When I began Oregon State University’s online Master of Natural Resources program, most of my work happened behind a screen. After more than two decades working in global public health, I returned to graduate school during a career transition to build geospatial skills to better understand how environmental conditions shape public health outcomes.
Through the online program, I was learning geospatial analysis, working with satellite imagery and spatial datasets, and thinking more deeply about how maps influence the way we understand landscapes, infrastructure and the lived experiences of the communities connected to them.
Last November, that work came to life in a place thousands of miles from my home in Montana: a rural community in southern Zambia. I traveled there as part of a participatory action research project led by Assistant Professor Laura E. R. Peters in the Disasters in Divided Societies Lab at Oregon State’s geography and geospatial science graduate program. In partnership with the Zambian nonprofit On Call Africa, we worked with Neighborhood Health Committees in rural communities to explore how environmental conditions shape daily life and health.
Community members in Chilundika gather to draw their village from memory during a participatory mapping workshop. Rather than starting with technical maps or satellite imagery, the process begins with conversation and shared experience. Water points, seasonal streams and roads that become impassable during heavy rains were among the first features participants chose to include. Oregon State University Assistant Professor Dr. Laura Peters (back row, center, light blue shirt) and OSU student Liz Blanton (back row, far right) observe the process of community mapping.
Most importantly, we also asked them about solutions from their own lived experiences, and through participatory design workshops created and funded small interventions that the Neighborhood Health Communities are now leading.
One moment from the trip has stayed with me. Members of the Chilundika community gathered under the shade of a tree with a large sheet of paper spread across a wooden desk, passing colored markers from hand to hand as they began drawing their village from memory.
The map that emerged did not resemble a satellite image or a technical GIS map. Instead, it reflected what matters most in daily life. Roads appeared first. Then water sources, dams and seasonal streams that swell during heavy rains. Community members pointed out the seven-kilometer journey to the nearest health clinic and described how flooding can make the trip nearly impossible.
A community-drawn map of Chilundika village takes shape during the workshop. Though not drawn to scale, the map highlights what residents consider most important in daily life, including water sources, roads and the long journey to the nearest health clinic. Blue ink captures the village as it exists today, while green ink represents a collective vision for the next 10 years.
During our first days of fieldwork, we experienced that reality ourselves. A sudden flash storm forced us to take shelter beneath a very loud tin-roofed open-air structure as nearby paths quickly filled with water, making travel difficult and reinforcing just how closely seasonal conditions shape daily access to services.
As a geospatial student, I am trained to think about maps in terms of coordinates, data layers and spatial accuracy. But watching the community create their own map reminded me that meaningful maps begin with lived experience.
Later that day, several community members joined us on a transect drive through the village, guiding the route and pointing out landmarks along the way. What had been lines and symbols on paper became a living landscape, narrated in real time.
Colored markers were passed from hand to hand as community members debated what should appear on the map and where. The process revealed how mapping can become a conversation about shared challenges, resources and hopes for the future.
That experience is now shaping my graduate capstone project. I am using GIS to integrate community sketch maps, GPS transect routes and geotagged observations into an interactive map to help organizations such as On Call Africa better understand and communicate to public audiences about the environmental challenges affecting rural health and infrastructure.
In parallel, I am developing a separate community map that centers lived experience and local perspectives alongside more conventional spatial data – a map that will be returned to the community itself to reflect their knowledge and support their local decision making.
Studying online through Oregon State made this experience possible. The flexibility of the online MNR program has allowed me to pursue advanced geospatial training while living in Montana and conducting field research across continents.
Water points such as this borehole play an essential role in daily life. During the mapping exercise, water sources were among the first features residents chose to draw, reflecting their importance for household needs and community wellbeing.
Although participatory mapping came alive through direct engagement in Zambia, the collaboration has continued well beyond the field visit. Planning conversations, follow-up meetings over Zoom and ongoing exchanges with partners at On Call Africa and community members themselves, including photos and local updates, continue to shape the evolving process.
Through this experience, I’ve learned that maps can do more than represent space. When grounded in community knowledge, they can help tell stories about resilience, priorities and the future people want to build.
Members of the Neighborhood Health Committees, On Call Africa staff, Dr. Laura Peters and Liz Blanton participated in mapping workshops and transect drives that explored how environmental conditions shape daily life and health. The collaborative process helped ensure that the maps reflected local knowledge and priorities.
Learn more about Oregon State’s Master of Natural Resources online degree program and discover how you can gain hands-on knowledge.
