Geography | Spatial Data Science | Political Economy
Visiting Assistant Professor | Bard College
Data Analytics & Environmental Studies
I am an educator and multidisciplinary researcher whose work bridges geography, urban planning, data science, and economics. My scholarship and teaching center on questions of spatial and environmental justice, bridging data science methodologies with critical analysis of social and spatial processes. I am Chicano and a Kansas Citian at heart, with roots in the historic Westside of Kansas City, Missouri, and in the Mexican railroad worker communities of eastern Kansas.
Ongoing Research Projects
Eviction and neighborhood change in Kansas City, Missouri
Quantitative analysis of eviction and community displacement
Quantitative measures of gentrification
Spatial econometric analysis
Collaborative mixed-method survey research and participatory data analysis
GIS and spatial data analysis
Civic data science
Participatory action research (PAR)
Resident researcher participation from questions asked to dissemination of results
Research with place-based communities
Qualitative research on tenant organizing and housing justice social movements
- Interview research and ethnography
Urban Futures Data Lab
Launched in the summer of 2025, the Urban Futures Data Lab provides a structure for my ongoing academic and applied research work. As of fall 2025, five undergraduate research assistants from Bard College have participated in the lab, gaining training in interdisciplinary research and data analysis focused on formal eviction and community displacement. The lab is the home of my ongoing academic research and engages with communities in the Hudson Valley, New York and Kansas City Missouri-Kansas area to conduct applied quantitative and qualitative data analysis.
Previous partners include the Community Health Council of Wyandotte County, KS, Hall Family Foundation (Hallmark), Marion and Henry Bloch Family Foundation, Groundwork NRG, and Radio Kingston.
Bio
Jordan Ayala is an educator and multidisciplinary researcher whose work integrates geography, planning, data science, and economics. He is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Data Analytics and Environmental Studies at Bard College. Previously, he served as a Visiting Instructor for Geographic Information Systems at Bard College and Research Associate with the Open Society University Network (OSUN) Economic Democracy Initiative. His latest research efforts include collaborative mixed-method survey research and participatory data analysis with communities in Kansas City. Working with resident researchers across eight languages, these research projects have generated substantial public and private investment to address environmental issues, community development, and housing security including a community land trust, efforts to address absentee home ownership, solar panel installation for low-income households, and community solutions to property violations and minor home repair, which received national attention. His research and teaching interests include Geographic Information Science, spatial analysis, political economy, participatory action research, environmental and urban studies, and Latinx studies.
Education
University of Missouri | Kansas City, Missouri, USA
PhD Candidate in Economics & GeoSciences | Dec 2025