Human-Environment Regional Observatory (HERO) team members at Kansas State University (Steve White, John Harrington, Doug Goodin, Lisa Harrington, and Max Lu) will work actively to insure the success of the HERO Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program. Dr. Lisa Harrington has agreed to be the mentor for the three Kansas participants during Year 1 of REU activities; with Drs. Lu, and J. Harrington to follow in years 2 through 4.
Students selected for each year's REU activities will spend 2 weeks at Pennsylvania State University and then the following 6 weeks at Kansas State. The 2 weeks at Penn State provide an overview for the whole project and allow K-State REU students to meet and get to know the REU students from Arizona, Clark, and Penn State. During the 6 week period back in Kansas, the REU student researchers will address the identified research question(s) and write up their findings.
Results of the summer research work will be presented (in the form of a poster) the following spring at the annual AAG meeting.
Major
activities for the project include:
Recruiting and selecting three undergraduate students to participate, including one from Kansas State University and two from other institutions within Kansas. The recruitment and selection process will focus on groups that are underrepresented in American science.
Arranging for the students to come to Kansas State University prior to the short course for an one-day overview session describing the study area and relevant research work by the HERO team.
As needed, take part in short course activities at Penn State (Year 1) or other sites.
Either mentor (Lisa Harrington in Year 1) or other faculty will be available to help the students from Kansas during their six weeks assessing community vulnerability to climate-related hazards. Several faculty members, including the mentor, are likely to participate in one or more trips from Manhattan to southwest Kansas.
Assisting the undergraduate students as they prepare for the illustrated poster session at the upcoming AAG Annual Meeting.
Providing
and necessary progress reports.
Working
either independently or preferably with faculty from other HERO institutions
to prepare scholarly papers
that document the REU activities.
The
K-State HERO study addresses a nineteen county area in southwest Kansas.
Land use and land cover have been significantly transformed in the study
are by irrigation agriculture, extensive dryland cultivation, the development of
mega-beef packing plants, and extraction of natural gas from the Hugoton Gas
Area. Nodes of population growth
exist within a vast area of long-term population decline.
The High Plains-Ogallala (HPO) HERO area contains the six county Global
Change in Local Places (GCLP) study area that was the focus of work by HERO team
members in the late 1990's. We have
expanded the study area from the previous GCLP work to include contrasting
dryland areas with limited ground water resources.
John
Harrington, Jr.
Professor and Head
2001
Erin O'Brien -- Biological and Agricultural
Engineering, Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences.
2002
Emily Van Eman -- Emily is a Junior at Kansas State, majoring in
Geography. She spent six months (July-December 2001) abroad in the South
Pacific on the island of Fiji. She has good GIS experience in the KSU GIS
lab.
Sarah Hinojos -- Sarah is a senior at Fort Hays State University, majoring in Geography. She has ample experience with GIS, with training and work experience from the Farms Services Agency (FSA) and the FHSU GIS lab.
Mark A. Frischenmeyer -- Mark is a senior at Pittsburg State University, majoring in biology. After graduating in May 2002, he intends to continue his undergraduate work to get a BA in Geography (May 2003). He has some GIS experience, mainly derived from PSU coursework. His background is more biological (and less social science) when compared to the other REU students. Mark intends to pursue a MA in Geography after finishing his BA in 2003.
2003
Michael J. Driessen -- Mark is a senior in earth science at Emporia
State University. Mike comes in with experience in field geology and computer
mapping. His other interests include hiking, backpacking, rockhounding, and
camping. He was the president of the Geology Club at Emporia State.
Sam Montoia -- Sam hails from "Hays, America" as he likes to say. He is a senior at Fort Hays State University, finishing up his B.S. in geography/GIS. He is very proficient with several major GIS software programs, and has strong organizational, analytical, interpersonal communication skills.
Darci Paull -- Darci is a senior in geography at K-State. After graduating from K-State in May 2004, Darci plans to go to the graduate school at, yes, K-State.
2004
Andy Hopp -- Andy graduated from South Dakota State University in 2004
with a degree in Geography. His professional interests include remote
sensing and
land cover change. Personal interests are baseball, football, travel, and
music.
Miranda Leathers -- Miranda a senior in biology with a minor in geography at Kansas State. She intends to graduate in 2005 from K-State. After graduation, Miranda will pursue a masters in public health with an emphasis on epidemiology.
Rorik Peterson -- Rorik is a senior at Kansas State,
planning to graduate in May 2005 with a B.A. in Geography with a minor in
Political Science. After
graduating from K-State, Rorik plans on attending graduate school and working
toward a M.A. in a Geography-related area.
GEOG 735 -- TOP/LAND USE/CLIMATE SUMMER 2001