The Fourth Annual BAAMA Educational Scholarship attracted applications from students across Bay Area colleges and universities. This year's winners submitted projects in a wide range of subject matters (public health service centers, access to sex education and web-based walking trails).

Susan Paulukonis, a graduate student at UC Berkeley School of Public Health, is our First Place prize winner for her poster “California's Metabolic Centers: Usage Patterns and Need by Newborn Screening Identified Clients, 2005-2009.” Susan utilized geocoding, spatial interpolation and network analysis to tackle the following problem: The California Genetic Disease Screening Program needed to understand who is using which metabolic referral centers, whether one or two more centers may be needed, and if so, where in the state they should be sited. This preliminary analysis determines center usage by clients, distance traveled, areas of unmet need and a preliminary look at diagnoses in the state. Susan plans to continue using GIS to explore the distribution of disease as well as access to services in California.

Deviyani Gurung, an undergraduate student at the University of California, Berkeley, was awarded the Second Place prize for her poster entry “Is Planned Parenthood Serving You?” Deviyani’s poster shows a series of maps in San Francisco, California. One map demonstrates proximity analyses between high schools and Planned Parenthood facilities. A second map presents optimal bicycle and bus routes. And, the third map suggests site locations for additional Planned Parenthood facilities. Overall, the poster reveals that many high school students are underserved by the current Planned Parenthood facility locations and offers a solution. Deviyani plans to pursue a career in city planning where she will use GIS to help allocate funds and resources to lower income areas.

Gary Lyons, a student at Diablo Valley College, is our Third Place prize winner for his web based Google Earth rendering of the Carquinez Strait, available at: http://terraordo.com/index.php/projects/maps_and_cartography/google_earth_overlay/. Four walking trails were mapped with GPS and the elevation profiles are shown for each trail. Gary plans to be a GIS professional with an emphasis in remote sensing and cartography.

First-, second-, and third-place prizes included awards of $1500, $1000, and $500, respectively. All three awards include Individual Membership in BAAMA for the 2010-11 fiscal year.

BAAMA is very excited about and proud of all those who entered the BAAMA Educational Scholarship competition. Congratulations to every student who is doing his/her part to use GIS and other geospatial technologies to improve and enhance the understanding and management of our Bay Area. Look out for the next scholarship in 2011!