Here's my portfolio for Advanced GIS.
My name is Carlyn, and I'm a second year master's student studying Health Care Policy and Management. My bachelor's degree is in Community Health, and I worked in health care for several years prior to coming to Heinz. So, I guess I'm pretty into health.
I'm originally from the DC area (the Maryland side of the suburbs) but have lived in Pittsburgh for three years. My then-boyfriend, now-husband and I moved here hoping to have an adventure in a new city (but still close enough to home). We bought a strange old house and adopted a strange young dog, Cricket.
I'm interested in health equity- that is, eliminating unjust disparities in health access and outcomes that are created by social or structural determinants. I don't know what I'll be doing after graduation, but as I job search, my main focus is finding something that will contribute some good to the world
I love GIS because it sits at the intersection of a lot of things I care about. As with everyone at Heinz, I'm interested in using data to solve problems, and I think that the insights GIS provides are particularly relevant for health (shoutout to John Snow). But I also am passionate about art and design- particularly color. So being able to fiddle around with data and come up answers to important questions, AND make it look good, is right up my alley.
Having said that, I would say my main goal for Advanced GIS class is to practice what I learned last year in Health GIS so that I can feel like I have those skills mastered, and could use them in the real world- but I am also excited to learn about different mapping and map-related technologies. I am stoked to put together a portfolio of work to take with me when I graduate.
This class fulfilled my expectations of better mastering ArcGIS skills, particularly ArcGIS Pro's more advanced analytic capabilities. I also got much more comfortable with finding and exploring diverse datasets. I'm happy to have been introduced to alternative mapping tools, like Mapbox, but I definitely think I need more practice with those.
Here is the beginning of my portfolio, which I will flesh out more in the coming weeks:
- A short story map I made in a previous class which addresses health insurance coverage and payday loan companies in my homeland of Prince George's County, MD.
- My Google Map Custom Style, inspired by this painting by Congolese artist Sylvestre Kaballa. I found the painting through the Smithsonian Open Access initiative.
- A map I made with a custom ArcGIS map style I designed, based off this painting by Van Gogh, in honor of his birthday (March 30).
- A web map I created of my final project for Advanced GIS class, and an explanatory slide deck to go along with it.