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Data Science
Partnership with federal agency helps students...
Erick Posner holds up a stress ball that looks like a miniature globe. “We think of the Earth as round, but it’s not,” he says, and then gives the ball a slight squeeze. “It’s like this.”
Understanding the world — and how to map it out as accurately as possible — is critical to Posner’s job as an analyst at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). The data and imagery that NGA collects informs decisions about national strategy, military operations, and disaster relief efforts. As a geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) professional, Posner sees an opportunity for Gallaudet students to follow in his footsteps.
Since 2021, when Gallaudet and NGA signed an Education Partnership Agreement (EPA), Posner has served as an adjunct professor at the University teaching courses on Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping software. “I’m passionate about this. I care about the future of the deaf and hard of hearing community. I want to give them the opportunities I’ve experienced myself,” says Posner, who views the collaboration as a win-win for everyone involved. “These students have unique skills, and mentally process things in a different way. They have the ability to make the world a better place.”
They have already started on campus, notes Landscaping & Grounds Manager Eric Kaika, ’02. One student project for Posner’s courses involved studying where lighting is installed in relationship to roadways. “It helped us step back and see the big picture,” says Kaika, who has gotten hooked on doing real-time data collection and wants to expand the use of GIS. “Now we’re trying to move indoors to look inside classrooms and see how we use space that’s available.”
When Kaika joined Posner at the 2024 Esri Federal GIS User Conference at the Washington Convention Center in February, the two stood in front of a seemingly endless row of exhibitors. “He is like a kid in a candy store,” Posner joked, pointing to Kaika, who was studying all of the posters and gear. Then Posner steered him over to the front of a booth, where a company representative asked if they were interested in products for facilities management or teaching.
“It’s both,” Posner replied. “Our philosophy is we recruit students to collect data. Students get experience, and the university gets the data it needs.” After the chat, he turned to Kaika and announced, “I know where we need to go next.” They zipped around visiting various booths, Posner constantly waving and exchanging greetings.
At lunch, they joined a large group of deaf attendees, including NGA’s Paula Ayres, ’95, as well as a contingent of Gallaudet faculty and students. It makes sense that so many of them would be interested in GIS, noted Emily Nover, ’24, who had taken part in the campus lighting survey. “Obviously deaf people are very visual. I’ve fallen in love with maps,” she said. Nover explained that her honors project involved working with a data set to plot out where deaf people live and where deaf institutions are located, so being at the conference was exposing her to new ideas, tips, and strategies. “I’m seeing there’s a whole world of this,” she added.
That is exactly the lesson Posner hopes his students get from this experience. At the 2023 Esri Federal GIS Conference, three groups of students presented their research projects developed in the classroom under the auspices of the EPA. “It was so inspiring to see them realize the impact they could make,” he says. “People in the world have this bias that deaf people can’t do anything. No, I’m not accepting that. We need the right resources and tools to succeed.”
Posner also participated in student field trips to NGA Washington located in Springfield, Va., so they can explore potential career options. “I’m not the kind of person who teaches class and then just says, ‘Have a good summer,’” Posner says. “I try to put resources together, and help people figure out how to access what they need.”
To Posner, the way forward is clear: Train students, point them in the right direction, and then watch them succeed.
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November 20, 2024
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