoy being able to use Python and other reproducible methods to automate geospatial data analysis, for hazard mitigation and reduction of vulnerability. I also enjoy confronting complexities that underlie the process of data analysis while implementing best practices of data ethics and legibility in analyses. I also enjoy contributing to the integration of measures of social vulnerability in the decision making process.

How does what you learned at Texas A&M help you in your current role?

There’s perhaps more than can be put into words, but I feel the like MUP program unlocked my potential to critically analyze complex interdisciplinary problems with an adaptive tool belt of quantitative and qualitative methods, and a comprehensive world view grounded in theory.

Dr. Nathanael Rosenheim first introduced me to programming during my first Planning Methods course. I was also able to work as an intern for the Hazard Reduction and Recovery Center (HRRC) under Dr. Rosenheim where I got my first real taste of utilizing Python for geospatial analysis. Additionally, Dr. Rosenheim accepted my request to chair my professional paper on Reproducible Urban Planning Methods where I was able to really explore the fields of Data Ethics, Data Science, Complexity, and Urban Informatics. 

Additionally, Dr. Andrea Roberts and Dr. Michelle Meyer both imparted significant structure to my perception of the world through their teachings on Equity, Historical Analysis, Critical Theory, Environmental Hazards Planning, and Community Resilience. It is because of them that I am able to raise, or even to recognize, the questions of “why”, “how”, and “for who” that underpin every decisive action impacting the natural, built and social environments.

I would not be who I am today without the support and understanding of the Professors, Instructors, and Staff involved in the MUP Program and the intellectual challenges and life experiences they painstakingly curated and guided me through.

Why did you choose Texas A&M?

I’ll just admit it, I do not have the best or most feel good “why I chose” story but I will try to get the facts across.

I had previously graduated from Texas A&M with a B.S. in Bio-environmental Science and due to some personal circumstances and mental health battles I had let two years of my life slip away. It’s painful to reflect on but it’s the bitter truth.

I honestly only had the willpower to make one application and I was familiar with and prized the quality of education I had previously experienced at Texas A&M, as well as the Aggie Spirit.

Being accepted to the MUP program gave me something to live for and was a much needed opportunity to reinvent myself. This opportunity, combined with a second medical opinion which led to a correct diagnosis and effective treatment, set me with  a new passion for both learning and life that I hope to never lose sight of again.

What is your best piece of advice for incoming or current MUP students who want to work in the area of planning that you do?

Are you interested in learning about the growing intersection of how data, the methods of it’s collection, transformation, or visualization, and the ethical frameworks, cognitive biases, and limitations of the individuals or organizations who are creating, transforming or interpreting that data gets aggregated into the decisions that impart change the built environment? Do you want to understand the quantitative technical details as well as the qualitative political and social contexts that underpin these so called “data driven” decision making process and use them to help and collaborate with instead of harm and control individuals, communities, and society?

If that is the case, my best advice is to start small, don’t be afraid to fail, and constantly plug your questions and error codes into the search engine of your choice. Don’t worry about the syntax, it will come with time; it took me six months to understand how to write a “for” loop.

Use your classroom projects as opportunities to practice ingesting, analyzing and visualizing data with open source software such as Python or R. I would recommend Python primarily because the community is so large but also because NumPy, Pandas, and GeoPandas are bread and butter. There’s tons of publicly available data and content creators out there and again search engine will lead the way. Although, Kaggle datasets and awesome-lists on GitHub are both great resources.

It takes dedication to learning the skills needed for reproducible quantitative analysis, but they are lifelong skills and are very in demand! When just starting out you should expect the process of automating something to potentially take longer than doing it by hand but the practice is invaluable so just keep experimenting!

Also the APA Technology division exists so if you’re joining as a student member make sure to check them out! I learned how to use GitHub making contributions to their Urban & Regional Planning Resources awesome-lists repository.

Above all, don’t get too concentrated on trying to absorb the technical details to prevent thinking critically about the data, how you’re using it, and what story you are using the data to tell.

To succeed, you will need to blend the quantitative analysis with a qualitative narrative but that’s the sort of challenge that brought me to Urban Planning so I’m hoping that sort of thing sounds cool to you as well.

Good luck!