Youth Empowerment via Science Education on Geospatial Tools & Online Collaborative Mapping Lila Burgos NASA Space Grant Symposium April 17-18, 2009

At-Risk Youth & Civic Engagement At-risk youth are a vulnerable, marginalized population – Low participation rates in community organizations – Lack exposure or access to information and technology How do we help youth find and utilize their own voice to solve their problems? Through technology-facilitated civic engagement. Goals for SOS Douglas to: a)Become empowered and active members of society that participate in their communities b)Embrace science & technology and utilize available technological tools to solve their problems

Geospatial Tools: NASA to Google Earth NASA Satellite Imagery Earth Science 1. Remote Sensing = satellite imagery CONTEXT 2. GPS = Global Positioning System location 3. GIS = Geographic Information Systems computerized mapping 4. Online Collaborative Mapping

Technology Transfer for Youth Empowerment SOS Douglas youth goals: Youth center Introduce ideas of space & geography: Geospatial technology Give Youth geospatial tools to conduct analysis in their community through GPS and ArcGIS training

Geospatial Tools in Action Youth use ArcGIS & GPS to map safe & dangerous places in Douglas, AZ They formulated a survey that was distributed at the local high school to figure out the ideal youth center location The first map of safe and dangerous zones. Douglas zones for the survey.

Survey Results

Tools for Online Collaborative Mapping Google Earth, Maps, Groups, Docs, Calendar, Sites & more Google tools are accessible. All you need is a Gmail subscription, internet access and a computer * Multiple persons can work on an online map simultaneously despite geographic distances

Douglas Zones Map in ArcGIS Douglas Zones Map in Google Maps

An Attribute Table in ArcGIS An Attribute Table in Google Maps

Results Google Online Collaborative Mapping helped SOS Douglas move closer to their goal They went back to Douglas and created their own map that they are constantly adding more information to

Success for Science Education The map they created contained interactive attributes that told a story to civic leaders. They will present this map at the USDA’s CYFAR conference in May 2009 Update: Douglas, AZ City Council has begun to look for buildings that can house the Youth Center

Acknowledgements Barron Orr, Ph.D. Joyce Serido, Ph.D. Lynne Borden, Ph.D. SOS Douglas Youth Del Cabarga Kristin Wisneski Office of Arid Lands Studies Stefanie Woodward, Jennifer Stanley, Corrie Hannah, Brian McArthur, Whitney Hollis