Catherine T. Lawson, Director
Catherine Lawson is Department Chair and an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography and Planning. In addition, she is an Affiliated Faculty member of the Department of Informatics, in the College of Computing and Information at the University at Albany-State University of New York. She received her BA in Accounting and Economics from Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA, in 1988. She received her MA in Economics in 1995, MURP in Urban Planning in 1997, and PhD in Urban Studies/Regional Science, in 1998, from Portland State University (PSU), Portland, Oregon. Her research interests include advanced uses of archived intelligent transportation systems (ITS) data and spatial analysis/geographic information systems (GIS) applications for transportation planning and analysis for freight, transit, and passenger travel. As the Director of the Lewis Mumford Center (LMC) at the University at Albany, she established the University at Albany Visualization and Informatics Lab (AVAIL), a “new generation” research lab, specializing in advanced data-driven visualization and informatics.
Alex Muro, Lead Programmer
Alex Muro, builds web-based full-stack Javascript data science programs. He has worked as Dr. Lawson's Research Assistant since 2007. He is the mastermind behind all of the projects in AVAIL's portfolio. He is also a radio DJ, recording artist and is active in Albany's indie music scene.
Eric Krans
Before Joining AVAIL/Mumford Center in the summer of 2014, Program Manager, Eric Krans, spent eight years building food access programs at the successful non-profit Capital Roots in Troy, NY, including the often replicated mobile produce market The Veggie Mobile. Eric wears many hats at AVAIL and Mumford Center: Project Management, Human Resources, Grant Writing, Graphic Design, Web-Design, and Strategy. He is a song-writer and recording artist and a member of the band The Parlor.
Eric Conklin
Programmer, Eric Conklin, joined AVAIL/Mumford center as a graduate student, pursuing a Masters in Computer Science. He graduated in December 2014 and joined AVAIL full-time in January 2015.
Affiliated CSDA / Mumford Staff
- Jin-Wook Lee, GIS Manager
- Ruby Wang, Statistical Consultant/Programmer
- Hui-Shien Tsao, User Support Manager
- Jeff Napierala , Web Programmer/ Data Analyst