Bert is a health geographer and spatial data scientist whose research examines how spatial and temporal patterns, population characteristics, and social and environmental conditions shape differences in health across communities. His work spans GIScience, demography, public health, and neighborhood effects on health. His research has addressed a range of topics, including displacement risks associated with climate gentrification, the disproportionate risks faced by nursing home residents during the COVID-19 pandemic, and variation in emergency department and hospitalization visits for heat-related illness, respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease, and mental health conditions in relation to environmental exposures such as air pollution and extreme temperatures. More recently, Bert's research has examined the distribution of adverse childhood experiences across communities and their relationship with social vulnerability and other community conditions, including their potential to explain differences in chronic pediatric health outcomes.
As a postdoctoral researcher with the Gateway Exposome Coordinating Center (GECC) at the University of Minnesota, his work focuses on developing research within the Community Services and Life Histories domains to advance how these dimensions of the exposome are measured and incorporated into research on Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) and population health.