Boston Area Research Initiative
@bariboston.bsky.social
We pursue civic research to advance social, economic, & environmental justice.
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/BARI_NU
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/BARI_NU
Are you or someone you know a @northeasternu.bsky.social student with work study hours in Spring 2026? Come work with us at BARI! You can help plan the amazing BARI Conference, run our socials, and engage with a fun team that cares about the community! Apply via Workday or via the link in our bio.
November 10, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Are you or someone you know a @northeasternu.bsky.social student with work study hours in Spring 2026? Come work with us at BARI! You can help plan the amazing BARI Conference, run our socials, and engage with a fun team that cares about the community! Apply via Workday or via the link in our bio.
BARI Conference 2025 included a panel focused on indoor air quality studies in Greater Boston, so we know it's important! Congrats to our friends at @boston.gov and @patriciafabian.bsky.social for this important work to monitor air quality in every BPS classroom!
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/26/s...
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/26/s...
A tiny device is identifying invisible health hazards in Boston schools - The Boston Globe
Boston Public Schools is using a nation-leading network of air quality sensors to improve classroom air.
www.bostonglobe.com
October 28, 2025 at 2:39 PM
BARI Conference 2025 included a panel focused on indoor air quality studies in Greater Boston, so we know it's important! Congrats to our friends at @boston.gov and @patriciafabian.bsky.social for this important work to monitor air quality in every BPS classroom!
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/26/s...
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/26/s...
As SNAP benefits decline and food insecurity rates increase, some Boston City Councilors are discussing the not topic of city-owned grocery stores. What do you think? @julianagyeman.bsky.social
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/21/o...
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/21/o...
Publicly owned grocery stores could be Boston’s answer to food insecurity - The Boston Globe
City-owned grocery stores prioritize benefits to local communities over corporate profit, enabling lower prices.
www.bostonglobe.com
October 23, 2025 at 6:55 PM
As SNAP benefits decline and food insecurity rates increase, some Boston City Councilors are discussing the not topic of city-owned grocery stores. What do you think? @julianagyeman.bsky.social
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/21/o...
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/21/o...
BARI Team Members Sarah Sanchez & Josh Rosen spoke at the NetMob conference in Paris! They talked about a collaboration with the SUNLab on how to use cellphone mobility data to determine patterns of segregation in how folks move about our city each day. #CivicResearch #DataScience #MobilityData
October 21, 2025 at 3:38 PM
BARI Team Members Sarah Sanchez & Josh Rosen spoke at the NetMob conference in Paris! They talked about a collaboration with the SUNLab on how to use cellphone mobility data to determine patterns of segregation in how folks move about our city each day. #CivicResearch #DataScience #MobilityData
Northeastern's iSUPER mobile lab is hitting the streets of Boston! Led by Prof. Shang Liu, the van measures everything from particulate matter to nitrogen oxides, tracking how far emission plumes travel into communities, empowering them to advocate for cleaner air in their own neighborhoods.
October 17, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Northeastern's iSUPER mobile lab is hitting the streets of Boston! Led by Prof. Shang Liu, the van measures everything from particulate matter to nitrogen oxides, tracking how far emission plumes travel into communities, empowering them to advocate for cleaner air in their own neighborhoods.
Our Data Consultant Allison Wan led a Boston Data Portal workshop with Professor Robert Sampson's "Crime and Justice in a Changing America" course at Harvard. You can attend the same workshop for FREE by joining us on November 10th from 5:30-7:00 PM at Northeastern Crossing by Ruggles Station!
October 17, 2025 at 5:02 PM
Our Data Consultant Allison Wan led a Boston Data Portal workshop with Professor Robert Sampson's "Crime and Justice in a Changing America" course at Harvard. You can attend the same workshop for FREE by joining us on November 10th from 5:30-7:00 PM at Northeastern Crossing by Ruggles Station!
New from Boston Indicators: One Big Beautiful Bill could deepen wealth inequality for decades to come. Beyond immediate income effects, the report analyzes how tax changes, safety net cuts, and education reforms will impact working families' ability to save, invest, and build financial security.
October 15, 2025 at 1:41 AM
New from Boston Indicators: One Big Beautiful Bill could deepen wealth inequality for decades to come. Beyond immediate income effects, the report analyzes how tax changes, safety net cuts, and education reforms will impact working families' ability to save, invest, and build financial security.
@bsky.app BARI Director Dan O'Brien will be at the Harvard Center for Geographic Analysis on Oct. 30th from 3-4PM in Knafel 354 to talk about his book, The Pointillistic City!
October 9, 2025 at 6:39 PM
@bsky.app BARI Director Dan O'Brien will be at the Harvard Center for Geographic Analysis on Oct. 30th from 3-4PM in Knafel 354 to talk about his book, The Pointillistic City!
In an interview on @wbztv.bsky.social, Dan O'Brien pointed out that young people who participated in events like those this past weekend in Greater Boston are unlikely to be thinking in the moment about the intensity of the penalties they might face. #Criminology
www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/...
www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/...
Boston police union president blames "lack of prosecution" for violence against officers
The president of the Boston Police Patrolmen's Association said the torching of a police cruiser is the latest evidence of escalating violence towards police.
www.cbsnews.com
October 7, 2025 at 7:30 PM
In an interview on @wbztv.bsky.social, Dan O'Brien pointed out that young people who participated in events like those this past weekend in Greater Boston are unlikely to be thinking in the moment about the intensity of the penalties they might face. #Criminology
www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/...
www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/...
Reposted by Boston Area Research Initiative
The Boston Cultural Council Organizational Grant application is now open! 🎉
These grants will provide small and mid-sized organizations (with budgets less than $2 million) up to $10,000 to support their general operating costs.
Learn more and apply: www.boston.gov/departments/...
These grants will provide small and mid-sized organizations (with budgets less than $2 million) up to $10,000 to support their general operating costs.
Learn more and apply: www.boston.gov/departments/...
October 2, 2025 at 8:47 PM
The Boston Cultural Council Organizational Grant application is now open! 🎉
These grants will provide small and mid-sized organizations (with budgets less than $2 million) up to $10,000 to support their general operating costs.
Learn more and apply: www.boston.gov/departments/...
These grants will provide small and mid-sized organizations (with budgets less than $2 million) up to $10,000 to support their general operating costs.
Learn more and apply: www.boston.gov/departments/...
What drove #mentalhealth recovery after the pandemic? A survey by BARI and UMass Boston Center for Survey Research found that Boston neighborhoods where activity rebounded more quickly after lockdown saw less decline in mental health. #CivicResearch www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Diminished Mental Well-Being in the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Infection Risk, Social Disconnection, and Income Loss at the Individual and Neighborhood Levels
The decline in mental well-being in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic occurred in the context of risk of infection, diminished social connecti…
www.sciencedirect.com
October 2, 2025 at 8:51 PM
What drove #mentalhealth recovery after the pandemic? A survey by BARI and UMass Boston Center for Survey Research found that Boston neighborhoods where activity rebounded more quickly after lockdown saw less decline in mental health. #CivicResearch www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
BARI Director Dan O'Brien's research refuting the "Broken Windows Theory" was cited in a @nytimes.com piece today. Check it out in the gift article linked below. #ResearchMatters #CivicResearch #Data #Criminology
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/29/b...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/29/b...
Trump’s Tactics on Crime
www.nytimes.com
September 29, 2025 at 9:54 PM
BARI Director Dan O'Brien's research refuting the "Broken Windows Theory" was cited in a @nytimes.com piece today. Check it out in the gift article linked below. #ResearchMatters #CivicResearch #Data #Criminology
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/29/b...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/29/b...
The What The Tech? Website is officially LIVE!
Now there’s a website showcasing the work of the 2024 WTT? cohort that focuses on AI, ethics, and the community. Educators can access the FREE, open-source curriculum that was created through the project.
#YouthVoices #CommunityPartners #BARI
Now there’s a website showcasing the work of the 2024 WTT? cohort that focuses on AI, ethics, and the community. Educators can access the FREE, open-source curriculum that was created through the project.
#YouthVoices #CommunityPartners #BARI
September 19, 2025 at 6:38 PM
The What The Tech? Website is officially LIVE!
Now there’s a website showcasing the work of the 2024 WTT? cohort that focuses on AI, ethics, and the community. Educators can access the FREE, open-source curriculum that was created through the project.
#YouthVoices #CommunityPartners #BARI
Now there’s a website showcasing the work of the 2024 WTT? cohort that focuses on AI, ethics, and the community. Educators can access the FREE, open-source curriculum that was created through the project.
#YouthVoices #CommunityPartners #BARI
Our friends at the Sasaki Foundation have some very cool events coming up for the #design community! Join them on 9/25 for a conversation on how mobility equity takes shape in design and on 9/30 & 10/3rd for the Future of Collaborative Design Symposium! Go to sasakifoundation.org for more info.
September 19, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Our friends at the Sasaki Foundation have some very cool events coming up for the #design community! Join them on 9/25 for a conversation on how mobility equity takes shape in design and on 9/30 & 10/3rd for the Future of Collaborative Design Symposium! Go to sasakifoundation.org for more info.
The BARI September Newsletter is full of stories, resources, and events in Greater Boston's #CivicResearch, Data, and Design community this fall. Check it out and join our email list to get the next one directly in your inbox. myemail.constantcontact.com/September-Ne...
September Newsletter
Email from Northeastern University School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs Autumn Updates on the BARI Team and Opportunities and Events in the Civic Research Community September Newsletter Fall Seme
myemail.constantcontact.com
September 16, 2025 at 7:05 PM
The BARI September Newsletter is full of stories, resources, and events in Greater Boston's #CivicResearch, Data, and Design community this fall. Check it out and join our email list to get the next one directly in your inbox. myemail.constantcontact.com/September-Ne...
Reposted by Boston Area Research Initiative
Don’t miss the biggest 🚨Emergency Preparedness⚠️ events in #Boston on Sept 13th & September 25th! Visit Boston.gov/Fieldday to register today and get more information! #ReadyBoston
August 26, 2025 at 12:16 AM
Don’t miss the biggest 🚨Emergency Preparedness⚠️ events in #Boston on Sept 13th & September 25th! Visit Boston.gov/Fieldday to register today and get more information! #ReadyBoston
Boston has another heat wave this week & some streets will be hotter than others! BARI Director Dan O'Brien's piece in @theconversation.com looks at the #heatislandeffect just blocks apart in #Roxbury. Sensors can help us ID the hottest spots for change efforts.
theconversation.com/inside-an-ur...
theconversation.com/inside-an-ur...
Inside an urban heat island, one street can be much hotter than its neighbor – new tech makes it easier to target cooling projects
New technologies are making it easier to find these urban heat islets, opening the door to new strategies for efficiently improving community health.
theconversation.com
August 11, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Boston has another heat wave this week & some streets will be hotter than others! BARI Director Dan O'Brien's piece in @theconversation.com looks at the #heatislandeffect just blocks apart in #Roxbury. Sensors can help us ID the hottest spots for change efforts.
theconversation.com/inside-an-ur...
theconversation.com/inside-an-ur...
Our Common SENSES Project team was excited to be at the Dudley Common Farmers' Market yesterday! We heard from residents about where to put sensors to track heat, noise, and air pollution. Join us there next Thursday to share your ideas! @boston.gov #environment #airquality #heatislandeffect
August 1, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Our Common SENSES Project team was excited to be at the Dudley Common Farmers' Market yesterday! We heard from residents about where to put sensors to track heat, noise, and air pollution. Join us there next Thursday to share your ideas! @boston.gov #environment #airquality #heatislandeffect
Reposted by Boston Area Research Initiative
You teach about the American Revolution every year—but not every year is the 💥semiquincentennial💥
This virtual program will take place Wednesday, August 13 at 10 AM and you can register via the link in our bio.
We hope to see you this summer!
#bpl #LMEC #AmRev #MA250 #revwar #teacherpd
This virtual program will take place Wednesday, August 13 at 10 AM and you can register via the link in our bio.
We hope to see you this summer!
#bpl #LMEC #AmRev #MA250 #revwar #teacherpd
July 30, 2025 at 3:34 PM
We learned about the MA Zoning Atlas from @johninfranca.bsky.social on our "Re-imagining Zoning" panel with Jesse Kanson-Benanav of @abundanthousingma.org at BARI Conference 2025! We're excited to see how it can help address the housing crisis. #DemocratizeData
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/07/17/b...
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/07/17/b...
96 percent of Massachusetts is off limits to most apartment buildings. Some hope a new map will change that. - The Boston Globe
The Massachusetts Zoning Atlas is part of a broader effort to document the zoning of every state in the United States.
www.bostonglobe.com
July 17, 2025 at 4:41 PM
We learned about the MA Zoning Atlas from @johninfranca.bsky.social on our "Re-imagining Zoning" panel with Jesse Kanson-Benanav of @abundanthousingma.org at BARI Conference 2025! We're excited to see how it can help address the housing crisis. #DemocratizeData
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/07/17/b...
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/07/17/b...
Congrats to Chelsea, MA for being named an All-America City by @civicleague.bsky.social! #CivicInnovation #EnvironmentalJustice www.chelseama.gov/news_detail_...
Chelsea Named 2025 All-America City!
www.chelseama.gov
July 15, 2025 at 2:21 PM
Congrats to Chelsea, MA for being named an All-America City by @civicleague.bsky.social! #CivicInnovation #EnvironmentalJustice www.chelseama.gov/news_detail_...
How influential are influencers, anyway? Our July newsletter profiles PhD student Allison Wan who just published a paper on new ways to model & measure behavior diffusion among social networks. You'll also find cool #civicresearch events & opps in Boston this summer. Check it out! conta.cc/3GuK9b8
July 10, 2025 at 4:53 PM
How influential are influencers, anyway? Our July newsletter profiles PhD student Allison Wan who just published a paper on new ways to model & measure behavior diffusion among social networks. You'll also find cool #civicresearch events & opps in Boston this summer. Check it out! conta.cc/3GuK9b8
Congrats to Boston Latin Academy for its Research Festival today, where students' projects covered a wide array of topics! Thanks to friends from UMass Boston & Lowell, @boston.gov & BARI for being judges. Look for winners Eliana and Gianna when they share their research at BARI Conference 2026!
June 13, 2025 at 6:01 PM
Congrats to Boston Latin Academy for its Research Festival today, where students' projects covered a wide array of topics! Thanks to friends from UMass Boston & Lowell, @boston.gov & BARI for being judges. Look for winners Eliana and Gianna when they share their research at BARI Conference 2026!
Director Dan O'Brien and colleagues' new essay on the urgency for further integrating #dataliteracy (and AI) into K-12 education, and some strategies for doing so, is out now in the Harvard Data Science Review! @thehdsr
hdsr.mitpress.mit.edu/pub/o1nj6f46...
hdsr.mitpress.mit.edu/pub/o1nj6f46...
Integrating Data Literacy Into K–12 Education
hdsr.mitpress.mit.edu
May 27, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Director Dan O'Brien and colleagues' new essay on the urgency for further integrating #dataliteracy (and AI) into K-12 education, and some strategies for doing so, is out now in the Harvard Data Science Review! @thehdsr
hdsr.mitpress.mit.edu/pub/o1nj6f46...
hdsr.mitpress.mit.edu/pub/o1nj6f46...
LOOK: BARI Director Dan O’Brien’s new Perspective in Nature Cities! It describes the pointillistic approach to urban science, from civic research to big data explorations. A bite-size teaser for his book, The Pointillistic City!
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
The pointillistic city and geographic scale in urban science - Nature Cities
Cities can be organized and viewed many ways, as by neighborhoods, streets and so on. This Perspective argues for integrating multiple scales into urban science through a pointillistic approach.
www.nature.com
May 15, 2025 at 3:09 PM
LOOK: BARI Director Dan O’Brien’s new Perspective in Nature Cities! It describes the pointillistic approach to urban science, from civic research to big data explorations. A bite-size teaser for his book, The Pointillistic City!
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
www.nature.com/articles/s44...