It was our great pleasure to award $2,500 in scholarships and awards at the inaugural Memphis Area Collegiate Geospatial Showcase, which took place last Friday, April 15, at University of Memphis Johnson Hall. Nearly a dozen Memphis area students had submitted presentation abstracts on GIS-related school projects to compete for the awards, and four finalists gave 15-minute presentations at the Showcase event. The first place finishers in each category (undergrad and graduate) won $1,000, and the runners-up each won $250.
First Place:
Parth Sinojia (Undergraduate, Rhodes College) - Equitable Access Mapping: Bridging Resource Gaps in Memphis Through GIS Analysis
Heather Clendenin (Graduate, University of Memphis) - Assessing landscape factors in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley affecting geneflow of Ursus americanus
Runners-Up:
Jacob Ackerman (Undergraduate, Rhodes College) - Finding Breaches: Gaps in Data and the Memphis Aquifer
Leta Rowan (Graduate, University of Memphis) - Green Infrastructure and Urban Heat Islands: A Nature-Based Solution for Memphis
The event also featured a panel discussion focused on GIS skills and careers. A panel of GIS professionals from both the public and private sectors fielded questions and shared their advice and experiences with the student audience.
Panelists:
Arnisa Davis, PMP, GISP - Manager of Enterprise Resource Planning, Memphis Light, Gas, & Water (MLGW)
Megan Farrell - Planner, Memphis and Shelby County Division of Planning and Development
Terek Gatewood - GIS Analyst/Assistant Project Manager, Allworld Project Management
JT Malasri, PE - Founder and Principal Engineer, Malasri Engineering, PLLC
Dr. Kate Shields - Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Rhodes College
Scott Trapolino, GISP - Project Manager, Canopy Spatial
We are grateful to our panelists for generously donating their time, and to University of Memphis for hosting the event. We look forward to the Memphis Area Collegiate Geospatial Showcase becoming an annual event as we fulfill our mission of promoting the profession and education of GIS in the Memphis Area.