Harrison Cole is a PhD candidate and member of the GeoVISTA Center in the Department of Geography at Penn State. He holds a BA in Geography from The University of Texas at Austin and an MA in Geography as well as a Graduate Certificate in Social Theory from the University of Kentucky.
His research currently focuses on the design, production, and evaluation of tactile maps for their potential use in flood mitigation planning by blind people. This research is investigating workflows for designing tactile maps as well as their capacity to foster collaboration between people with different levels of visual perception during the hazard mitigation planning process.
Other interests include biogeography, movement ecology, environmental justice, mixed media maps, transit maps, historical maps, early digital cartography and geospatial visualization in landscape architecture.