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Morteza Karimzadeh and Terra McKinnish were awarded the ��������Ƶ RIO Seed Grant for the project entitled  “Recovering from a Pandemic: Unraveling Neighborhood Geographic Disparities in Consumer and Business Behavior in 2021”. They will use foot-traffic data to identify business patrons’ residence neighborhoods and the level of recovery in consumption by residents living in those neighborhoods as characterized by different sociodemographic, political and economic conditions.

The 2021 Research & Innovation Seed Grant program resulted in 16 new grants with approximately $700,000 being awarded to ��������Ƶ Boulder faculty across disciplines, with each grant providing up to $50,000 in funding.

Grant Reviewers' Comments

"The combination of spatial data with consumption and foot-traffic data will be an important contribution. This study is well-poised to ask a lot of other questions, perhaps larger in their scope. Regional analysis might uncover cultural and political insights regarding human behavior as we deal with the pandemic. This is such a great proposal, keep an eye on the bigger questions that can be answered by understanding how we have or haven't responded to the pandemic."

"This is an excellent proposal on a timely and pressing question - the effects of covid-19 on neighborhoods. The project seeks to empirically tackle the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on different neighborhoods. It's original, innovative and empirically sound."

"Excellent project design with innovative methods, situated in the literature, and addressing a significant gap in the scholarship with broader societal consequences."