UW-Eau Claire Geographer to work on urban-environment research in Atlanta

We are very excited to learn that Emily Christenson was selected to Georgia State University's Research Experiences for Undergraduates: Addressing Social and Environmental Disparities through Community Geography and Geographic Information Systems initiative.  There were over 170 applicants, and Emily is among the handful selected to be a CSAW Scholar (CSAW stands for Community Soil Air Water, click for the program website). 

This nicely paid (!) research opportunity is part of an ongoing NSF-supported project that brings together scholars and community partners to address the multifaceted relationship between urban communities and their environment. Emily will be working with faculty mentors in community-based research and fieldwork to examine some aspect of  neighborhood change, property markets, social geographies, air and soil quality, urban green spaces, and neighborhood visioning in Atlanta, Georgia.

Emily's research interests include community and individual based sustainability, environmental injustice, and human-environment interactions, and she is looking forward to learning more about urban green spaces and how they can be supported and enhanced.

Emily has worked hard to prepare for this opportunity, things like her numerous GIS courses culminating and her current project in GEOG 435 on identifying variables that relate to elevated lead levels in children  -- with the goal of identifying risks that can be targeted for mitigation.  Or the work she has done in her sustainability internship with Dr. Christina Hupy and the integration of UWEC's campus into the ESRI Community Maps program. 

What an experience Emily will have.  We look forward to hearing about it next fall.

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