Dakota McCarty
Dakota McCarty
Assistant Professor
Green Infrastructure, Sustainable Urban Development, Environmental Data Analysis, Remote Sensing, Environmental Policy Modeling
Dr. Dakota McCarty is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Science & Policy at George Mason University Korea since 2024. He holds a Ph.D. in Urban Planning and Policy from Incheon National University (2023) and an M.Sc. and B.A. in International Political Economy from the University of Texas at Dallas.
His research lies at the intersection of environmental science, urban planning, and machine learning, focusing on developing smarter, more sustainable planning strategies. His publication record includes articles in journals such as Environment and Planning B, PLoS one, and Environments. Recognized with multiple grants and awards, including the Korea Land & Urban Planning Association President's Award, Dr. McCarty is driven to uncover new insights and generate innovative solutions to complex environmental challenges.
In addition to his research, Dr. McCarty is dedicated to teaching and mentorship, committed to fostering academic diversity, and has supervised numerous student research projects and theses at both undergraduate and graduate levels. He actively participates in academic services as a reviewer for several journals and as a member of various professional organizations, such as the Association of European Schools of Planning and the Korea Planning Association.
Inspired by mathematician Hannah Fry, Dr. McCarty questions assumptions and embraces the philosophy of "99% invisible" to find effective solutions.
Current Research
His current research focuses on green infrastructure and its interactions with urban morphology, examining how these dynamics impact environmental factors like the urban heat island effect, air pollution, and flood risks.
Working projects:
- Simulation of Climate Change Models and Flooding in Jakarta Indonesia
- Enhancing Objectivity in Colorimetric Water Quality Assessments through RGB Computer Imaging and Interpolation
- Kinetic Modeling of Squalene Oxidation Induced by Urban PMs
- High Resolution Spatial Mapping of Air Quality in Songdo through Gaussian Mixture Modeling and Computational Fluid Dynamic Simulations
- Quantifying the Cooling Capacity of the Han River in Seoul, South Korea
Selected Publications
Dakota McCarty, Minji Alyssa Kim, Hyunwoo Jo, Eunchong Yim, Hayoung Yun, Samuel Sims, Minji Kim, Soyoung Kwon. 2025. "Accessible Water Quality Monitoring through Hybrid Human-Machine Colorimetric Methods". Environmental Monitoring and Assessment
Dakota McCarty, Minju Jeong, Kichan Kim, and Hyun Woo Kim. 2024. "Assessing the Accessibility and Equity of Urban Parks Using Park Desert Index: The Case of Seoul, South Korea" The Studies in Regional Development, vol.56, no.2, pp.1-34
Dakota McCarty, Dongwoo Lee, Yunmi Park, and Hyun Woo Kim. 2024. “Exploring road safety through urban fabric characteristics and theory-driven prediction modeling with SEM-XGBoost” Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science, 0(0)
Dakota McCarty, Jaekyung Lee, and Hyun Woo Kim. 2021. “Machine Learning Simulation of Land Cover Impact on Surface Urban Heat Island Surrounding Park Areas.” Sustainability: Science Practice and Policy 13 (22): 12678.
Expanded Publication List
Grants and Fellowships
Grants:
- Driving Urban Transitions (DUT) Grant (1,080,320 EUR (30,000 EUR to Mason Korea))
- IUCF<>IGC Research Seed Funding (10,000,000 KRW)
- URSP Student Research Mentor Spring 2025 (500 USD)
- URSP Student Research Mentor Fall 2025 (500 USD)
- Faculty Research and Development Grant (5,000,000 KRW)
- Mason Impact MINI Grant (600 USD)
- Mason Impact MICRO Grant (500 USD)
- Environment and Sustainability Research Grant (37,000 EUR)
- 도시 재생 아이디어, 사진 공모전 : 인천도시공사 (3,000,000 KRW)
Awards:
- Korea Land & Urban Planning Association President's Award
Fellowships:
- Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship
- Seoul Case Study Program Fellow
Courses Taught
University courses:
- Ecosphere: Intro to Environmental Science I (lecture)
- Ecosphere: Intro to Environmental Science I (lab)
- Environment and You: Issues in the 21st Century
- Environmental Policy Making in Developing Countries
- Green Urbanism and Sustainability Planning
- Social Research Methods
- Theory and History of Urban Planning
- GIS and Spatial Data Analysis
- Quantitative Research Methods
- Research Design (Co-lecturer)
AP courses:
- AP Spanish
- AP Microeconomics
- AP World History
- AP Macroeconomics
- AP Statistics
Education
PhD, Urban Planning and Policy, Incheon National University
MS, International Political Economy, University of Texas at Dallas
BA, International Political Economy, University of Texas at Dallas
Recent Presentations
AESOP Annual Congress, Istanbul – "Airscapes: Understanding Urban Air Quality Through Data-Driven Mapping" (2025)
AESOP Annual Congress, Istanbul – "Exploring the Feasibility of Sponge City Solutions for Flood Resilience in Gangnam, Seoul" (2025)
IUCF Research Showcase - "AI-Driven Forecasting of Urban Flood Hotspots in Jakarta Under Climate Change Scenarios" (2025)
AESOP Annual Congress, Paris – "Evaluating Urban Park Equity Through Development of the Park Desert Index" (2024)
AESOP Annual Congress, Łódź – “Identifying Linkages Between Demographics, Behaviors, And Road Accident Frequency: A Machine Learning Approach In England, UK” (2023)