Hi Everyone!

My name is Duncan, and I’m currently an undergraduate student at the University of Toronto. I’m pursuing a double major in Economics and Statistics, with coursework and interests that sit at the intersection of data analysis, spatial thinking, and public policy. I’m excited to be part of the ECCE Student Associates program this school year.

I started out in UofT’s Commerce program in my first year, but I realized that I wanted more exposure to working with data and statistics, which led me to make the switch. Since then, my academic background has become increasingly quantitative, and I’ve grown particularly interested in how data tools can be used to understand urban and transportation contexts. That interest led me to take a GIS course at UofT, where I thoroughly enjoyed the process of visualizing spatial inequalities and confirmed my interested in geospatial analysis.

My interest and first encouter with GIS goes back to high school. During a project on urban stress, I used ArcGIS Online to map building height data that our group collected. That experience, made me aware and interested in how GIS is used in urban settings, not just for visualization, but as a way to analyze and interpret spatial patterns. Since then, I’ve wanted to build on that interest by combining GIS with the statistics and economics I study now, using geospatial data to explore questions related to cities, mobility, and urban issues. My domains of interest include transportation systems, mobility equity, and urban analytics, and I’m particularly interested in how GIS can be integrated with statistical modeling, econometrics, and simulation to study questions such as accessibility, service disparities, and the impacts of urban policy interventions.

Through ECCE, I’m hoping to further develop practical GIS skills and better understand how GIS is used urban and transport planning and modelling. I’m also looking forward to participating in the 2026 App Challenge, and connecting with other associates who share a similar interest in GIS.