Geomatics students are gaining hands-on learning opportunities which are high-impact for community members and for student learning with Professor Dan Patterson’s lab assignment for the Geomatics course GEOM 2004. Students were given the chance to collect field data in Old Ottawa South to supplement the work of the local environment committee (Environmental Committee of Ottawa South or ECOS) and the Old Ottawa South Community Association (OSCA) on mapping the district.
While the project began with collecting data on tree locations and species, it would later expand to include locational information for local businesses, urban infrastructure, the locations of storm sewers, and locations of recreational facilities. The projects were each able to provide real-world applications for the information gained, such as how water quality in the Rideau River has been affected by the location and loading of storm water and sewers.
The research gathered by students was useful to ECOS and led to the establishment of a continued partnership between Carleton students and faculty with ECOS. Highly impressed with the experience Mike Lascelles, a board member of OSCA and ECOS shared one of his fond memories of the experience with us.
“One Thursday morning in late September last fall, Dan and his students arrived by the Brewer baseball diamond about 8:30 am for a quick hello and to sketch out the streets they might conduct a tree survey on. As they left, we assumed we would hear from them some weeks later; however, Dan casually mentioned that he’d have some preliminary data later that morning that we could look at if we dropped by his GIS lab. We nodded – half expecting very little. Instead, just two hours later, we were examining detailed records of hundreds of trees along several of our long streets. The take aways are clear: don’t under-estimate Dan, his students, nor the capacity of GIS.”
ECOS and OSCA feel very positive about the results of the partnership. When asked what benefits were felt from this partnership, the list was extensive and included:
(1) “Superior knowledge of the types and locations of trees. This information allowed the Old Ottawa South community to develop a tree planting plan to offset the significant loss of Ash due to the Emerald Ash Borer in critical areas such as around the play structures at Brewer Park; (The Emerald Ash Borer is an insect which kills all species of ash. Visit here for more information)
(2) An appreciation of the types of infrastructures in Old Ottawa South as well as an understanding of the kinds of analysis the students provided in addition to the descriptive spatial information;
(3) a widespread realizaton of the power and potential of Geographic Information System (GIS) analytics in capturing and conveying the mosaic of the Old Ottawa South community;
(4) inspiration to learn more about GIS and to explore how, as a community, we can become more active GIS partners;
and (5) respect for Dan and his students who so generously shared their skills and enthusiasm with us.”
The connection of students, community organizations and professors has been of benefit to all and there is intentions for continued partnerships between the classroom and the community.
By Heather McAlister