From the 5th-7th of June, 2024, Dr. Chenfeng Xiong, the lead PI for one of the INFORM Africa pilot projects, alongside other members of the INFORM Africa hub, Dr. Houriiyah Tegally and Dr. Bruce Xin, facilitated an in-person training workshop on geospatial analysis and modeling of personal trips data at the IHVN campus in Nigeria.

The training prioritized, early career researchers, graduate and post-graduate students in public health, environmental Science, or related disciplines, with competence in harnessing human mobility, public health, and/or climate change data in their current research areas.

The training provided an opportunity for early career researchers to develop competency in geospatial modeling and analysis in practical sessions, using a multidisciplinary approach. The training sessions focused on using human mobility and personal trip data, examining hurricane events in the US, and understanding how these events influence mobility data. This provided insights for extrapolating into the Nigerian context to observe the influence of floods on mobility patterns. The models developed from this pilot project training will help predict mobility patterns across different geo-zones in response to natural disasters (such as floods) and aid in preparation for future pandemics.