Summer Undergraduate Program

The Center offers a Summer Undergraduate Program for USC students.This small, select, and intensive program involves working with faculty, post-doctoral associates, and graduate students on a specific Center research project. The program provides participants with hands-on research experience. Recently, students conducted field audits of metropolitan parks and recreation programs, and a detailed study of alleys in the City of Los Angeles, to understand their potential as green infrastructure. Past projects have included a visitor survey in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area to investigate trail use patterns, user conflicts, and visitor attitudes toward protecting the mountains for recreational and habitat values, and an analysis of methodologies for industrial ecology analysis, focusing on the garment industry to better understand inter-industry linkages, energy and pollution flows, and the potential for eco-industrial planning.

Undergraduate students involved in collaborative projects can benefit from a varied experience, including research, fieldwork, interviews, community meetings, and report preparation. Students work closely with senior doctoral students who provide daily supervision and guidance. Undergraduate students are expected to attend project team meetings and are encouraged to attend any relevant seminars or conferences being held during the research period. We will give preference to students who simultaneously register for 2 units of 490 (Directed Research) during this period.

To apply for summer 2008, please send a letter of interest, a resume that includes GPA and relevant experience, and a letter of recommendation from a faculty advisor, to Jackie Agnello at the Center. . Should you have questions about this opportunity, please contact Jackie Agnello at (213) 821-1325 or jagnello@usc.edu. Applications will be considered beginning in March, 2008.

Projects

• 2007:
  A team of four undergraduate research fellows, supported by a grant from the Provost's Undergraduate Research Program, participated in a project funded by the Haynes Foundation, on the condition and use of alleys in the City of Los Angeles. Under the supervision of Center Director Jennifer Wolch, senior doctoral students Mona Seymour and Jennifer Mapes, and Center Project Manager Josh Newell, the team conducted a field audit over 300 alleys throughout the city, as well as 40 in-depth behavioral observations. The purpose of the study was to understand the feasibility of converting alleys into green infrastructure designed to address urban runoff issues, as well as provide active living space for residents of park poor communities. Results were analyzed statistically and mapped, and formed the basis of presentations to local officials, leading to the establishment of a multi-departmental 'Green Alleys' subcommittee of the city's Green Streets Committee.

• 2006:
  A team of three undergraduate research fellows, supported by a grant from the Provost's Undergraduate Research Program, participated in a project funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, focusing on disparities in access to parks and recreation services in Los Angeles County. The purpose of the project is to understand what communities and demographic groups have better/worse access to parks and recreation services that promote physical activity and public health. Under the supervision of a graduate student in Public Health as well as co-principal investigator Kim Reynolds from the Keck School's Institute for Prevention Research, the students conducted an audit of city and county recreation websites to create a jurisdiction and park-specific data based on recreation programs which will then be related to physical activity levels involved in program participation.
  
  
• 2005:
  As part of the Green Visions Plan (www.greenvisionsplan.net), a team of 7 undergraduate research fellows (some of whom were supported by a grant from the Provost's Undergraduate Research Program) conducted a field audit of almost 400 parks in the Green Visions Plan territory, and a web audit of over 1700 park and open space sites as well. The field audits involved on-site data acquisition with Trimble Recon units and a structured audit protocol. The students were supervised by three doctoral students (two from Geography and one from Policy, Planning and Development) and research professor Jennifer Swift, from Civil Engineering. The park audit methodology can be found here. See the press for this project (article I) (article II).
  
  
• 2004:
  Funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a team of three undergraduate research fellows participated in a study of urban trail use in three metropolitan areas (Dallas, Chicago, and Los Angeles). Students conducted trail use counts in the field, following a period of training and testing their instruments, and provided a preliminary quantitative analysis of trail use volumes, user characteristics, and recreational activities on the trails. The students worked under the supervision of investigators Kim Reynolds from the Keck School's Institute for Prevention Research, and Jennifer Wolch from Geography, as well as Jason Byrne, a CSC Doctoral Fellow. In addition, undergraduate fellows working on other projects focused on the feasibility of creating a stormwater park in Long Beach (supervised by Joe Devinny from Environmental Engineering), and a final study, conducted for Camp Dresser McKee, explored alternative financing strategies for green infrastructure provision.
  
  
• 2003:
  Undergraduate research fellows worked on several projects, with various clients. One project, done in collaboration with Camp Dresser McKee, assessed the extent to which schools under construction in the Los Angeles Unified School District adhered to green building regulations (CHIPS). Another project, funded by the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area and supervised by CSC Doctoral Fellow Jason Byrne, conducted two focus groups with low-income Latino residents who did not utilize the recreation area, in order to understand barriers to use. A final group of students, funded by the National Science Foundation and supervised by research professor Robert Vos, analyzed a major sector of the regional economy with respect to eco-industrial linkages to other parts of the economic base.
  
  
• 2002:
  Summer undergraduate research fellows, funded by the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area and supervised by CSC Doctoral Fellow Jason Byrne and Jennifer Wolch, conducted a major survey of trail users in the Santa Monica Mountains. This study involved a large geographic area, many trail heads, and a research protocol for counting and interviewing park visitors. The final report is available here.

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