Roger White

Department of Geography
Memorial University of Newfoundland
St. John's, NL
A1B 3X9

Office: SN 2023
Tel: (709) 864-8999
Fax: (709) 864-3119

E mail: roger[at]mun.ca

Professor. BA, Swarthmore College; MA, PhD, University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill). University Research Professor (1997-2003).

Prior to coming to Memorial in 1977, I taught at the University of Western Ontario. I have also held visiting positions at McGill University, the University of California (Santa Barbara), and the Université de Dijon (now Université de Bourgogne). Since 1990, I have been associated with the Research Institute for Knowledge Systems in Maastricht, The Netherlands, where I collaborate in the development of new techniques for modelling geographical systems. In general, my research is aimed at understanding cities and regions as complex, self-organizing dynamic systems.

Teaching Interests

Economic and urban geography, theory of geographical systems, history and methodology of geography.

Course Pages

Research Interests

Integrated modelling of geographical systems; theory of geographical systems; urban systems. Developing techniques for understanding, modelling, and predicting change in geographical systems.

Current Research Projects

Development and testing of a generic, cellular automata based, regionalized land use forecasting tool for European cities
Development and testing of a variable grid cellular automaton suitable for modelling spatial processes at all scales within a single model.
Development of individual based models of resource based rural communities. The first application is to the lobster fishery of St. John Bay on the west coast of Newfoundland .
Development of evolutionary models of geographical systems.

Currently I am using cellular automata as a tool for modelling land use change, and then using the land use models as a basis for integrating models of other related phenomena—for example, economic, demographic, and environmental models. These integrated models provide insight into the complex ways that natural and human systems behave as they interact with each other. Some of these are currently being evaluated by government agencies for use as decision support and planning tools. This work is currently being carried out both in the geography department at Memorial University and in collaboration with the Research Institute for Knowledge Systems in Maastricht, The Netherlands. The individual based models deal with spatial processes at a much more detailed level. Where appropriate, they are combined with cellular based models in order to provide a dynamic representation of the integrated natural-human system.

Example: An Individual Based Model of the Lobster Fishery in St.John Bay (NL) (Download : Report and Software)

Selected Publications

White, R. 2006. Pattern Based Map Comparisons. Journal of Geographical Systems, 8: 145-164.
White, R. 2005. Modelling Multi-scale Processes in a Cellular Automata Framework. In J. Portugali (ed.), Complex Artificial Environments, Springer-Verlag: 165-178.
Straatman, B., White, R. and Engelen, G. 2004. Toward an Automatic Calibration Procedure for Constrained Cellular Automata. Computers, Environment, and Urban Systems, 28: 149-170.
White, R., Straatman, G. and Engelen, G. 2003. Planning Visualization and Assessment: A Cellular Automata Based Integrated Spatial Decision Support System. In M. Goodchild and D. Janelle, (Eds.) Best Practices in Spatially Integrated Social Science, Oxford University Press: 420-442.
Engelen, G., R. White and T. De Nijs. 2003. Environment Explorer: Spatial Support System for the Integrated Assessment of Socio-Economic and Environmental Policies in the Netherlands . Integrated Assessment, 4: 97-105.
Andersson, C., S. Rasmussen, S. and R. White . 2002. Urban Settlement Transitions. Environment and Planning B, 29: 841-865.
Andersson, C., K. Lindgren, S. Rasmussen and R. White, R. 2002. Urban Growth Simulation from First Principles. Physical Review E, 66 (026024): 1-9.
Engelen, G., R. White, I. Uljee, M. van der Meulen and B. Hahn . 2002. Sustainable Development of Islands: A Policy Support Framework for the Integrated Assessment of Socio-economic and Environmental Development. In H.-H. Hsiao, C.-H. Liu and H.-M. Tsai (Eds.), Sustainable Development for Island Societies: Taiwan and the World . Taipei: Academia Sinica: 251-287.
de Kok, J. L., G. Engelen, R. White and H. Wind. 2001. Modelling Land-Use Change in a Decision-Support System for Coastal-Zone Management, Environmental Modeling and Assessment, 6: 123-133.
Power, C., Simms, A. and White, R. 2001. Hierarchical Fuzzy Pattern Matching for the Regional Comparison of Land Use Maps. International Journal of GIS, 15: 77-100.
White, R., Engelen, G. and Uljee, I. 2000. Modelling Land Use Change with Linked Cellular Automata and Socio-Economic Models: A Tool for Exploring the Impact of Climate Change on the Island of St. Lucia . In M. Hill and R. Aspinall (eds.), Spatial Information for Land Use Management, Gordon and Breach: 189-204.
White, R. and Engelen, G. 2000. High Resolution Integrated Modelling of the Spatial Dynamics of urban and Regional Systems. Computers, Environment, and Urban Systems, 24: 383-400.
White, R., Engelen, G., Uljee, I. , Lavalle, C. and Ehrlich, D. 2000. Developing an Urban Land Use Simulator for European Cities. In K. Fullerton (ed.), Proceedings of the 5th EC GIS Workshop: GIS of Tomorrow, European Commission Joint Research Centre: 179-190.