Siiri Silm

Siiri Silm is an Associate Professor in Human Geography at the University of Tartu's Department of Geography, part of the Faculty of Science and Technology. Her research focuses on spatial mobility patterns, ethnic segregation, and the application of mobile positioning data in analyzing urban and social phenomena. She has explored topics such as bike-sharing usage, transnational mobility, and the impact of digital technologies on social behavior. Silm's work integrates advanced data analytics with geographic methodologies, contributing to urban planning, crisis management, and cross-border studies. Her research has been applied in contexts ranging from tourism analysis to pandemic-related mobility tracking.

Education: PhD in Human Geography (2009), supervised by Rein Ahas at the University of Tartu, with earlier research on Tallinn's urban functions and seasonal social phenomena. Her academic contributions include over 30 peer-reviewed articles and methodological frameworks for mobile data analysis. She has collaborated on projects addressing transnational migration, urban segregation dynamics, and the role of ICT in maintaining diasporic connections. Silm's work bridges social and technical sciences, emphasizing data-driven insights into human spatial behavior.

• Key Projects: Mobile positioning-based tourism statistics, cross-border mobility analysis, and digital tools for urban policy.
• Methodological Expertise: Mobile phone data integration, spatial-temporal modeling, and GIS applications.
• Teaching: Focuses on human geography, urban studies, and quantitative spatial analysis methodologies.

Her research highlights include pioneering studies on Estonia's seasonal population shifts and the use of smartphone data to map ethnic interaction patterns. Silm's work is characterized by interdisciplinary approaches, often combining geographic, sociological, and technological perspectives to address complex urban and transnational challenges.