Tuuli Toivonen

Background

About Tuuli Toivonen

WHO? I am geographer and professor of geoinformatics based at the Department of Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki. I lead the @Digital Geography Lab. Since 2020, I am a proud life member of the Clare Hall, Cambridge, UK. MY RESEARCH: I focus on understanding dynamics of people and places, and their interactions, in both urban and natural areas. Most often, I use accessibility and mobility of people a lens to understand interactions between people, places and nature. Open/big data, spatial analytics and machine learning approaches play an important role in my research. My current projects include the five year ERC Consolidator grant project GREENTRAVEL (Greener Travel Environment for Everyone: from measured wellbeing impacts to big data analytics) and Kone Foundation funded MOBICON (Mobile Big Data for Understanding People in Nature), and participation in a related MSCA doctoral network VIMAS. OUR DIGITAL GEOGRAPHY LAB: I lead the transdisciplinary research group Digital Geography Lab. The lab hosts some 20 researchers working together with spatial big data analytics on a human scale for fair and sustainable societies. As a lab leader, I think a lot about how to support creativity, openness, kindness, and respect towards others in academic working life. In 2023, I completed a Specialist Vocational Qualification in Leadership and Business Management degree. TEACHING: I strive to develop MSc and PhD students’ expertise in geography, geoinformatics and spatial analytics, as well as their capacity for critical thinking. I’m responsible, together with colleagues, for the geoinformatics specialisation in the MSc programme in Geography and for teaching several courses from Introduction to Advanced Geoinformatics to more applied analysis courses on digtal geography and modelling accessibility and mobility of people. I'm keen on advancing good doctoral education, and acted several years as the vice-chair of DENVI doctoral programme. FOLLOW US! You can follow our work on Bluesky:@TuuliToivonen – @DigiGeoLab or in our Digital Geography Lab Blog.