{"id":3472,"date":"2026-06-29T10:23:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T14:23:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bsu.edu\/csh\/?p=3472"},"modified":"2026-06-29T10:27:30","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T14:27:30","slug":"masters-student-wins-first-place-for-gis-research-on-rural-green-spaces","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bsu.edu\/csh\/2026\/06\/29\/masters-student-wins-first-place-for-gis-research-on-rural-green-spaces\/","title":{"rendered":"Master’s Student Wins First Place for GIS Research on Rural Green Spaces"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For master’s student Ellie Karst, geography isn’t just about maps\u2014it’s about helping communities thrive.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Student
Ellie Karst<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Karst, who is pursuing a master’s degree in the School of Earth, Atmosphere, and Sustainability (SEAS) after earning undergraduate degrees in environmental science and public health from Taylor University, recently presented her research on green space accessibility in rural communities at a regional GIS conference and came in first place in the  Emerging Professional Group poster competition. Her project uses Geographic Information Systems (GIS) alongside community interviews to better understand how residents of Hartford City access parks and other natural spaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

“Green spaces have well-documented physical and mental health benefits,” Karst said. “If people aren’t able to access them and use them well, then what’s the good of having them?”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Hartford City serves as the ideal case study. With a population of about 6,000, it represents many small Midwestern communities working to grow sustainably. Karst also developed relationships with local leaders while attending Taylor University, making the community a natural fit for her research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using GIS mapping, Karst is identifying neighborhoods where access to green spaces is limited. She will complement those maps with interviews from local residents, allowing her research to combine spatial analysis with firsthand community perspectives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

“I’ve always loved GIS,” she said. “It’s a practical way to apply what I’ve learned and create something that’s easy for people to understand.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Karst hopes her research will help Hartford City prioritize future investments in parks and recreation while providing a model that other rural communities can adapt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After graduating from Ball State University next spring, she plans to pursue a career using GIS in the environmental field, with environmental consulting among the possibilities. She also hopes to continue her education in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I think of myself as a lifelong learner,” Karst said. “I want to continue building my GIS skills because they’re such a valuable foundation, no matter where my career takes me.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Student
Ellie Karst wins the Emerging Professional Poster competition in the master’s category<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For master’s student Ellie Karst, geography isn’t just about maps\u2014it’s about helping communities thrive. Karst, who is pursuing a master’s degree in the School of Earth, Atmosphere, and Sustainability (SEAS) after earning undergraduate degrees in environmental science and public health from Taylor University, recently presented her research on green space accessibility in rural communities at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":152,"featured_media":3475,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[143,245,10,633,39],"tags":[14,133,635,634,636,131,637],"class_list":["post-3472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environment","category-geography-meteorology","category-natural-computational-sciences","category-school-of-earth-atmosphere-and-sustainability","category-students","tag-geography","tag-geology","tag-gis","tag-master","tag-poster","tag-research","tag-seas"],"yoast_head":"\nMaster's Student Wins First Place for GIS Research on Rural Green Spaces - College of Sciences & Humanities<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bsu.edu\/csh\/2026\/06\/29\/masters-student-wins-first-place-for-gis-research-on-rural-green-spaces\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Master's Student Wins First Place for GIS Research on Rural Green Spaces - College of Sciences & Humanities\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For master’s student Ellie Karst, geography isn’t just about maps\u2014it’s about helping communities thrive. 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How does a response team protect the local population from exposure? How do they mobilize to effectively detect, contain, and clean up the material? How do they decontaminate citizens in a timely manner?\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Environment, Geology, and Natural Resources"","block_context":{"text":"Environment, Geology, and Natural Resources","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bsu.edu\/csh\/category\/environment\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Five people stand on a concrete porch wearing full-body protective suits in green, yellow, silver, light green, and dark green, each with a face mask and hood.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bsu-wpe-blogs.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2021\/10\/12164312\/Team-2-in-Level-A-scaled-e1635170733906.jpg?fit=1200%2C663&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bsu-wpe-blogs.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2021\/10\/12164312\/Team-2-in-Level-A-scaled-e1635170733906.jpg?fit=1200%2C663&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bsu-wpe-blogs.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2021\/10\/12164312\/Team-2-in-Level-A-scaled-e1635170733906.jpg?fit=1200%2C663&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bsu-wpe-blogs.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2021\/10\/12164312\/Team-2-in-Level-A-scaled-e1635170733906.jpg?fit=1200%2C663&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bsu-wpe-blogs.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2021\/10\/12164312\/Team-2-in-Level-A-scaled-e1635170733906.jpg?fit=1200%2C663&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3029,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.bsu.edu\/csh\/2024\/10\/03\/central-indiana-severe-weather-symposium\/","url_meta":{"origin":3472,"position":4},"title":"Ball State Students Invited to Attend the Central Indiana Severe Weather Symposium","author":"wpengine","date":"October 3, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"By Kaylin Kieft On Saturday, October 19, 2024, the Indiana Chapter of the American Meteorology Society (AMS) will host the Central Indiana Severe Weather Symposium from 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. at Pruis Hall on Ball State's campus. For the first time ever on a college campus, Ball State students\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Environment, Geology, and Natural Resources"","block_context":{"text":"Environment, Geology, and Natural Resources","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bsu.edu\/csh\/category\/environment\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A dark tornado descends from a heavy, grey cloud cover over a flat, green field.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bsu-wpe-blogs.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2024\/10\/03144156\/Landspout_Burniston-1200.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bsu-wpe-blogs.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2024\/10\/03144156\/Landspout_Burniston-1200.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bsu-wpe-blogs.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2024\/10\/03144156\/Landspout_Burniston-1200.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bsu-wpe-blogs.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2024\/10\/03144156\/Landspout_Burniston-1200.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bsu-wpe-blogs.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2024\/10\/03144156\/Landspout_Burniston-1200.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":611,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.bsu.edu\/csh\/2020\/03\/23\/a-cardinal-in-a-spacesuit\/","url_meta":{"origin":3472,"position":5},"title":"A Cardinal in a Spacesuit","author":"JB Bilbrey","date":"March 23, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"A Ball State student has flown where no cardinal has gone before: Mars. Well, sort of. Earlier this year, Abdul Elnajdi, a Ph.D. student in the Environmental Science Program, spent two weeks at the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah. The research station is founded and funded by the Mars\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Environment, Geology, and Natural Resources"","block_context":{"text":"Environment, Geology, and Natural Resources","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bsu.edu\/csh\/category\/environment\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A man in a blue flight suit with various patches, including a flag of Libya, stands with his hands behind his back in front of a white structure.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bsu-wpe-blogs.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2020\/03\/18152658\/heading.jpeg?fit=913%2C666&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bsu-wpe-blogs.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2020\/03\/18152658\/heading.jpeg?fit=913%2C666&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bsu-wpe-blogs.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2020\/03\/18152658\/heading.jpeg?fit=913%2C666&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bsu-wpe-blogs.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2020\/03\/18152658\/heading.jpeg?fit=913%2C666&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bsu.edu\/csh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bsu.edu\/csh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bsu.edu\/csh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bsu.edu\/csh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/152"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bsu.edu\/csh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3472"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bsu.edu\/csh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3472\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bsu.edu\/csh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bsu.edu\/csh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bsu.edu\/csh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bsu.edu\/csh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}