Mia Hines

Mia Hines

Hello! I'm a second-year PhD Student in Computer Science.

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portfolio

publications

Spatiotemporal Facility-Level Patterns of Summer Heat Exposure, Vulnerability, and Risk in United States Prison Landscapes

Geohealth, 2024

Heat is associated with increased risk of morbidity and mortality. People who are incarcerated are especially vulnerable to heat exposure due to demographic characteristics and their conditions of confinement. Evaluating heat exposure in prisons, and the characteristics of exposed populations and prisons, can elucidate prison-level risk to heat exposure. We leveraged a high-resolution air temperature data set to evaluate short and long-term patterns of heat metrics for 1,614 prisons in the United States from 1990 to 2023. We found that the most heat-exposed facilities and states were mostly in the Southwestern United States, while the prisons with the highest temperature anomalies from the historical record were in the Pacific Northwest, the Northeast, Texas, and parts of the Midwest. Prisons in the Pacific Northwest, the Northeast, and upper Midwest had the highest occurrences of days associated with an increased risk of heat-related mortality. We also estimated differences in heat exposure at prisons by facility and individual-level characteristics. We found higher proportions of non-white and Hispanic populations in the prisons with higher heat exposure. Lastly, we found that heat exposure was higher in prisons with any of nine facility-level characteristics that may modify risk to heat. This study brings together distinct measures of exposure, vulnerability, and risk, which would each inform unique strategies for heat-interventions. Community leaders and policymakers should carefully consider which measures they want to apply, and include the voices of directly impacted people, as the differing metrics and perspectives will have implications for who is included in fights for environmental justice.

Recommended citation: Ovienmhada, U., Hines, M., Krisch, M.,Diongue, A. T., Minchew, B., & Wood, D.R. (2024). Spatiotemporal facility‐levelpatterns of summer heat exposure,vulnerability, and risk in United Statesprison landscapes. GeoHealth, 8,e2024GH001108.

Juxtaposing Worlds: A Comparative Study of Empirical Visualization Literature and Practitioner-Curated Guideline

In Submission, 2025

This paper examines the empirical foundations of widely adopted visualization guidelines by juxtaposing academic literature with practitioner-oriented style guides. We began by identifying a set of widely cited guidelines, drawn from publicly available style guides and design manuals. We then conducted a structured review of empirical studies, categorizing each study according to whether it provided direct, partial, or conflicting evidence for a given guideline. Our analysis reveals which guidelines are supported by evidence, which lack validation, and which show mixed or context-dependent results, and highlights the need for more critical reflection on how design advice is communicated and applied. We conclude by discussing challenges in aligning research and practice and advocate for stronger collaborations between researchers and practitioners to develop harmonized, evidence-informed visualization standards.

Recommended citation: Williams, L., Hines, M., & Ottley, A. (2026). Juxtaposing Worlds: A Comparative Study of Empirical Visualization Literature and Practitioner-Curated Guideline

Mapping the Visual Language of Public Health and Environmental Infographics

In Preparation, 2026

This work evaluates design patterns of infographics published by public health and environmental organizations. We scrapped thousands of infographics and currently developing a taxonomy to describe design patterns observed.

Recommended citation: Hines, M. & Ottley, A. (2026). Mapping the Visual Language of Public Health and Environmental Infographics

talks

teaching

Teaching experience 1

Undergraduate course, University 1, Department, 2014

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Teaching experience 2

Workshop, University 1, Department, 2015

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