Here are student reflections on how GIS/spatial analysis enriched their summer endeavors:

Amrita Acharya ’23, Art

This summer I used ArcGIS Pro on Amazon Web Services (AWS) while interning with the Town of Brookline, MA Regulatory Planning Division. As part of an ongoing Multifamily Housing Study, I analyzed the development patterns of the Brookline Village neighborhood. I collected data on the buildings and their parcels, including building height, stories, setback info, and land use type. I compiled this data and used it in ArcPro to create maps that show trends in each variable. We use the maps to easily understand if the natural development pattern is or is not in line with the zoning bylaws of Brookline. The goal of the project is to understand, for each neighborhood, how we can create a hypothetical building envelope that accommodates optimal mixed use and identify potential areas of infill. Each of these maps is compounded with section drawings of street faces and 3D models of building envelopes to tell a holistic story of existing mixed use structures in Brookline.

Wayne Ndlovu ’22, Geosciences & Statistical and Data Sciences

My summer project focused on estimating Na+ and Cl- concentrations at Kampoosa Bog, a wetland along Interstate 90. Using historic water chemistry data collected from several sample sites in the wetland, I estimated Na+ and Cl- concentrations in the entire wetland by interpolating the provided data points. This gave us a better understand of the spatial distribution of salt pollution at Kampoosa Bog. I also worked on mapping out the watershed boundaries for the streams that are hydrologically connected to the wetland. Using the watershed area, precipitation and evapotranspiration values, I calculated the predicted volume of water stored in the wetland in each water year from 2017 to 2020.