GIS Intern: Christopher Gansch

Christopher is in his last week of an internship with Mairead de Roiste at the School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences.  He was here on placement as part of his Cartography and Geomedia-technology degree at the University of Applied Sciences, Munich, Germany.  The University of Applied Sciences requires students to undertake an 18 week internship in the fifth term.

Christopher at Silvretta, Austria

 

I completed my internship as a GIS (Geographic Information Science) research assistant. During this time I was supervised by Dr. Mairead de Roiste (Senior Lecturer in GIS and Programme Director for the Masters in GIS at VUW) and Andrew Rae (GIS support technician).

New Zealand attracted me for a number of reasons. First, I wanted to improve my English. Second, I wanted to explore a different working environment. Additionally, New Zealand has a reputation for outdoor adventures and cultural experiences.

I worked on a number of different projects, for example, one project looked at the effect of rock type, rainfall, slope gradient and aspect on landslide occurrence in two study areas on the North Island of New Zealand; Hawke's Bay and Waitotara. Another project created a transport commuting model for the Greater Wellington Region.

I also worked for four days in the GIS Division of the Department of Conservation (DOC). My main task here was to test two new DOC internal GIS applications before they were made ‘live’ the following week. The applications should allow DOC employees to create maps quickly and easily without any cartographic knowledge.

Summer Scholarship Student: Andrew Parnell

Andrew Parnell is currently undertaking a summer research scholarship for the Search and Rescue Institute of New Zealand (SARINZ).  Andrew is due to start the Masters of Geographic Information Science (MGIS) in February of this year. 

Andrew at Parque Nacional Tierra Del Fuego, Ushuaia, Argentina

Andrew Parnell: Search and Rescue Institute of New Zealand

As part of the summer scholarship scheme at VUW, this summer I was chosen to complete a project proposed by SARINZ. Using data from New Zealand from 2003-2012, the project analyses whether watersheds form an appropriate model for search areas of lost persons in the New Zealand wilderness.

Lost person statistics include locations of where lost persons were last known to be and where they were found.  Using information about the lost person (such as activity, mental and physical capacity, and age), a person’s behaviour can be used to narrow down the most likely areas where they will be found.

I compare the locations of where the lost person was last known to be and where they were found for each incident. As a result, each incident is classified as one of the following; found in the same catchment as the last known location; in a watershed adjacent to the last known location or; in a watershed further afield.

The use of statistical analysis in informing searches for lost persons is increasingly common as data and analysis techniques have improved.  The results of this project will expand existing statistical modeling for lost person behaviour. If the watershed analysis is effective, it will make future search operations more efficient, faster and increasing the likelihood of finding lost persons.

Spotlight on Harry Cawood: Summer Scholarship

Each Summer VUW offers a number of summer scholarships.  Over the next few weeks I will highlight the work of some of the current scholarship holders.

Animal Health Board Summer Scholarship: Harry Cawood

Harry at the Botanic Gardens for the SSSI Young Professionals Christmas drinks

This year I received a summer scholarship from the Animal Health Board (AHB) looking at recent possum data.

Over the past couple of years, the AHB has run an operation called “Vector Net”. This operation aims to remove Tuberculosis (TB) in possums and other wildlife in eradications zones that cover 2.5 million hectares of New Zealand.

Studies show that once a possum population reaches a density of around 8 possums per hectare the chances of TB being sustained in a region drops.  If possums can be kept below these numbers then we may be able to eradicate TB from these regions.

Part of this operation has involved using handheld GPS units to record data from all traps, detection devices and poison stations in these areas.

By comparing the successful and unsuccessful traps in these regions I can examine what spatial factors are associated with possums, for example native bush, exotic forest and waterways.

By analysing this data, I hope to create a model that improves the identification of high risk factor areas that we can use to improve possum control areas.