Sociology Student Maps His Way to Success

Nicholas Altizer from the University of Central Florida’s Department of Sociology has been chosen as a virtual intern for United States Agency for International Development’s Geocenter. The internship lasts from late January to the beginning of May.

The internship is with YouthMappers, a program that engages university and high school students by allowing them to edit an online map of the world. The data gathered are used for research and aid in impoverished communities.

Altizer is a graduate student majoring in sociology. He‘s collaborated with the YouthMappers program before and said that he is excited to have the opportunity to work for them. The internship will require him to work closely with the USAID Geocenter by participating in weekly calls, mapping and verifying location data, adopting an international Youthmappers site and blogging about his whole experience.

Altizer is actively involved in the UCF Department of Sociology. He has worked closely with his advisor, Assistant Professor Timothy L. Hawthorne, Ph.D., on many projects and intends to keep working during his internship. He’s worked as a staff member for the Research Experiences for Undergraduates Geographic Information System program in Belize and conducted research on the Indian River Lagoon. He and Hawthorne are currently working on a project with the Open Reef Mapping Society to map all the islands of Belize.

“I am fortunate to have been involved with all of the projects,” Altizer said. “The Open Reef Mapping Society project has a lot of potential for benefiting climate change research, tourism, disaster management, and many other fields.”

Altizer hopes to continue working toward positive change with is new internship.