David R. Parrish is currently a Senior Research Associate at the Social Science Research Center (SSRC) at Mississippi State University (MSU). He has a B.S. (1994) and M.S. (1996) in Industrial Engineering from MSU and is a PhD candidate in the Industrial Engineering doctoral program at MSU. His primary interests include decision support systems, data visualization, animation modeling, data management and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). He has twelve years of database management and GIS experience at the SSRC.

Mr. Parrish has made significant contributions to transportation research in the state of Mississippi. He is the project director for Mississippi’s annual Safety Belt Campaign Evaluation. By using a probabilistic sampling methodology on the Mississippi road network, hundreds of specific sites are chosen for observational research. A coordinated team of observers are utilized to collect safety information and report findings. All results are compiled and official safety belt and helmet use data for Mississippi are generated. This project is funded by the Office of Highway Safety, Division of Public Safety Planning, Mississippi Department of Public Safety.

David also is a research participant in the National Highway Watch (HWW) Analysis and Improvement Program which is another transportation related project with homeland security implications. Funded by the American Trucking Association (ATA), this project involves pragmatic evaluation of the program and strategic improvements development.

Utilizing his expertise in GIS, David has also developed multiple maps and temporal animations having homeland security implications. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, he developed shelter enrollment maps in an effort to efficiently disseminate an abundance of information to emergency management personnel. He also used Katrina’s wind speed ranges as a proxy in determining an approximate number of adults and children potentially affected in the most severely battered areas. Consequently, David’s extensive work with visualizing population demographics and layering of relevant data are an invaluable combination as a decision support tool in many research arenas, homeland security included.

Another of Mr. Parrish’s current studies focuses on lessons learned from the Katrina disaster. By surveying users and producers of spatial information, this study evaluates the use of spatial products as decision making aids during the aftermath of the storm. The aim of this study is to provide valuable feedback to the emergency response community for increased spatial communication effectiveness in the event of the next natural or willful disaster.

Mr. Parrish also provides research support under the auspices of the Family and Children Research Unit (FCRC) at SSRC. He provides expertise in the area of database management, statistical data analysis and GIS.

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