Tag: GIS Student Assistants

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Bucknell/Local Interest Data Digital Humanities Environment General GIS GIS in Biology GIS in Computer Science GIS in Engineering GIS in Environmental Studies GIS in Geography GIS in Geology GIS in History GIS in Humanities GIS in Psychology GIS in Sociology Map Apps Marcellus Shale Miller Run Restoration Project Slideshow

What we’re up to this summer (and why we’re not posting)

Thanks to the Mellon grant and a huge number of faculty teaching and research projects it’s been a very busy summer of GIS work at Bucknell.  Over the coming weeks I’ll write detailed posts about the work we’re doing on each of the projects.  If I’m really ambitious I might try to post some interviews with faculty and students – and some footage of the aerial drone flights that Nick Urban ’12 is doing. But for now here’s a short overview of who’s doing GIS work at Bucknell this summer and what we’re doing:

GIS Student Assistants:

  • Chad Lawlis, Environmental Studies ’11
  • Dan Dougherty, Geography/History ’12
  • Max Stiss, Geography/Anthropology ’12
  • Nick Urban, Computer Science ’12
  • Mike Grasso, Environmental Studies ’13
  • Robby Holler, Geography/International Relations ’13 (pictured below)
  • Darin Rockwell, Geography/Geology ’13 (pictured below)
  • Dan Ladd, Middlebury College ’14 (pictured below)

Key Projects:

  • Maps for Sudan field guide atlas to mammals
  • GPS data collection for Lewisburg Cemetary
  • GPS data collection for Miller Run restoration project
  • Aerial drone data collection for Miller Run restoration project
  • Lycoming County/Williamsport community asset mapping
  • Mapping toxic contamination from Marcellus Shale natural gas wells
  • Mapping locations of Marcellus Shale water withdrawl permits
  • Georeferencing & vectorizing 19th century economic maps of Vietnam
  • Georeferencing & vectorizing maps of environmental hazards and resources in Kyrgyzstan
  • Georeferencing & vectorizing 1868 Historic Atlas of Union & Snyder Counties
  • Data development for Stories of the Susquehanna project
  • Support for student research projects – including GPS’ing dumpster locations on campus for an analysis of campus waste and recycling, and updating Arboretum tree dataset with location info for newly planted and felled trees
  • Develop pilot web map apps for showcasing faculty research
  • Develop pilot web map apps for use in teaching
  • Implement backend IT infrastructure to support ArcGIS server
  • Maps for Bucknell admin purposes, including: analysis of parking shortages on campus; maps for task force report on campus climate; maps for SBDC report on services by county; arts festival map.

 

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Bucknell/Local Interest Environment Events/Calendar General GIS GIS in Biology Slideshow

Do turtles with more powerful predators have stronger shells?

Do turtles with more powerful predators have stronger shells?

Over the last year, Biology professor Tristan Stayton used GIS and finite element analysis methods to explore this question. During Summer 2010, Prof. Stayton participated in a Library & IT workshop designed to give faculty hands-on experience using GIS for academic research and teaching.  Over the course of the summer, Prof. Stayton and his student researchers used ArcGIS to georeference and digitize turtle species ranges to convert them from image files into GIS data that could be used as input in Prof. Stayton’s analysis.  The same techniques were also used to digitize the ranges of 25 known turtle predators.

During the 2010-11 academic year, Prof. Stayton used the GIS datasets created during summer 2010 to calculate range sizes and range overlaps of turtles and their predators – and then to derive measures of turtle predation pressure. Prof. Stayton presented his conclusions last month at the Evolution 11 conference in Norman, Oklahoma and has a paper in the works as well.

The answer to the question? The short answer is that no, turtles with more powerful predators do not have stronger shells – in fact, they appear to have evolved weaker shell shapes.  But be sure to look at the poster below for a full presentation of the methodology, results and possible explanations for the findings.

Students involved in this project: Christine Vega ’11, Patrick Caloz ’13 and Joe Budzinski ’11 (georeferencing & vectorizing species ranges); Dan Ladd, GIS Student Assistant, Middlebury College ’14 (created turtle species density map shown in poster)

 

 

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Bucknell/Local Interest Environment General GIS Slideshow

Bucknell awarded $520,000 Mellon grant to support environmental studies, GIS integration

Bucknell has been awarded a $520,000 Mellon grant (the largest Mellon grant ever received by BU) to support the development of courses and initiatives related to environmental studies.  Click here to read the announcement on the BU home page. In addition to providing stipends to faculty who create new courses that include environmental connections, the grant will also support the development of GIS technology as a tool in teaching, learning and research related to environmental topics. Specifically, the grant will:

  • provide stipends to faculty who attend GIS workshops
  • fund GIS Student Research Assistants
  • fund development of course materials – labs, lecture materials, datasets, web-based course modules, etc. – that integrate GIS with environmental studies content

Contact me with any questions or ideas you might have about the GIS part of this grant.

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Bucknell/Local Interest General GIS GIS Jobs, Internships, Scholarships & Grad Programs

Bucknell GIS Student Assistant wins scholarship

Belated congratulations to Dan Ladd for winning a highly competitive scholarship from the United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF). Dan, a 2010 graduate of Lewisburg High School and a summer GIS Student Assistant at Bucknell, was one of only three high school seniors in the nation selected for the scholarship and is currently studying geography at Middlebury College in Vermont. Congratulations, Dan!