What made you decide to be a geography major?
I decided to become a Geography major because I like picture books. As a kid, I really disliked flipping through wordy books to find the pictures, so I preferred an atlas mostly because it was easy to understand, visually interesting, and gave my imagination a world size sandbox to explore.
What has been your favorite course so far?
My favorite course so far has been GEOG 176C GIS Design and Applications. The open ended nature of the class allowed me to develop my skills as a leader and have real freedom in directing my education.
We hear that you are already using your GIS skills in the Meso American Research Center? Can you tell us more about that?
I’ve been working with Dr. Anabel Ford in the Anthropology Department since my freshman year using LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging, is a remote sensing method that uses light in the form of a pulsed laser to measure ranges (variable distances) to the Earth) to rediscover and map the ancient Maya city of El Pilar. I have been able to work with her on several separate projects including the creation of an ArcGIS Online web map (The Maya Forest Atlas – marc-ucsb.opendata.arcgis.com) to share our data with the wider academic and public community. I really love working there because I’m able to expand my personal technical skills while, at the same time, helping others to expand their technical fluency. I look forward to going to the field in Belize/Guatemala this year to continue Dr. Ford’s survey and work on developing research that I plan to carry into graduate school. As the next school year dawns, I plan to open up more opportunities for undergraduate and graduate GIS research at MARC Lab as our team continues to grow.
Do you have any activities that you do to keep yourself balanced?
For all the data science I do, I like to balance it out by expressing myself through magazine collages and roller skating. In collages, I often like to comment on the realities of self idolization, compulsory consumerism, and frustrating ignorance (IG @inkablebacon). When I roller skate, I often do so to get me excited and ready to make it through a difficult day. Look out for me cruising around during finals week!
Anything else interesting that you’d like to tell us about yourself?
I think the last thing I would say is that I really don’t think anything I’ve done should be considered extraordinary; I’m just another student. However normal I may be, I will say UCSB is not a normal place. I am lucky to be on an amazing campus in a world class Geography department filled with incredible people all stoked on life. I’ve been taking advantage of everything I can since day one, and I would encourage anyone I meet to do the same.
