Why Geography?
During my freshman fall at Dartmouth, I stumbled upon a geography class with Professor Mona Domosh called "American Landscapes and Culture." Having lived in Ohio, Virginia, Missouri, and then New Hampshire, I was intrigued to learn how the distinct built environments of these different locations came to be. I loved how much was included in the class: history, policy, economics, the environment, and so much more. I knew I wanted more of this interdisciplinary thinking throughout college.
I continued taking geography classes, and ultimately majored in the department I grew to love. With a relatively small pool of majors and small class sizes, I befriended many of my geography peers and enjoyed productive discussions during class. The course offerings were diverse, including physical and social science, qualitative and quantitative analysis, and covering an incredibly broad range of topics. In June of 2020, I was recognized by the Dartmouth Geography Department with the Bob Huke Award for enthusiasm and passion for the field of geography.
Though I was shy of GIS at first, I quickly realized how powerful of a tool it was. Given that almost everything has spatial qualities and trends, GIS can be deployed for any number of analyses and projects. I became especially interested in the field through Geography 59, Environmental Applications of GIS, when I began to see how I could combine my interests for conservation and sustainability with my love for geography.
GIS Experience
In completing my geography major and taking further interest in GIS topics, I took numerous spatial analysis classes during my four years at Dartmouth. I am experienced in ArcGIS and Google Earth Engine, and have exposure to numerous other methods and softwares like Unity, Metashape, structure-from-motion photogrammetry, NumPy, and web mapping through the JavaScript Leaflet and jQuery libraries. Having built a strong base for remote sensing and spatial analysis principles, I am continuing to grow my skillset to apply this knowledge; I am currently learning Python and further developing coding and mapping skills.
Woody Biomass Project
In January of 2020, I was fortunate to join the Woody Biomass Research Project with Dartmouth Professors David Lutz PhD, Maron Greenleaf PhD, and James (JT) Erbaugh PhD. Our goal was to map timber cuts in the state of New Hampshire before and after a 2017 change in policy that removed government subsidies for biomass energy generation. We wanted to determine if there were any spatial or temporal patterns in timber cuts in areas surrounding biomass energy generation plants.
Beginning with this research question, we had brainstormed what data we needed to collect, how to organize that data in Excel and spatial files, and what numerical and spatial analyses we planned to perform. We would use local tax maps and timber cut forms to identify cuts, mapping by tax parcel. Though we were preparing for a road trip to collect this information from town offices and begin our compilation and analysis, the COVID-19 pandemic brought our work to a halt. Nonetheless, I gained important research skills during the development stage of the project and enjoyed seeing how a funded, larger-scale spatial study took place.
Short-Term Projects
Prior to my involvement in the Woody Biomass Project, my experience with conducting GIS research was limited to the confines of final projects. With Dartmouth's 10-week term system, fitting a spatial analysis project within just a few final weeks of class meant short-term and small-scale goals. However, these projects were each important to building GIS experience as I carried out the research process of locating data, establishing a workflow, completing analysis, and compiling results into a final report and presentation.
Though a full list of my GIS courses and final project topics can be found below, I want to highlight a project I found particularly challenging and rewarding. To culminate Geography 59, Environmental Applications of GIS, I conducted a research project on mountaintop removal (MTR) mining in West Virginia using LiDAR data. I identified a research area by subtracting two state-wide DEMs, locating regions of change, and comparing these to state-issued mining and fill permits. I then downloaded and worked with 2010 LiDAR data for this area, comparing 2010 data to a 1999 DEM to determine volume of land mined and filled. I determined that for this study area, the total area of land mined was 7,256 km2 to produce 10,687 km2 of fill. With fill less tightly compacted than its original state as part of the mountain, MTR mining impacts more than double the original area of land permitted for mining. This has significant implications for both human and ecosystem health, as my report also included preliminary visual analysis of filling impacts on the nearby stream network. Below is the workflow for this project, and the full project report can be found in work samples.
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Open in new tab Selected GIS Coursework
| Course Title | Department and Number | Final Project Topic | Skills and Software |
|---|---|---|---|
| Geographical Information Systems | Geography 50 | Mapping income around different fast food restaurants | ArcGIS; fundamental GIS principles |
| Environmental Applications of GIS | Geography 59 | Analyzing mountaintop removal mining in West Virginia with LiDAR data | ArcGIS, Google Earth Engine, NumPy, Unity, Metashape |
| Web Mapping and Applications | Geography 50.02 | Coded a Leaflet web map of Antarctic krill fisheries | ArcGIS online, GDAL, QGIS, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Leaflet library |
| Global Food and Energy | Geography 34 | Climate change and coconut crop land use change (LUC) in Kerala, India | Google Earth Engine; fundamental remote sensing principles |