Summer job helps student map out future career
[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/worldmap.jpg” caption=”The third-year environmental sciences student has spent the summer at the Lloyd Reeds Map Collection at McMaster’s Mills Memorial Library where she has been digitally archiving maps and aerial images from throughout time.”]
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Google Maps may help you navigate today's streets and highways, but what happens when you want to study a route that's a little more dated?
Just ask Vivian Ntiri.
The third-year environmental sciences student has spent the summer at the Lloyd Reeds Map Collection at McMaster's Mills Memorial Library where she has been digitally archiving maps and aerial images from throughout time.
One of her primary responsibilities involves updating and adding maps to databases, helping to enhance their accessibility to environmental scientists and history professors doing their research.
“I do everything from inputting maps into map indexes to researching copyrights in order to perform necessary scanning procedures,” said Ntiri. “It's really beneficial because it helps to improve access to knowledge so researchers can do their jobs more efficiently, and I really enjoy that aspect of the job.”
Ntiri is currently working on a project involving maps donated from the City of Hamilton that date back to 1934.
“It's really cool to see how areas transition over time. That's one of the most interesting things about this job, being able to compare maps from several decades ago to present-day.”
Ntiri says that studying and working with maps isn't strictly for geographers. As an environmental sciences student, she is particularly observant of the impact on the environment evident in old photos, looking for things such as chemical impacts on land as preliminary research for projects.
“I'm definitely interested in pursuing a future in geochemistry, so to be able to assist experts and to witness them first hand doing this sort of research really ties into my academic program,” she says. “It really is great to be able to get insights into a future career.”
Not only does the job augment her studies and prepare her for a career, but Ntiri says that she loves having the opportunity to work on campus.
“McMaster is such a beautiful place. Being able to work here is such an advantage and is definitely one of the nicest things about this job.”
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