We have recently completed the first week, WHOOP! Even though it was filled with orientation and administrative business, I’m already learning more than I would have hoped. And it is going by SO fast. In between introductory and developmental seminars, we were consistently surrounded by faculty, staff, graduate students, and all around inspiring and incredibly talented people who began explaining to us their experiences, how they got to be where they are, and what research in the academic world is really like.
We have until the end of Week Two to have a research idea in place, but we spent the majority of our free time this week collaborating as a team to come up with ideas. Everything from disaster management and preparedness, to disease control, to wearables tracking human habits was brought up, as we discussed a myriad of research questions that we feel passionate about and/or that need to be addressed among the scientific community (though hopefully both).
To provide more background on the what the program is about, copied below is an excerpt from the CyberHealthGIS website:
“Thirty REU students will be engaged in critical and current research problems, advancing student-led discovery, while promoting teaching and training through a hands-on research and mentoring program. The program will advance discovery, while promoting training and learning through a problem-based and hands-on undergraduate research and mentoring program that is intended to build independence and confidence in research. Research results will advance Cyber-HealthGIS, addressing both theoretical and methodological shortcomings this field. Expected outcomes include joint faculty-student publications in research journals, seminars, and conferences, and student presentations of their research. This project will fill a critical US workforce gap by creating a cohort of students trained and interested in pursuing research and scientific careers at the intersection of several important research domains. This project will make freely available examples of prototype applications, thereby advance the capabilities Cyber-HealthGIS research.
This project is supported by a grant from the US National Science Foundation (NSF Project# 1560106).“
I am sincerely looking forward to see what next week brings, as I continue to discover how my passion for cartography, natural disasters and public health communication can combine and make a difference through research.
Cyber + Health + GIS 