The COVID-19 Pandemic has provided a challenge for educators to create virtual learning materials that are engaging and impactful during times of high stress and isolation. In this creative project, I explore the variety of virtual tools and web applications from Esri by creating a Story Map on the Verde River Watershed. This Story Map is intended for an audience of students in late middle school and early high school but can be a resource to teachers for a wider age range. The integration of interactive technology and virtual tools in educational practices is likely to continue past the immediate circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this Story Map is to showcase one of the many uses for geospatial web applications beyond the immediate realm of GIS.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a developmental disability that impacts one’s social interaction, communication skills (both verbal and non-verbal), and cognitive function. Autism affects 1 in 60 children. Individuals with autism have trouble understanding facial expressions or social cues, and often see the world around them differently than a neurotypical individual (mainly increased sensitivity to sounds, motion, or lighting). As the name implies, autism is a spectrum, and no two individuals are alike. As the saying goes, “When you’ve met one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism.” Movies such as Rain Man (1988) or The Accountant (2016) showcase autistic individuals who are higher-functioning; they are able to verbally communicate and live somewhat independently. Other autistic individuals, such as my brother, Tyler, are lower-functioning. Tyler is non-verbal and unable to be independent, and our day-to-day life is greatly shaped by this.<br/><br/>One thought that haunts the parents of autistic individuals is, “What happens when they’re older?” Even more scary is the question “What will happen when I’m gone?” My brother is on the autism spectrum, and my mother describes these thoughts as ones that “keep [her] up at night.” She explains, “I think it’s important for him to be completely engaged and productive, and we have that right now because we’re in our little safety bubble...that’s going to end...and it’s kind of scary.” Around 50,000 children with autism turn 18 every year in the United States, and nearly 90% of autistic individuals lose access to the services they have relied on throughout their entire lives. My hope is that architecture can help to answer this question by providing a place for adults on the autism spectrum to learn how to eventually live and work independently in the future. By implementing certain design features and design criteria to minimize the sensory overload issues commonly experienced by individuals with autism, we can create a safe space for learning for young adults on the autism spectrum.

This thesis utilizes GIS mapping to analyze the severity of four threats: ocean acidification, sea surface temperature, artisanal fishing, and destructive fishing, in conjunction with coral species distribution. This project produced maps that depicts each of these threats and shows the distribution of its severity. Compiling this data we can see that ocean acidification is the most pressing threat in the Caribbean to coral and that neither type of fishing really has a large effect. A species named Madracis carmabi is also flagged to be of particular concern as it is severely threatened by both ocean acidification and sea surface temperature.