On May 26, 2026, two Dartmouth undergraduates, Dankweli K. Mwaka ’27 and Bella Reyes ‘27, presented their research at the NEARC (Northeast Arc Users Group) Spring Conference at UMass-Amherst. Their poster, “BEYOND THE STORM: Understanding the Lasting Impact of Hurricane Katrina on Housing Equity in New Orleans, Louisiana,” was very well received at the conference, drawing enthusiastic attention and garnering constructive feedback from the conference attendees.
The study, advised by Dr. Meifang Li of the Geography Department, utilized GIS and spatial statistics to analyze the disaster's long-term effects on racial demographics and housing cost burdens. It found that levee failures disproportionately exposed predominantly Black and economically disadvantaged neighborhoods to severe flooding. Furthermore, while the total population declined significantly by 2010, the percentage of Black residents remained stable, indicating selective out-migration. The research demonstrates that post-disaster recovery efforts reinforced, rather than ameliorated, existing racial inequalities in housing access and affordability.
“The conference gave us the chance to connect with others who are passionate about using GIS to address social and environmental issues. We would like to thank Professor Li for her guidance and support throughout this project”, said Bella.
“It was exciting to have the opportunity to present our research and engage with other professionals and students working in the GIS industry. We received a lot of thoughtful feedback and valuable advice on ways to expand and refine our project, especially regarding additional spatial analysis methods and future research directions”, said Dankweli.
This study originated as a class project in Dr. Li’s GIS Programming and Databases course in Winter 2026. The students then expanded the analysis and brought it to a major GIS conference. Building on this momentum, Mwaka and Reyes plan to further refine the work toward academic publication.
Bella and Kweli talking to a conference attendee in front of their poster.
Bella (left), Kweli (center), and Dr. Meifang Li (right) in the conference lobby.