Mapping Madagascar

Jane Slentz-Kesler ’23 earned first place in the undergraduate competition at the Minnesota GIS/LIS Consortium. “It was a great chance to network and learn more about professional opportunities in the field of geography and geographic information systems,” she said.

At the conference, she shared about the land systems she studies in Madagascar. “I study protected area management in northeast Madagascar, combining qualitative interview data from local farmers with quantitative GIS and remote sensing satellite data about land cover change,” she said. “I love understanding the complexities of this kind of management system, and having the opportunity to live in the village for six months over two summers allowed me to build relationships with the community.”