The HERO Research Program
Opportunities for Undergraduate and Graduate Research
The Human-Environment Regional Observatory-Central Massachusetts (HERO-CM) research program provides opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to analyze the causes and consequences of global environmental changes at local scales in faculty-led research projects. This program permits students to conduct research in interdisciplinary and inter-institutional projects. Current HERO research in funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Marine Fisheries Service, the Thoreau Foundation, and the O’Connor ‘78 Fund. HERO is an NSF REU "Site," which means that students from around the U.S. are invited to participate in paid summer research activities.
HERO-CM has three main areas of research:
- large-area forest-change monitoring
- vulnerability analysis
- prediction of land-use and land-cover change
Visit the HERO Web site for detailed information and read profiles of recent HERO Fellows.
Program director Professor Colin Polsky talks about HERO
Q. What are HERO Fellows expected to do?
To answer that I need to explain about the three research streams in the HERO project. Professor John Rogan uses remote sensing data such as aerial photography and satellite imagery to describe environmental changes over space and time. We call that geographic information science or GISci. My research, which is grounded in social science traditions, uses statistical analysis of socio-economic data gathered from primary and secondary sources, including interviews, to explain the changes observed by the GISci research. The third piece is Professor Gil Pontius' work. He integrates Professor Rogan's descriptions of environmental changes with my explanations of those changes into a computer model that can generate maps of Massachusetts land use into the future.
Each HERO Fellow is aligned with one of these three research areas and works full time with one of the HERO faculty members. It's an intense eight weeks. They live here in Worcester, and every day are involved in hands-on work. They learn how to use geostatistical modeling, qualitative inquiry methods, geographic information systems and remote sensing techniques. The Fellows who work with me are heavily involved in interviewing subjects around the state and analyzing that interview data.
Q. How is learning as a HERO Fellow different?
Working on HERO is a very different experience for undergraduates because they are used to the classroom. This is an opportunity for much more independent learning, which can be painful at times. You come upon an obstacle and there's not always someone there to immediately answer your question. It's like a professional experience and that's how we view it—as professional development. HERO Fellows are also required to enroll in an academic year-long HERO research seminar following their summer experience, which allows them to extend and refine their summer findings. During the school year we ask the Fellows to present their findings several times, including at professional conferences like the Association of American Geographers meeting. This structure often encourages the Fellows to parlay their HERO work into a senior honors thesis.
Q. What are some of your former HERO Fellows doing now?
Many have used their HERO experience to gain access to excellent educational and professional opportunities. Some have gone on to Ph.D. programs at the very best environmental studies schools, like the Yale School of Forestry or a joint program between the University of California-San Diego and University of California-Santa Barbara. Others are teaching or working in the field of environmental studies and environmental science. We're proud to say that our HERO alumni are using their experience from the program to change the world.