This special award will give graduate student Xavier Lopez additional flexibility in pursuing his graduate studies and research initiation in geography. The award will permit this student to take additional technical courses and to attend a professional meeting. His research will focus on the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for assessing the environmental impacts of urban development. This award grows out of a special program in the NSF Biological, Behavioral, and Social Sciences Directorate to enhance the graduate education of previous applicants for minority fellowships who were awarded honorable mention ratings. This award should strengthen research participation in geography and regional science by a promising student who is a member of an underrepresented minority group.
