<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
	<meta charset="utf-8" />
	<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1, minimum-scale=1, maximum-scale=1">
	<title>
		University Communications : University of Vermont	</title>
	<script src="//ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.7.2/jquery.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
	<script src="/www/js/modernizr.custom.06178.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
	<!--[if lt IE 9]>
		<script src="/www/js/css3-mediaqueries.js"></script>
		<link rel="stylesheet" href="/www/css/uvm2013rwdie.css" media="screen" />
	<![endif]-->
	<script>
	  (function() {
		var cx = '009525375878856613939:vxps9xejxke';
		var gcse = document.createElement('script');
		gcse.type = 'text/javascript';
		gcse.async = true;
		gcse.gname = 'uvm';
		gcse.src = (document.location.protocol == 'https:' ? 'https:' : 'http:') +
			'//www.google.com/cse/cse.js?cx=' + cx;
		var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0];
		s.parentNode.insertBefore(gcse, s);
	  })();
	</script>
	<script type="text/javascript" src="//www.uvm.edu/sites/all/themes/uvmbase/js/uvm_directory_find_people.js"></script>
	<link rel="stylesheet" href="/www/css/uvm2013rwd.css" media="screen" />
	<link rel="stylesheet" href="/www/css/uvm2013print.css" media="print" />
			<link rel="stylesheet" href="/~uvmpr/style_uvmtoday_rwd.css" type="text/css" media="screen" />
		<link rel="stylesheet" href="http://www.uvm.edu/www/css/addons/new_news.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" />
	<meta name="author" content="University of Vermont" />
<meta name="dept" content="University Communications" />
<meta name="generator" content="UVM Web Publishing System" />
<link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="UVM - Top Stories [RSS]" href="http://www.uvm.edu/rss/news/newsrss.php?category=ucommall" />

<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/www/css/acclaim_widget.css" />		<link rel="shortcut icon" href="http://www.uvm.edu/www/images/templates/favicon.ico" />
	<base href="http://www.uvm.edu/~uvmpr/" />
</head>
<body>
	<!-- Google Analytics -->
	<script>
	  (function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){
	  (i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),
	  m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)
	  })(window,document,'script','//www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js','ga');

	  ga('create', 'UA-4758296-1', 'auto');
	  ga('create', 'UA-4758296-1', 'auto', {'name': 'unitTracker'});
	  ga('require', 'linkid');
	  ga('send', 'pageview');
	  ga('unitTracker.send', 'pageview');
	</script>
	<!-- End Google Analytics -->	
	
<div id="frame">
<div id="skip">
	<a href="/~uvmpr/?Page=news&amp;storyID=24952#bannermenu">Skip to main navigation</a>
	<a href="/~uvmpr/?Page=news&amp;storyID=24952#local">Skip to local navigation</a>
	<a href="/~uvmpr/?Page=news&amp;storyID=24952#uvmmaincontent">Skip to main content</a>
</div>
<header>
<nav id="topnav">
<div id="mid-wrapper">
<div id="tools_and_search">
<ul>
	<li class="apply"><a href="/admissions/">apply</a></li>
	<li id="uvm-search">Search</li>
	<li class="myuvm"><a href="https://myuvm.uvm.edu" title="Log into the myUVM portal"  onclick="_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'Links', 'Internal', 'myUVM']);">myUVM</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<div id="toolswrapper">
<div id="search">
	<div id="gcsepeople">
	<h2><label for="gsc-i-id1">Search Website</label></h2>
	<gcse:searchbox-only gname="uvm"></gcse:searchbox-only>
	<h2><label for="people-entry">Search Directory</label></h2>
	<div id="people">
	<table class="people-search-box" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
		<tbody>
			<tr>
				<td class="people-input">
					<input id="people-entry" class="people-input" type="text" lang="en" autocomplete="off" size="10" name="search" title="search" x-webkit-speech="" x-webkit-grammar="builtin:search" dir="ltr" spellcheck="false" style="outline: medium none;">
				</td>
				<td class="people-search-button">
					<input class="people-search-button" type="button" value="Search" title="search">
				</td>
				<td class="people-clear-button">
					<div class="people-clear-button" title="clear results">&nbsp;</div>
				</td>
			</tr>
		</tbody>
	</table>
	</div>
	</div>
	<div id="az">
	<h2>A to Z</h2>
	<ul class="alpha azlist">
	<li><a href="/a_to_z#A">A</a></li>
	<li><a href="/a_to_z#B">B</a></li>
	<li><a href="/a_to_z#C">C</a></li>
	<li><a href="/a_to_z#D">D</a></li>
	<li><a href="/a_to_z#E">E</a></li>
	<li><a href="/a_to_z#F">F</a></li>
	<li><a href="/a_to_z#G">G</a></li>
	<li><a href="/a_to_z#H">H</a></li>
	<li><a href="/a_to_z#I">I</a></li>
	<li><a href="/a_to_z#J">J</a></li>
	<li><a href="/a_to_z#K">K</a></li>
	<li><a href="/a_to_z#L">L</a></li>
	<li><a href="/a_to_z#M">M</a></li>
	<li><a href="/a_to_z#N">N</a></li>
	<li><a href="/a_to_z#O">O</a></li>
	<li><a href="/a_to_z#P">P</a></li>
	<li><a href="/a_to_z#Q">Q</a></li>
	<li><a href="/a_to_z#R">R</a></li>
	<li><a href="/a_to_z#S">S</a></li>
	<li><a href="/a_to_z#T">T</a></li>
	<li><a href="/a_to_z#U">U</a></li>
	<li><a href="/a_to_z#V">V</a></li>
	<li><a href="/a_to_z#W">W</a></li>
	<li><a href="/a_to_z#X">X</a></li>
	<li><a href="/a_to_z#Y">Y</a></li>
	<li><a href="/a_to_z#Z">Z</a></li>
	</ul>
	</div>
</div>
</div>
</nav>
<h1><a href="/" accesskey="1" title="UVM Homepage shortcut key = 1"><span id="logo"><img src="/www/images/logos/uvmlogo-63865e.gif" alt="" /></span>University of Vermont</a></h1>

<div id="topbanner"><h2>University Communications</h2></div></header>
<div class="contentwrapper">
<nav class="localnav" id="local">
<div class="homelink"><a href="http://www.uvm.edu/~uvmpr/">University Communications</a></div>
<div id="local-menu-icon">
<button title="Access menu" data-target="" data-toggle="collapse" class="lmbtn lmbtn-navbar" type="button">
	<span class="icon-bar"></span>
	<span class="icon-bar"></span>
	<span class="icon-bar"></span>
</button>
</div>
<ul><li><a href="http://www.uvm.edu/~uvmpr/?Page=EMS&amp;SM=eventssub.html">Calendar of Events</a></li><li><a href="http://www.uvm.edu/~uvmpr/?Page=news_all.php">All News</a></li><li><a href="http://www.uvm.edu/~uvmpr/?Page=nationalnews.php">UVM in the National News</a></li><li><a href="http://www.uvm.edu/~uvmpr/?Page=style.html">Style Guide</a></li><li><a href="http://www.uvm.edu/~uvmpr/?Page=social.html&amp;SM=socialsub.html">Social Media</a></li><li><a href="http://www.uvm.edu/~uvmpr/?Page=photos.html&amp;SM=mediasub.html">Media Resources</a></li><li><a href="http://www.uvm.edu/~uvmpr/?Page=subscribe.html">Subscribe</a></li><li><a href="http://www.uvm.edu/~uvmpr/?Page=contact.html&amp;SM=contactsub.html">Contact Us</a></li></ul></nav>
<section class="maincontent">
<article id="uvmmaincontent" class="uvmpage__var_www_nfs_docroot_cache_www_magic_plugins_news_news_driver_php">
<!-- $the_magic_page = /var/www/nfs_docroot_cache/www/magic/plugins/news/news_driver.php --><!-- $the_magic_action = include --><!-- including /var/www/nfs_docroot_cache/www/magic/plugins/news/news_driver.php : -->
<div id='UVM_Photo_Left'><h3 id="storyTitle">Humanitarian Mapmaking</h3><h4 id="storySubtitle">From Nepalese earthquakes to Hurricane Harvey, students help make the maps</h4><div id="storyInfo">
<div id="storyShare" class="addthis_toolbox addthis_default_style" addthis:title="Humanitarian Mapmaking">
<a class="addthis_button_email"></a>
<a class="addthis_button_facebook"></a>
<a class="addthis_button_twitter"></a>
<a class="addthis_button_preferred_1"></a>
<a class="addthis_button_compact"></a>
<a class="addthis_counter addthis_bubble_style"></a>
</div>
<script type="text/javascript">
var addthis_config = {
   data_ga_property: 'UA-4758296-1',
   data_ga_social: true
};
</script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://s7.addthis.com/js/250/addthis_widget.js#pubid=uvermont"></script>
<ul>
<li class="storyDate" id="storyDate">09-13-2017</li>
<li class="storyAuthor"><a id='author' href='mailto:joshua.brown@uvm.edu'>By Joshua E. Brown</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div id="storyContent">
<div id="storyContainer">
<figure id="storyPrimaryMedia">
<img src="https://newstool-prd.w3.uvm.edu/newsadmin/newsadmin/uploads/media/Humanitarianmappingclub(5of5).jpg" alt ="Students in Humanitarian Mapping Club" /><figcaption class='storyCaption'>(Photos: Josh Brown)</figcaption>
</figure>
<div id="left_spacer"></div>
<div id="left_bottom"><aside id="storyExtras">
<div id="storyMore">
<h4>Related Links</h4>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/UVMHMC/">Humanitarian Mapmaking Club</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.uvm.edu/rsenr">Rubenstein School of Environment &amp; Natural Resources</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
</aside></div><div id="text">
<p>In the wake of disasters around the world, <a title="Noah Ahles" href="http://www.uvm.edu/rsenr/profiles/noah-ahles">Noah Ahles</a> ’14 and Nina Loutchko ’20 like to throw a party. So, last week, when Hurricane Harvey roared through coastal Texas, they did it again. “There’s chips and salsa and Oreos,” Ahles calls out cheerfully, over some soft music, to a group of about twenty UVM students and others who have gathered in a computer lab in the Aiken Building on campus.</p>
<p>But this party is no joke. It’s a mapping party—with a deadly serious aim to help first-responders, disaster planners—and anyone else in the region who needs an accurate map of what the storm has done on the ground. “We’re going to be working tonight in Houston to help them get back up on their feet,” Ahles says.</p>
<p>The students are volunteering their evening for the <a title="Humanitarian mapping club" href="https://www.facebook.com/UVMHMC/" target="_blank">UVM Humanitarian Mapping Club</a>—and it seems a bit like a video-game competition as they focus intensely at computers, drawing magenta squares on satellite maps. Each box goes around a building and then is classified—“tonight we’re mostly just looking at houses,” Ahles says—joining their work to a global effort called <a title="openstreetmap" href="https://www.openstreetmap.org/" target="_blank">OpenStreetMap</a> that include teams of engineers, GIS professionals, humanitarians, and other groups of college students around the world.</p>
<p> <img title="HumanitarianMapping-1" src="https://newstool-prd.w3.uvm.edu/newsadmin/uploads/Humanitarian_mapping_club_2_of_5.jpg" alt="Emily Kornfien and Noah Ales" width="800" height="534" /></p>
<p>“This is a just a picture, a satellite image,” says Emily Kornfien ‘19 (above), a transfer student who’s new to the club. She points to her screen at what looks like a curving cul-de-sac of houses and swimming pools. “The computer doesn’t know anything is there. That's why these lines are being added: you put in the lines, for a road or school or whatever, and then you name it.”</p>
<p>The UVM club is part of an organization called <a title="YouthMappers" href="http://www.youthmappers.org/" target="_blank">YouthMappers</a> with 74 chapters in 24 countries. “We’re exchanging emails with universities in Kenya, South Africa, and India,” says Loutchko, who joined the effort last year and now serves as president. “We’re collectively trying to get young people involved in mapping and humanitarian work.”</p>
<p>Noah Ahles (above left)—who graduated from UVM in 2014 and is now on staff at <a title="UVM SAL" href="https://www.uvm.edu/rsenr/sal/">UVM’s Spatial Analysis Lab</a>—describes OpenStreetMap as the Wikipedia of maps. “Anybody can edit, anybody can download, and anybody can use it for free,” he says. “It’s powerful because it takes the red tape away from organizations that need to do damage assessment, or disaster recovery, or any situation where they need open-source data immediately."</p>
<p><img title="HumanitarianMapping-1" src="https://newstool-prd.w3.uvm.edu/newsadmin/uploads/Humanitarian_mapping_club_4_of_5.jpg" alt="Humanitarian Mapping students" width="800" height="534" /></p>
<p>The global effort began in 2010 following a terrible earthquake in Haiti. “We started at UVM in October 2014 during the Ebola outbreak,” Ahles explains. “Doctors Without Borders requested maps to be able to plan out exactly how to get from one village to another in Sierra Leone. They needed all the roads to be digitized.” So he began to volunteer.</p>
<p>“We take it for granted that we’re able to use our phones to find every single turn to reach any address in New York City,” he says. “That’s all vector information. That's lines. That's geographic information that a lot of developing countries don't have.”</p>
<p>And some places in the U.S. too—including Houston—don’t have complete datasets of where buildings and roads are that would allow a computer to create before-and-after images of flood-damaged areas. “Let's find neighborhoods that are underwater,” Ahles tells the group, showing them striking images, on a projector at the front of the room, of submerged houses where Harvey dumped feet of water. “We’re using both pre-storm and post-storm imagery,” Ahles explains, to help aid groups and others “understand how many buildings are within the area of flooding.”</p>
<p>Two students get up from their workstations and come to the front of the room. “We’ve earned a cookie,” one says, with a smile. “It can seem intimidating—all this geospatial technology,” says Loutchko, “but it’s really easy and fun. We listen to music and put in to a really great cause.”</p>
<p>By the end of the evening, twenty-four people have mapped 3,960 buildings in Houston. Three days later, Ahles posts another invite to the club’s Facebook page: “I’ll be doing some mapping,” on Saturday, he writes, “to help provide building footprints in preparation for Irma in Florida/Carribean Islands. Feel free to stop by.”</p></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</article>
<div class="clear-fix"></div>
</section>
<div class="clear-fix"></div>
</div>
<footer>
<address>
<div class="logo">The University of Vermont</div>
<div class="address_phone">
		<span class="address">Burlington, VT 05405</span>
		<span class="telephone"><a href="tel:+18026563131">(802) 656-3131</a></span>
</div>
<div class="link"><a href="/contact_uvm/" id="contactus">Contact UVM</a> &copy; 2018</div>
<div class="clear-fix"></div>
</address>
</footer>
</div>
<script src="/www/js/rwd-menus.js"></script>
<script src="/www/js/GAEventTracking.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
</body>
</html>
