2025 Applied Research Fellows Study Accessibility for King County Parks
Posted: 9/4/2025 ()
Each summer, CSDE and the Population Health Initiative collaborate with CSDE External Affiliate Rebeccah Maskin (King County Demographer) to offer the interdisciplinary Applied Research Fellowship Program for UW undergraduates and graduate students. This summer, the Applied Research Fellowship team worked with stakeholders at King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks to assess accessibility of parks in urban unincorporated areas.
The team explored different measures of accessibility, eventually using spatial isochrone analysis that calculates walking distance based on walking speed and existing street and walkway infrastructure. Spatial cluster analysis of park access by Census block group identified low-access park clusters in urban areas of southwest King County. The team also conducted an on-the-ground assessment of park facilities, signage, and general accessibility at Dick Thurnau Memorial Park in White Center with informal interviews of park users. See their final presentation and report for more details.
The team was led by CSDE Research Scientist Jessica Godwin included 3 graduate students and 2 undergraduates:
- Xinyuan Hao (MS student, Environmental Health),
- Mark Nepf (PhD student, Evans School and CSDE Trainee),
- Annie Xu (PhD student, Psychology),
- Sarah Desai (Senior, Anthropology, Environmental Studies), and
- Nupur Gorkar (Senior, Human Centered Design & Engineering).