NSF REU applications due March 15. Join Citizen Science GIS in Orlando & Belize this summer
This summer at the University of Central Florida, we are pleased to host our 2019 National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Site “Preparing the Next Generation of Scholars through Community GIS and Citizen Science.” Our program, recognized with a 2017 Esri Special Achievement Award, offers fully funded summer research experiences for at least 4-5 undergraduate students in Belize for 3 weeks and Orlando for 3 weeks. The program is open to all U.S. students and runs June 3-July 18, 2019. Note: we are working on a supplemental grant, so this summer's program is smaller and only supports the drones and spatial storytelling research track.
We are interdisciplinary in nature emphasizing community geography, community GIS, and citizen science through mixed methods, including sketch mapping, mobile mapping applications, focus groups, in-depth interviews, GIS, drones, and spatial analysis.
We're hosting a Facebook Live Event "Secrets to an Awesome Citizen Science GIS REU Application" on Tuesday, February 26 @ 3 pm EST. Join Dr. Hawthorne (REU PI) and Dr. Torres (REU Faculty Mentor) as we give away the secrets to a successful application to our National Science Foundation (NSF) #REU Site in Orlando and Belize. Please share with your pals and have them join us. #citizensciencegis #ucfreu. Join the discussion at https://www.facebook.com/citizensciencegis
Research opportunities: Students will work as a team with community partners and mentors from University of Central Florida, University of Belize, The Hopkins Belize Village Council, and The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History’s Caribbean Coral Reef Ecosystems Program:
This year's research track is: Mapping island resiliency with drones and spatial storytelling (for 2019 with NSF supplemental support)
Compensation: Each REU student will receive a competitive funding package, including a $3500 research stipend, a meal allowance, free shared housing in Belize and Orlando, up to $750 in travel support to/from the REU Site, up to $750 for post-REU conference travel, and 2 research methods books.
Application process: The priority application deadline is Friday, March 15th @ 5 PM EST. Complete program information and application instructions can be found at http://www.citizensciencegis.org/projects/reu-belize-2018/.
Student reflections from the field: “Challenging, emotional, fun, collaborative, thought-provoking, interesting, real-life, and eye-opening.” These are some of the words used by students to describe our previous research program. Check out a short video about our award-winning REU Site: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=K5zSFKw7F24
Questions can be directed to: Dr. Timothy Hawthorne: Principal Investigator, Assistant Professor of Geographic Information Systems at University of Central Florida, timothy.hawthorne@ucf.edu, phone: 407.823.1030
Check us out on the web and share on social media!
• http://www.citizensciencegis.org/ucf-reu-site
• https://www.facebook.com/citizensciencegis
• https://twitter.com/citizen_gis
• https://vimeo.com/citizensciencegis
• https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg6_1giYaXQ6mcalJH-kMuw