Chloé Seeborg merged university programs before merger was even something at USU.
Seeborg, which should graduate this spring, has chosen a rather unusual study program when it was launched four years ago as a Quinney scholarship holder at USU. She decided to mix the skills in the ecology of Quinney College of Natural Resources with a minor in the soil sciences of the College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences – and Liez everything with a certificate in Applied geographic information science.
The strategy has played its forces, she said, and is an example of some of the collaborative advantages of the imminent merger of the two colleges.
Growing out outside Salt Lake City, Seeborg attended the forests with persistent and evergreen leaves of Mill Creek and Little Cottonwood Canyons with his family. His most memorable experiences were the grandparents saying large black garbage bags and sending the whole extended family to collect garbage.
Seeborg really didn’t bother them. It has always been interested in more than the appreciation of the aesthetics of a natural place. She wanted to know how it works and the ways he could be managed.
In Usu, she found some of these answers. Basic ecology courses have built its basic knowledge. Drone training allowed him to have a view of the bird’s eyes through the landscapes. The Caas lessons put it at the bottom of the floor pits to compare the profiles of the rocky floors of the benches with the silt of the valley soils. A plant identification course with Andrew Kulmatiski allowed him to spend hours each week to hike to Logan Canyon, learning the nuance of the natural system.
“We went to Tony Grove and learned to identify wild flowers like Penstemon and Mountain Bluebells,” she said. “It really gave me new eyes for the outdoors. I started to really understand what was going on around me. ”
But a lesson closer to the classroom was the thing that corrected its long -term learning trajectory – the Introduction to GIS.
Geographic information systems, or GIS, are a data system that captures, analyzes and communicates data related to locations across the earth. Google Maps uses GIS technology to allow people to easily access an ocean of data – everything, from satellite imagery to directions to your local Starbucks.
SIG reinforcement skills, has achieved Seeborg, could be a vital means of connecting precise information to the complexity of the natural world. So she is committed to winning A certificate in applied geographic information science.
“I found a lot of satisfaction in learning to code and automate data processes,” she said. “There is nothing like calculating a process, then coming back to validate a few lines with a quick check of mathematics and realize that you understood correctly.”
Seeborg worked as an intern and then as a SIG technician with the laboratory for the assessment and monitoring of rivers landscapes, using data sets to monitor the restoration of rivers and the river. This allowed him to practice class concepts in real situations – even by connecting with companies and agencies, teaching him what sets of skills that these organizations appreciate in new recruits.
“SIG data can really fill the gap between the theoretical and what is really happening in the field,” she said.
In a project, it used a set of data called anthrome to create a map for using North America that lasted centuries.
“From the 1800s, you could see a spectacular increase in the human impact on earth,” she said, “until 2000, while most of the only unpaid places on the continent were rocky and snow peaks know He systematically demonstrating change. »»
Seeborg says that she appreciates the SIGs because she takes storage points disparate of scientific information and brings them together in a whole, creating a more complete image, easier to understand and easier to communicate to others.
The next steps of this graduate will devote more time to the work of the GIS with the Riverscapes consortium and to the exploration of work with the USU extension analyzing the water data on the ground. She plans to get out to find out more about how the data she uses is collected, then to rely on her knowledge, possibly, with a higher education diploma.