The Social Equity Engagement geo-Data Scholars (SEEDS) Program is open to any students who participated in the past year(s) Spring Big Data courses that focused on projects using the LA GeoHub and working with local non-profit organizations. The intention of the SEEDS Program is to provide paid summer internships for Cal State LA students to work with non-profits and leverage their knowledge of the City of Los Angeles’ open-data portal. By the end of the program, we expect SEEDS to be well informed about the importance of big data and the challenges facing non-profit organizations and local citizens in big data literacy. We hope that this internship helps students promote civic engagement by gaining a strong sense of responsibility for democratizing big data and ensuring that data is shared, collaborative, and open to the broader community.
"One of the main reasons I wanted to be SEED scholar was because I wanted to contribute to my community. Social justice/ environmental justice is my passion and working alongside East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice through this internship presents an opportunity to merge my passion and academic goals. My summer project highlighted the new LA River master plan and how this plan will affect communities that East Yard serves. My project encompasses the history of the LA River in relation to Tongva Communities, the possible gentrification and displacement impacts these communities may face due to this plan and overall ecology of the River, and how the use of indigenous ecology/plants can cleanse the River. This story map will be used to educate youth and community members to inform them on the River and what will be happening in their communities and how they can become a part of this process of the LA River Master Plan."
Tatianna Marin
SEED Scholar, Summer 2019
Learn more about the Los Angeles River Project (A big data project for the East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice)