Undergraduates chronicle summer research adventures with story maps

Hannah Gideon has loved science since she was a child. But it wasn’t until this summer that she discovered the right path to the career of her dreams.

From May 27 to August 1, Hannah and 13 other students were paired with professors at Kansas State University, the University of Kansas, and Wichita State University, for the ARISE Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program organized by Kansas NSF EPSCoR.

“I enjoyed every second of it,” Hannah said.

Besides doing research on disaster resilience, the program gave students transformative learning opportunities, as documented in Story Maps and photo essays created by the students.

Field trips to several towns in Kansas, for example, shined a light on human and physical infrastructure systems. One field trip trekked to Lawrence to explore the Wakarusa Wastewater Treatment Plant. Another headed to Olathe to learn about community resilience, with students assembling kits for at-risk residents battling extreme heat.

Weekly “percolators” spotlighted career paths with different professors while three sessions built skills in data analytics. Students also gave 3-minute research talks at K-State and shared scientific posters at a KU-led symposium.

With all of these experiences, some of the students, like Hannah, even reimagined their future careers.

“The REU helped me realize that I needed to transfer to another institution if I wanted to be successful in my career,” Hannah said. With her recent transition to K-State from Fort Hays State University, she can now study environmental engineering.

Learn more about the summer research program—as chronicled by three students—in these Arc-GIS Story Maps by:

• Story Map by Hannah Gideon
  Major: Environmental engineering
  School: Kansas State University
  Mentor: Dr. Justin Hutchinson at the University of Kansas
• Story Map by Ryan Corrigan
  Major: Political science
  School: University of Kansas
  Mentor: Dr. Jason Bergtold at Kansas State University
• Story Map by Joseph Schauwecker
  Major: Environmental economics
  Mississippi State University
  Mentor: Dr. Vaishali Sharda at Kansas State University

For complete list of all students and their projects, see this related news story.