Resnick 1 Statement of Goals and Objectives Kayla Resnick I recently had the opportunity to visit the incredible San

n Diego Zoo. It is a world class facility, and its conservation efforts can hardly be over-stated. Somewhere between the giant pandas and hyenas, I began thinking about the reasons we bring these animals into zoos, to live out the rest of their lives in cages. A clear answer is that it increases our exposure to these animals, and we as a population are significantly more inclined to protect something weve been exposed to. This is how I like to think about the role of GIS in preservation. The Geography, Planning, and Recreation Department at NAU is an ideal place to explore the connection between GIS, public outreach, and preservation, particularly within archaeology where my interests are concentrated. The faculty at NAU are experts in a variety of concentrations, from recreation management, to citizen participation and historic preservation and heritage tourism. Each of these examples can be easily tied to the idea that getting geographical information to the public in a compelling way is absolutely critical in ensuring Arizonas rich cultural history is both documented and preserved. I was first introduced to GIS the summer after my freshman year of college when I was back in my hometown of Kenai, Alaska. One afternoon my dad casually mentioned that a friend of his needed some help. This friend owned the Alaska Map Company, and a brief phone call to him confirmed that he needed assistance making maps, something he said he could easily teach me the basics of. Most importantly, hed pay me $10 an hour. That was how I got roped into spending 8 hours a day during the beautiful Alaskan summer sitting in a cramped office, across from a near stranger learning the basics of ArcMap. The first project I worked on was for the Alaska Division of Forestry. A pilot had flown over vast swatches of the interior taking aerial photographs of forested areas. A forestry botanist then used a permanent marker on the photos themselves to delineate different species of trees. My job was to geo-reference the photos and digitize the polygons. As dull as it was, I was completely enthralled with the first maps I produced. A few months pass, and I find myself back at school wandering the aisles of the Student Job Fair. A small table for the Office of the State Archaeologist caught my eye, and I stopped to speak with the gentleman running the booth. He mentioned they were looking for a GIS technician, and seemed positively delighted to learn I had a bit of experience in the field. He was so delighted that instead of letting me apply for the tech position, he wrote a grant proposal and became my mentor for my first research project. This work would later become the basis for my honors research, and served as an important introduction into the office that taught me much of what I know today. For the next few years, I worked for the Office of the State Archaeologist as a student researcher, contract field and laboratory technician, and GIS technician. It is thanks to that experience that I was able to see firsthand the impact that nicely formatted data and carefully constructed maps can have on a project. Our GIS Specialist at the OSA, Melanie Riley, recently used her amazing GIS knowledge to create a model that accurately detects Indian burial mounds using LIDAR. The images

Resnick 2 shes produced have proven instrumental in locating (and preserving!) previously unrecorded mound groups all over Iowa. For my own part, I participated in an outreach project involving the Iowa River Valley Scenic Byway. Our Education and Outreach Director, Linn Alex, was going from town to town along the proposed byway, meeting with locals in hopes of convincing them of the significance of the designation. I helped produce 5 maps of the byway that according to Linn, were absolutely crucial to the success of the meetings. These maps were designed to highlight unique aspects of the byway including cultural events, archaeological sites, and recreational opportunities. These maps and the data it took to compile them were the basis of what has become one of my favorite projects to date. As a GIS professional, I hope to have the same sort of impact that Melanie and Linn have had. Im especially interested in classes focusing on communicating geographical information, and increasing my exposure to the tools needed to create and execute models. I plan to use my Masters of Science in GIS primarily in conservation efforts, mostly within archaeology but without excluding other historic and recreational sites of interest. Specifically, I imagine myself working as a GIS Specialist for the BLM or Department of Parks and Recreation. I would like to continue to produce maps that illustrate that amazing variety of cultural and historic sites around us, in hopes of making the general public as excited about them I am. Thank you in advance for your consideration, I believe my unique anthropological background, previous GIS experience, and strong personal drive evident in my transcript will combine to make me an asset to your program. I look forward to hearing from you, and am grateful for the opportunity to be considered.