Students in the EDU 403 Teaching Science in the Elementary School have joined forces with an international relief effort to map the impact of Hurricane Maria on Puerto Rico by holding a “mapathon.”
The students are part of the GeoVenturers YouthMappers Chapter, established by Dr. Michael Jabot of the College of Education two years ago, that was one of 24 inaugural chapters worldwide.
The work expands on the work that the students are doing around using geospatial technologies to develop student understanding of the world around them in classrooms across the region.
There are more than 1,500 roads and bridges that were damaged after the hurricane, and Puerto Rico’s transportation chief noted than rebuilding them could cost $240 million. And while some supplies have arrived at the port in San Juan, there are conflicting reports about how much aid is reaching Puerto Rico’s more-isolated communities, where mapping data can be the most helpful.
The students used the OpenStreetMap, an open-source mapping platform that some members of the American Red Cross and FEMA are using in Puerto Rico, because it lets anyone edit maps from all over the world.
Data for OpenStreetMap is collected from surveys, GPS devices, aerial photography, volunteers and other free sources, and it can display maps that show information on crime rates, temperatures, census data and more.
Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team, a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C., began humanitarian mapping efforts in 2010 after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake devastated Haiti after receiving satellite imagery of the country from the U.S. government. It began filling in areas where buildings, roads and other features did not appear on existing maps. Dr. Jabot joined this effort and expanded the reach by establishing the YouthMappers Chapter on campus.
While this mapathon focused on aiding relief in Puerto Rico, there are a number of other mapping initiatives that continue in the devastating events around the world including the mudslides in Sierra Leone, hurricanes across the Caribbean, the massive flooding in Nepal and Bangladesh and the earthquake in Mexico.
Anyone interested in joining in on these efforts is welcome to contact Jabot at 716-673-3639 or by email.
