Teach For America

With an interview with Teach For America on Tuesday, I was interested to see this in the NYTimes.

Solar Power Storage

what we need to do to make solar power work for the US

One more example...

As everyone is pretty interested in energy use around the world these days, I thought this would be a more interesting/relevant example.


The above example illustrates power source by region. Each pie chart shows the different kinds of energy used in the region and how much is used of that source.
Red- fossil fuels
Blue- hydro
Yellow- other

I imagine I'll probably generate something like this for my thesis using my own data.

GIS?

So a lot of people ask me what GIS (geospatial information systems) is and why I use it. I am currently learning GIS for my Space Grant work with Barron, but I also feel like it will become increasingly important in various fields. Most importantly, I feel like it will be VERY important in development.

I am currently in the lab working on some tutorial exercises and I thought I would show everyone a bit of what I do...



It's a bit hard to see in this picture, but above is what the screen I work on looks like in ARCMaps. "Behind" this is a bunch of data that can be accessed in a sister application called ARCCatalog. Why is GIS so compelling? What you're looking at on the screen is a VISUAL representation of mines in Africa (the data in this is just for a tutorial and its accuracy is not the point here). It's a map with locations on it, so what? The way I have manipulated the data now shows you the location and the size of the mine by using symbology. Embedded in this map is all kinds of information on the names of the mines, coordinates of its location etc etc. It's basically an awesome way to hold and manipulate data that also has the important feature of displaying the data in a way that is easy to understand and would be useful in development, showing policymakers, or getting a community to visualize and understand its composition.

Nerdy stuff, but very useful.

Arizona Underrated: Starshine Academy

One of the biggest public policy issues facing the US today is deficiencies and inequities in our puclic education system. In Phoenix, Patricia McCarty - a social entrepreneur with a background in banking - has taken it upon herself to tackle this head on with the development of a new model for K-12 schooling.

Meet the Starshine Academy

As a female hoping to have kids and a career...

...I was interested to read this today on one of my favorite blogs. Business schools take note of the conflicting interests women face as they approach 30 and weigh an additional credential with having children.

Arizona Underrated: Sedona

Having traveled within the United States and, more recently, outside of it, I have decided that Arizona is one underrated place. As an Arizona native, I've decided to get a little of what Arizona has to offer out there. May I present you with "Arizona Underrated: A Series."

May I present you with Sedona...a lovely Northern AZ getaway with breathtaking views. Sedona boasts art galleries, hikes, rivers, shopping and pretty much anything else you can think of. The pictures below are from a spur of the moment day trip with my best friend at the end of this past summer.

Tlaquepaque- this maze of artesan shops is a replica of the original Tlaquepaque in Guadalajara, MX (Ryan and I visited the original with our International Management grad class). Sedona's version isn't quite the same, but definitely offers a few fun cafes and a number of artistic boutiques.






We took a Pink Jeep Tour of the Scenic Rim. This is us in our pink jeep gear with our HILARIOUS German guide.







The pictures alone really sell the place!

Senior Year: Semester 1

1. UA/NASA Space Grant: Space Grant has provided me the opportunity to work with a professor here at UA on a project of interest AND getting paid for it. I am working with the energetic Barron Orr of the Office of Arid Lands Studies. Barron is an extension specialist which means he takes all of the great technology and research from the U out into the Arizona community. We work primarily with geospatial information systems and its application in community asset mapping and invasive species. So far this has been a great experience and I only expect it to get even better. You can find my listing here.

2. Honors Civic Engagement Teams (HCET): This organization run out of the Honors College assembles multidisciplinary groups of students to work with local non-profit organizations. Our teams work on projects that would not otherwise be addressed. This exchange provides students with real world experience with non-profits and provides organizations with able and innovative minds. Some of our past & present partners include: WorldCare, Sister Cities groups, Casa de los Ninos and many others. The Wildcat included us in an opinion's piece last semester that can be found here.

3. Economics Society: President for one more year. Our club puts on exam reviews for Econ 200 students each semester. The money we make from reviews is used to hold meetings - free pizza and soda provided - that feature speakers of interest to our current economics majors. Speakers are usually faculty members presenting their research or former students painting a picture of what they have done with an econ degree since their graduation.

4. Honors Thesis (Part I): I am planning on making my thesis an elaboration of the rural electrification using renewables policy I produced for my Truman Scholarship application. I plan to incorporate HOMER software into my work.

5. Preceptor for International Studies 250: Being a preceptor (teaching assistant), for the Introduction to International Studies class (a core class for my international studies major) has been a dream of mine since freshman year. Preceptors attend lecture with students and then lead small breakout discussions on Friday. My discussion section is an honors section and meets at the lovely hour of 8am. Over coffee, we meet and discuss the week's issue of The Economist. We opine and argue for fifty minutes. It's wonderful to have students ask to meet for coffee and see that they look up to me - a senior who has traveled Latin America - as I looked up to my preceptors some 3 years ago.

Welcome to my life...

So I've decided to take a page from Ryan's book and start blogging more regularly. I really enjoyed having a blog while in Argentina last semester and have realized that I miss having an outlet now that I'm back at the UofA and not writing for the Wildcat.

Welcome to my life...the thoughts, the events, the mundane.