Congratulations to our Earth Observation Lab Assistant, Yeim We, who presented a compelling poster at the Urban Humanities Global (Un) Conference (October 16-18, 2025)!👏
Yeim is collaborating with Professor Leigh-Anna Hidalgo on research examining how race, immigration, policing, and labor law shape informal work in Los Angeles. Their work combines statistical spatial analysis of LAPD street vending arrest records (2010-2019) with seven years of ethnographic research alongside the Los Angeles Street Vendor Campaign.
Her poster, titled <Sidewalks of Struggle: Race, Street Vending, and Solidarity>, featured the geographical intersection of historical racial segregation patterns and street vending enforcement hotspots across Los Angeles City, while also highlighting key LASVC milestones and visual ethnography.🗺️
Here are Yeim’s reflections on the experience:
“Coming from a natural sciences background, it was an awesome opportunity to apply geospatial techniques in entirely new fields: urban humanities and social issues. The conference showed me just how essential spatial analysis is within urban humanities, and I was inspired by creative communication methods, like ‘@walkingcinema,’ that can extend research impact beyond academia through visual and digital storytelling.”
Yeim is continuing this work by performing geospatial analysis to create figures for Professor Hidalgo’s forthcoming book and plans to present the research using StoryMaps.
Stay tuned for more updates on this impactful project!✨
