UNF students use data science skills to help solve problems affecting Northeast Florida residents

Student researchers from the University of North Florida and across the state recently used their data science skills to tackle issues related to generational wealth transfer issues, arts education programming in K-12 schools and the impact of nonprofits on communities. 

In late July, UNF’s Florida Data Science for Social Good (FL-DSSG) program held its annual event, “The Big Reveal,” featuring presentations by student research teams discussing their findings and recommendations for solving wicked problems affecting Northeast Florida residents. Wicked problems are complex social issues with no clear, definitive solutions.  

Led by Dr. Dan Richard, professor of psychology, and Dr. Karthikeyan Umapathy, professor of information systems, the FL-DSSG is in its eighth year and serves as the third longest running DSSG program in the world – according to Richard. 

Umapathy says participating in FL-DSSG internships provides students with a wealth of knowledge relevant to effecting social change that cannot be acquired in a classroom. 

“By participating in FL-DSSG projects, students learn the intricacies of handling sensitive data, the value of community partnerships and how to find actionable insights that lead to meaningful community impacts,” he said. 

Held at WJCT Studios in Downtown Jacksonville, this year’s “Big Reveal” event featured presentations by three teams comprised of eight graduate students from Florida universities, including five UNF students. The respective student teams participated in an intense, 11-week summer internship conducting data-based research projects for three local nonprofit organizations including: 

• LISC Jacksonville: Interns conducted research to address generational wealth transfer issues relevant to women homeowners. 
• The Cathedral Arts Project: Interns gauged the impact of arts education programs in K-12 schools. 
• Nonprofit Center for Northeast Florida: Interns identified indicators of thriving and at-risk nonprofit organizations, and their impacts on the community. 

UNF graduate student Asrafi Yesmin, a mathematical sciences major who served as team lead for the LISC Jacksonville project team, said her internship experience opened her eyes to gender disparities and equity issues concerning homeownership. 

“In my role, I worked with census data to identify the demographic data of properties and property owners,” she said. “The data shows many women inherit homes, and their names are not on the property deed, so they are unable to legally transfer ownership to the next generation. Our research assists LISC Jacksonville in their efforts to help families protect generational wealth and secure homeownership.” 

Yesmin said her internship experience helped develop the idea for her thesis dealing with Jacksonville’s temperature and home construction projects. She plans to use her mathematical expertise to identify what is going to be the temperature impact of reducing the use of building materials such as bricks and increasing grass landscapes. 

For graduate student Bryce Bentley, a psychological and brain sciences major who interned with The Cathedral Arts Project, said his time as a FL-DSSG intern helped with practical skills development. 

“I learned a lot of great skills and one of them was collaboration,” he said. “Coming into the internship, I had a lot of assumptions and I was wrong many times. Becoming okay with being wrong and going back to the drawing board was something I found beneficial.” 

Bentley further said contributing to research that shows art education programs can positively impact school success was a great feeling. 

Among the attendees and speakers at this year’s research event were UNF President Dr. Moez Limayem, who gave closing remarks, and Dr. Parvez Ahmed, chief of analytics in the Office of Mayor Donna Deegan. 

In addition to “The Big Reveal,” FL-DSSG also hosts the annual AI for Good Hackathon, a purpose-driven weekend event held in the fall that brings together students who are passionate about working on data, Cloud, and AI technologies to create meaningful societal impacts. 

Learn more about FL-DSSG by visiting the program’s website.