Ph.D. Student Caitlin Haedrich Wins Freilich Student Visualization Competition

Geospatial Analytics Ph.D. student Caitlin Haedrich was recently named a Grand Prize winner of the American Geophysical Union’s (AGU) Michael H. Freilich Student Visualization Competition. The “program provides an opportunity for students to demonstrative creative ways to visualize data and present complex problems in the Earth, space and related scientific disciplines.” Submissions are judged based on creativity, ability to present complex problems and potential for audience engagement.

Preparation for the competition began last summer, with the submission idea stemming from a project led by Haedrich utilizing Tangible Landscape – a Tangible User Interface for GRASS GIS. This innovative tool has been widely used in participatory modeling, education, and stakeholder engagement initiatives at CGA. The project focused on water quality sampling in Eastern North Carolina, and Tangible Landscape played a key role in facilitating discussions with local governments on farm runoff and interpreting sampling results.

In recognition of her work, Haedrich received a travel grant to attend AGU’s annual meeting this past December, where she had the opportunity to present her research on the NASA Hyperwall. The award’s namesake, Michael Freilich, was the former Director of NASA’s Earth Science Division. Haedrich will also receive funding and support for additional professional development over the next three years.

Congratulations, Caitlin!