A Summer of GIS, Drones & Community-Based Work in Florida & Belize! NSF REU/RET Site Apps Due March 18, 2022
This summer fully in-person at the University of Central Florida and in Belize, we are pleased to host the 7th year of our National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) and Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) 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 8 U.S. undergraduate students and 4 U.S. K-12 teachers in Belize for 5 weeks and Orlando for two weeks. The program is open to all U.S. students and K-12 teachers and runs June 15 to July 27, 2022.
Through an additional funding source, we also will continue supporting University of Belize students as well.
2019 REU students prepping a drone for fieldwork in Belize.
Interdisciplinary Team: We are interdisciplinary in nature emphasizing community geography, community GIS, and citizen science through mixed methods, including sketch mapping, mobile mapping applications, in-depth interviews, GIS, drones, and spatial analysis.
Zoom Live: Date to be announced, but in late February we will host a Live Zoom Event "Secrets to an Awesome Citizen Science GIS REU/RET Application" on Thursday, March 12 @ 3 pm EST. Join Dr. Hawthorne (REU PI) and Dr. Lain Graham (Co-PI) as they give away the secrets to a successful application to our National Science Foundation (NSF) REU/RET Site in Orlando and Belize. Please share with your pals and have them join us. #citizensciencegis #GIS #drones #UCF.
Research opportunities: Our fieldwork site is Hopkins Village, Belize (see video below). Students and K-12 teachers will work in one of two research directions with community partners and mentors from University of Central Florida, Esri, University of Belize, The Hopkins Belize Village Council, and The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History’s Caribbean Coral Reef Ecosystems Program:
• Research Direction 1: Leveraging community geography and GIS to map disparities in flooding
• Research Direction 2: Leveraging community geography and GIS to reduce waste and prevent marine debris
Compensation: Each U.S. REU student and RET teacher will receive a competitive funding package, including a $4200 research stipend, a meal allowance, free shared housing in Belize and Orlando, up to $750 in travel support to/from the REU/RET Site, and up to $750 for post-program conference or industry travel.
Application process: The priority application deadline is Friday, March 18th @ 5 PM EST. Complete program information and application instructions can be found at https://www.citizensciencegis.org/nsf-reuret-site.
COVID-19: We recognize the ongoing world pandemic, and are exercising caution with our partners and in our planning. We fully expect to engage in an in-person fieldwork experience and program this summer. However, conditions could change, and the program would have to move to a hybrid or fully virtual format. We also will follow UCF COVID-19 regulations for the Orlando portion of the program. We will follow all international COVID-19 regulations from Belize and in Hopkins Village.
2018 REU students collecting beach debris data with a local youth in Belize.
Questions can be directed to belizereusite@gmail.com:
Mentors: The program is led by experienced mentors, including:
• Dr. Timothy Hawthorne: Principal Investigator, Associate Professor of Geographic Information Systems at University of Central Florida.
• Dr. Lain Graham: Co-Principal Investigator, Esri and Affiliated Faculty at University of Central Florida.
Check us out on the web and share on social media!
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