The WyomingView program was pleased this year to offer two $1000 scholarships in support of undergraduate and graduate students using remotely sensed data and geographic information science in their research. These scholarships were made possible by generous support from the USGS and AmericaView Inc. which fund WyomingView. We look forward to offering similar opportunities in the future as funding permits. This years recipients of the awards, Dulce Boles and Scott Kelley, describe their work below.

Dulce Boles

I’m Dulce Boles, and my thesis project is entitled “GIS and Remote Sensing at the Old Fort Laramie Cemetery.” The $1000.00 Wyoming View scholarship will help me in several ways. First it has allowed me the opportunity to attend a workshop in geophysical prospection (or remote sensing) at archaeological sites. This week long workshop was recently held in Ohio, and covered the theory and use of different geophysical instruments. I was able to discuss my thesis project with many of the top professionals in the field, learning new data processing and “ground truthing” techniques. This has directly benefited my thesis project by giving me new ways to analyze and test my data.

Through the scholarship, I will also be able to return to the field this summer and test the results of my thesis work. I have planned to spend five days in the field looking for graves based on the maps generated by the geophysical instruments. This “ground truthing” will be conducted in relatively nondestructive ways, including the use of a metal detector, soil compaction meter, and 4” bucket auger. Finally, my thesis work will be published by the park service, and included in the annual archaeological report for Fort Laramie. This will provide a comparative basis for future research in remote sensing.

Scott Kelley

In addition to the funding I received from the Wyoming Space Grant Program, I was the recipient of the $1000 WyGISC award. This valuable amount of funding will be used mainly for salary to complete the project. Additional funding means that we can put in additional time and effort into the work we are trying to accomplish. The rest of the funding will go towards covering the cost of transportation to reach work areas in the field. Thank you to WyGISC for this generous award!

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