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!