Caitlin Haedrich is pursuing a doctoral degree in geospatial analytics. She recently completed her fifth year in the Center for Geospatial Analytics at the College of Natural Resources.
Recently, Haedrich had the unique opportunity to travel as a guest researcher to Breda University in the Netherlands. There, she installed and demonstrated a geospatial tool called Tangible Landscape.
While studying at NC State, Haedrich has been involved in the Geospatial Graduate Student Organization. She previously served as the organization’s social chair and co-president.
During the 2023-24 academic year, Haedrich was a co-awardee on a DELTA grant with her advisor Helena Mitasova, a professor and Center for Geospatial Analytics Distinguished Fellow
NC State writer Emma Stuck recently spoke with Haedrich about her decision to study geospatial analytics at the College of Natural Resources and what she hopes to accomplish going forward.
Why did you choose to study geospatial analytics?
Caitlin Haedrich: I’m just finishing my fifth year as a doctoral student in geospatial analytics, so this question has prompted some interesting reflection for me. I was wondering if my answer now would be different than five years ago so I went back and looked at my application essay.
I found that I’d written about wanting to build geospatial tools to help decision makers and stakeholders make scientifically-informed decisions about the environment, especially around flooding and water management. I’m happy to say that five years later, my answer is still the same.
What is your favorite memory or class from your time at NC State?
Haedrich: One of my recent highlights was the opportunity to be a visiting scholar for a month at Breda University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands. My lab group has collaborators there and they were interested in using Tangible Landscape, a spatially augmented reality sandbox system, in their work.
They hosted me for a month while I helped set up and configure the system. They had a project in partnership with several Dutch and Belgian historic forts, examining the visitor experience and potential future changes to the landscaping.
The capstone of the project was bringing the Tangible Landscape system to a workshop with the fort managers where they could interact with a 3D model of their fort, explore visitor data display on the model and see how changing the landscape would impact the visitors’ viewsheds as they move about the fort.
What are your career goals?
Haedrich: I really enjoy collaborative research projects that pair real-world issues with cutting-edge geospatial tools through participatory processes. I’ve also grown to love working on GRASS, an open source geospatial processing engine, Tangible Landscape and teaching.
So, I’m hoping to find a position that will let me continue doing this — probably a post-doc next and maybe a teaching position or something similar in academia after. I’m also curious about working in industry.
How has the College of Natural Resources prepared you for your future?
Haedrich: The College of Natural Resources has been a wonderful community to be a part of for the past five years. Jordan Hall, where my office is located, is always bustling with research and classes.
I have also had the opportunity to represent the college and the Center for Geospatial Analytics at conferences, which has helped me learn about other research and network with researchers working in my field.
Last winter, I won the American Geophysical Union’s Freilich Student Visualization Competition for a Tangible Landscape activity. I’d made the activity as part of a large collaborative project that studied agricultural runoff and water quality in eastern North Carolina. The project and resulting award were a product of the interdisciplinary and collaborative research approach you’ll find in Jordan Hall.
What advice would you give to students entering your major?
Haedrich: If you find something you like to work on and people you like to work with, your doctorate will be an enjoyable experience.
Tell us about something you are passionate about outside of your academic studies.
Haedrich: I have two rescue dogs at home, and I love taking them for walks around Raleigh and our neighborhood.
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