Matthew Toro
Tempe Campus
Matthew Toro is a broadly trained geographer currently serving as the director of maps, imagery, and geospatial services at ASU Library.
He leads projects and programming at the Map and Geospatial Hub, ASU's library-based center for GIS, remote sensing, geovisualization, and the related technologies needed to transform geospatial data into powerful, value-added information.
Matt's produced insights on subjects ranging from land use conflicts in the agrarian landscapes of southern Laos, to the social impacts of the built environment in greater Miami. He's the founder and editor of Miami Geographic, an urban geography data visualization blog about the Miami metro region.
The ASU Library Map and Geospatial Hub supports and leads a wide variety of applied mapping and spatial analysis projects. Through the Hub, Matthew's currently engaged in two major research initiatives:
Assessment of metropolitan Phoenix's built environments across the rural-to-urban spectrum and the relationships of those environments to the mobility and safety of pedestrians and cyclists. He's pursuing this project as an inaugural (2019) fellow in the ASU Knowledge Exchange for Resilience.
Construction of a cartographic history of the greater Grand Canyon region and the role of mapping in fostering geographical consciousness of that (now) iconic landscape. He recently oversaw the unprecedented Mapping Grand Canyon Conference held at ASU in Spring 2019.
Master of Arts, Geography, University of Miami
Bachelor of Arts, Geography and International Relations, Florida International University
Toro, M. (2019). Rescaling Geography: Grand Canyon Exploratory and Topographic Mapping, 1777-1978. Journal of Arizona History. 60(4). pp. 621-654.
Perrino, T.; Lombard, J.; Rundek, T.; Wang, K.; Dong, C.; Gutierrez, C.M.; Toro, M.; Byrne, M.; Nardi, M.I.; Kardys, J.; Szpocznik, J.; Brown, S. C. (2019). Neighborhood Greenness and Depression among Older Adults. The British Journal of Psychiatry. 215(2). pp. 476-480.
Brown, S. C.; Perrino, T.; Lombard, J.; Wang, K.; Toro, M.; Rundek, T.; Gutierrez, C.M.; Dong, C.; Plater-Zyberk, E.; Nardi, M.I.; Kardys, J.; Szpocznik, J. (2018). Health Disparities in the Relationship of Neighborhood Greenness to Mental Health Outcomes in 249,405 US Medicare Beneficiaries. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 15(3).
Brown, S. C.; Lombard, J.; Wang, K.; Byrne, M.; Toro, M.; Plater-Zyberk, E., Feaster, D. J.; Kardys, J.; Nardi, M., Perez-Gomez; G., Pantin, H.; & Szapocznik, J. (2016). Neighborhood greenness and chronic health conditions in Medicare beneficiaries. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 51(1). pp. 78-89.
Brown, S.C.; Lombard, J.; Toro, M.; Huang, S.; Perrino, T.; Perez-Gomez, G.; Plater-Zyberk, E.; Pantin, H.; Kumar, N.; Wang, K.; Szapocznik, J. (2014). Walking and Proximity to the Urban Growth Boundary and Central Business District. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 47(4). pp. 481-486.
Brown, S. C.; Pantin, H.; Lombard, J.; Toro, M.; Huang, S.; Plater-Zyberk, E.; Perrino, T.; Perez-Gomez, G.; Barrera-Allen, L.; & Szapocznik, J. (2013). Walk Score®: Associations with Purposive Walking in Recent Cuban Immigrants to the US. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 45(2). pp. 202-206.
Delang, C.O.; Toro, M.; Charlet-Phommachanh, M. (2013). Coffee, Mines, and Dams: Conflicts Over Land in the Bolaven Plateau, Southern Lao PDR. The Geographical Journal. 179(2). pp. 150-164.
Toro, M. (2012). Coffee Markets, Smallholder Credit, and Landscape Change in the Bolaven Plateau Region, Laos. (Master’s Thesis). University of Miami Open Access Theses. Paper 333.
Delang, C.O.; Toro, M. (2011). Hydropower-induced displacement and resettlement in the Lao PDR. South East Asia Research. 19(3). pp. 567-594.
Geography
Geographic Information Science
Spatial Analysis
Land Use Change
Urban Design & Sustainable Cities
Digital Storytelling