Abstract

Payoffs and Pitfalls in a Powhatan, Arkansas Cemetery
Track: User Presentations - Teaching
Authors: Mary Passe-Smith

Six students spent an October weekend wandering around in peculiar costumes-including a giant antenna-in a north Arkansas cemetery, but not for Halloween. The Powhatan Historic State Park had contacted my department to assist in mapping this historic cemetery; I developed a service learning course in Geography at the University of Central Arkansas to answer the call. The Park desired several things: an inventory (with coordinate information) and map of what is in place; a brochure with a walking tour and short biographies was provided. Finally, provision of a web link will hopefully allow exploration of the historic cemetery (names, biographies, photos, etc). Students also produced a poster of their sometimes odd experiences (submitted concurrently at the 2013 International Users' Conference). This project helped students master specialized GIS/GNSS instrumentation and software, data cleanup, and online mapping techniques that will enhance each student's resume, while serving a public need.