Karitsa Williams ::Biography

 
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I first became interested in computers my freshman year of high school. As a senior at I. C. Norcom high school, I was accepted into the Office of the Naval Research Scholarship program at Elizabeth City State University that is affiliated with NASA and NOAA, which gave me the opportunity to become a student researcher. Not being exposed to a lot of courses in computer science and applications in operating systems prior to acceptance into the program, it gives a learning experience as well as a research experience.

In the program various topics are covered in mathematics, science, and technology, which gives me and opportunity for participation in research teams such as GLOBE, UNIX, Multimedia, Networking, Physics, and Satellite Imagery. As a computer science major who has a concentration in GIS/Remote Sensing, the opportunity was given to work in the Satellite Imagery team fall 2002. Research was conducted and a paper entitled "Processing HRPT and SeaWifs Data from Polar-orbiting Satellites (NOAA) and Orbview-2 Satellites"were presented. After that nurturing and educational experience, there was an eagerness to learn more in the remote sensing field. In the summer of 2003 I was given the chance to complete a seven-week summer internship at Norfolk State University with the REESS (Research Experience in Earth System Science) program. I was able to be on the Digital Earth research team where we presented our research entitled “Disaster Agency Readiness: Predicting and Preparing for El Nino, La Nina and Southern Oscillation (ENSO)"Disaster Agency Readiness: Predicting and Preparing for El Nino, La Nina and Southern Oscillation (ENSO)". The Undergraduate Research Experience in Ocean and Marine Science (URE OMSS) summer program under the leadership of Dr. Linda Hayden and NOAA EPP allowed me to conducted an intership in the summer of 2004. The project was entitled " The Relationship Between Sea Surface Temperature and Sea Height on Strandings of Harbor Porpoise"" The Relationship Between Sea Surface Temperature and Sea Height on Strandings of Harbor Porpoise". This project was conducted in a NOAA Laboratory which is located in Beaufort, NC. Satellite imagery and Arc GIS was used on figuring out why there were stranding of Harbor Porpoise alond the NC coast. Currently, I am conducting an intership with the URE OMSS and NOAA EPP program in Beaufort, NC on a project entitled "Mapping the seagrass resources of North Carolina's Core and Bogue Sound".

From the combined experiences, the idea of having many different projects in which to conduct research analysis were enjoyable. It invites the excitement of learning new things with each project. From the ONR program a strong background was gained in computer operating systems and researching. While participating in summer internships every summer that is available hands-on experience will be gained in the field of remote sensing. These skills will be an important tool in pursuing a goal of becoming an effective research scientist in the fields of computer science and remote sensing.