Each of the Cumberland High School students who were given the opportunity to use the GIS lab in Woodward Hall was able to take his/her map home.

By RUDI HEMPE
CELS News Editor & Reporter

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(story starts below photo at left)

gathered pollution test data at several points along the river. Using GIS, those test points will be mapped and the presence of microorganisms will be logged at those points.

Accompanying the students also was Kathy Dimodica, chair of the school's science department.

"URI has given us an opportunity to actually do something" she said, adding that the result was a "great deal of enthusiasm among the students." At the end of the lab sessions, each student was able to take home the map they created.

Dimodica also noted that the Town of Cumberland is looking at other ways to interact with the outreach services of CELS. For example some students are working at a farm in the town, growing vegetables for the food bank and URI Master Gardeners may be involved.

As for Monroy, the experience of working with high school students was a thrill.

"I enjoy working with young people," she said, adding that the GIS program may serve as a pilot program for other ventures.

Pariseau said there is a chance the town will come up with a summer program whereby five students will get paid internships to further the work on the GIS projects.

The challenges of the GIS software in the Woodward Hall GIS lab drew some puzzled looks from Teacher Mike Pariseau (center) as well as two of his students, Ryan Sloss (left) and Brogran Kisseberth.

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A large group of high school students from Cumberland took a field trip to URI recently but unlike most field trips it was not a break from studying-they actually ended up working.

The students spent four hours in the Geographic Information System (GIS) lab in Woodward Hill as guests of the College of the Environment and Life Sciences and got a taste of what opportunities and equipment exist on the collegiate level.

The 48 students, all seniors, are taking a Environmental Science Class at Cumberland High School and this spring they are tackling two projects: Making a Green Map that will identify environmental features in their town (such as a business that has a windmill or a store with solar panels) and mapping water test sites along the Blackstone River.

The problem is Cumberland High School does not have the hardware or software to give students hands-on experience with GIS.

Enter URI CELS and a local innovative program.

The Town of Cumberland has a unique program called the Office of Children, Youth and Learning. Headed up by Mike Magee, the program offers unusual learning opportunities for local youngsters including music, chess, video taping, web design and childhood literacy.

One of the opportunities is a youth mapping program, explained Magee, and it was decided to start with a "green map" of the town.

Cumberland High School students Gerard Hoogeboom (right) and Bobby Ray puzzle over their monitors. In the rear is Kathy Dimodica, chair of the school's science department.

A logical place to conduct the program was Teacher Mike Pariseau's Environmental Science Class.

But the school lacks a sufficient number of computers and more importantly the expensive GIS software.

Magee approached Brown University and got some help there. "But we found URI more proactive and decided to go into partnership with URI," said Magee.

Eivy Monroy walks Cumberland High School students through the GIS software program in the Woodward Hall lab.

Magee's contact was Babette Allina, the associate project director for RI EPSCoR, who in turn contacted Dr. Peter August, director of the Coastal Institute. He in turn found just the person to work with the high school students-Eivy Monroy, a native of Columbia who is preparing for her GRE test in order to become a graduate student with Dr. Art Gold in Natural Resources Science.

August made arrangements for the students to use the GIS lab computers during spring break. Because the lab has a limited number of computers the class was divided in two and the lab was reserved for the students on March 17 and 21.

Monroy met with the students over a period of weeks, priming them for their hands-on experience and in the lab she walked them though the GIS software.

Teacher Pariseau said the URI arrangement gave the students something they could not get elsewhere-hands-on experience. The "green map" will detail various environmental features in the Town of Cumberland. What is more interesting is the Blackstone River project. For the last five years, students in his class have