Mesa Community College has been awarded a $448,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to support career and educational pathways in geospatial technologies (GST). The project period is from 9/1/13 to 8/31/16.

Geospatial technologies includes equipment used in visualization, measurement, and analysis of earth’s features, typically involving such systems as global positioning systems (GPS), geographical information systems (GIS), and remote sensing (RS).

Through the Geospatial Connections Promoting Advancement to Careers and Higher Education (GEOCACHE) project, MCC will partner with Northern Arizona University to provide professional development and support for two cohorts of 20 secondary teachers and college faculty.

“This grant will facilitate the development of career pathways from K-12 through two-year and four-year institutions for students interested in geospatial technologies,” said Karen Blevins, geography faculty at MCC.  “This will also facilitate the integration of geospatial technologies into other disciplines.”

The grant supports a variety of geospatial projects for students at MCC, including a data-collection project in the college’s Rose Garden.

The U.S. Department of Labor considers the field a high-growth industry and projects GST employment to increase 35 percent by 2020.