About The Built Environment and Health (BEH) Project

Built Environment and Health (BEH) Research Group is an interdisciplinary program of research at Columbia University. Led by epidemiologist Andrew Rundle and sociologist Kathryn Neckerman, BEH uses spatial data to examine the impact of the built environment, including land use, public transit, and housing on physical activity, diet, obesity, and other aspects of health. The group has participants from public health, social science, and urban planning with a research staff based at the Department of Epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health and at the Columbia Population Research Center. Other members of the team are at New York University, American University and Smith College.

Visit the BEH official website

BEH GIS Staff

James Quinn

Senior Geographer/GIS Analyst

James Quinn is a Geographer and Senior Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Analyst based at the Department of Epidemiology at Columbia University. He received both his BA and MA in Geography from the University of Northern Iowa. Quinn conducts medical geography research and works on numerous grant-funded research projects where he is responsible for the acquisition, management, development, and linkage of retrospective and modern spatial databases measuring neighborhood characteristics with individual-level data. Using non-routine spatial modeling techniques, Quinn, makes connections between the changes in the physical, economic, and social environments, and evaluates their affect on the development of changes in physical activity, patterns of obesity, and health risk. Quinn also supports other researchers with health-related projects involving a spatial perspective, and collaborates with other colleagues to enhance and promote the use of spatial analysis in teaching and research at Columbia.

Daniel M. Sheehan

Senior Geographer/GIS Analyst

Daniel M. Sheehan is a Geographer and Geospatial/Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Analyst at the Department of Epidemiology at Columbia University. As a member of the Built Environment and Health Project research group he builds, maintains and processes geospatial databases for environmental health-related projects. Danny earned a BA in Geography from Geneseo and completed his MA in Geography/Specialization in GIS from University at Buffalo. Prior to joining the BEH GIS research team, he worked as a GIS Analyst for engineering firms, managing engineering design data and analyzing impacts on the built social and natural environment as part of the EIS process. Daniel’s personal website