BeSpatial / urisa ontario - Student Bursary

Plan now for May 2020! Award open for 2020 submissions

Location: Markham, ON Bayview Club

$500 Student Bursary Offering!

Award will be Announced at the BeSpatial'19 Annual Event

Submission by April 10, 2020

Educational Contacts: View Letter and Education Flyer with MApps

This is a great opportunity for students to be recognized in the field of GIS, get name recognition and begin participating within the Ontario GIS and Information community. There will be an opportunity at the BeSpatial event to display your Poster submission and speak with delegates about your project.

The submissions are reviewed by the Association's Board of Directors and a winner is selected. The award is presented to the winner at the annual BeSpatial event. The top three submissions will be published on this web page (see below) and also be recognized in one of the association's e-newsletters. The top ten submitters will be offered a complimentary student membership.

Top Three Presentations - BeSpatial'18

Studying Invasive Plant Distribution by Using GIS- Nebyu Woldeyohanes - Nipissing U

Risk Terrain modeling - Andrew Newman - Niagara College

‘Honour’ Crimes and Violence - Shanaz Baksh York University

Application Guidelines

To be considered for this bursary, students are required to submit a paper (or a poster) detailing a GIS project completed or in the process of being completed as a requirement for their studies at a designated educational institution in Ontario. Papers should be no longer than 1,000 words and include a description of the project, its purpose and the solution that it provides. The use of maps to illustrate project results is highly recommended.

Please note that the bursary can only be awarded to a student once, however applicants who do not receive the bursary are free to apply again. Bursary winners may apply again and have the opportunity to win a 1-year complimentary membership, if selected as one of top ten submissions.

** Unfortunately, we are unable to accept submissions from doctoral students and/or group projects.

Please submit your bursary and/or questions to Irene, education director

2019 Student Bursary Winner

Devon Kleinjan

University of Guelph

3-D Datascape Mapping of Toronto

Devon Kleinjan is entering his final year at the University of Guelph, studying Landscape Architecture. He is supplementing his professional degree with a minor is GIS. He is currently working as a Landscape Intern with the Hamilton Conservation Authority. His BeSpatial project submission stood at the intersection of Landscape Architecture, Geography and Technology. He is looking forward to being a part of BeSpatial for the professional and personal connections it can provide.

2018 Student Bursary Winner

Nebyu Woldeyohanes

Nipissing University, Ontario

Studying Invasive Plant Distribution by Using GIS

Nebyu Daniel Woldeyohanes is a 3rd year Environmental and physical Geography student at Nipissing University, focusing in GIS and Environmental Management. He was born and raised in Ethiopia, coming to Canada when he was 15. He aspires to be a GIS specialist to be able to solve real life problems.

His project studied Invasive Plant Distribution through the Identification and Impacts of Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) on Lake Tana, Ethiopia.

2017 Student Bursary Winner

Kyle Wittmaier

Nipissing University, Ontario

Suitable Locations for Solar Panel Farm Development in the Niagara Region

This project was completed as part of the requirement for 2016 Esri GIS Scholarship. The objective was to identify the most suitable locations for setting up solar panel farms in the Niagara Region using GIS mapping techniques.

In recent years, Canada has invested heavily in renewable energy and the completion of this

project would provide useful information in determination financial feasibility for establishing solar energy generation facilities.

Location of suitable sites was determined using GIS multi-criteria evaluation analysis tools. The three main criteria were: accessibility/boundaries, topographic factors, and existing land cover/use. All criteria were individually analyzed and then combined using the Weighted Sum tool before Boolean logic was applied to remove restricted development areas. The results show that there are three clusters of suitable locations present in the Niagara Region near the municipalities of Lincoln, Niagara Falls, and Fort Erie. These are the areas where future solar panel farm development should be considered.

The call for Bursary submission is open year-round. Start planning your project or poster for submission for the 2020 award!