Consulting Services to Determine the Effectiveness of Vegetation Classification Using WorldView 2 Satellite Data for the Greater Everglades

The purpose of this project was to evaluate the use of remote sensing 1) to detect and map Everglades wetland plant communities at different scales; and 2) to compare map products delineated and resampled at various scales with the intent to quantify and describe the quantitative and qualitative differences between such products. We evaluated data provided by Digital Globe’s WorldView 2 (WV2) sensor with a spatial resolution of 2m and data from Landsat’s Thematic and Enhanced Thematic Mapper (TM and ETM+) sensors with a spatial resolution of 30m. We were also interested in the comparability and scalability of products derived from these data sources. The adequacy of each data set to map wetland plant communities was evaluated utilizing two metrics: 1) model-based accuracy estimates of the classification procedures; and 2) design-based post-classification accuracy estimates of derived maps.

Integration of Colombian refugees in Costa Rica : an ethnographic approach to the refugees' legal, economic, and social experiences

This qualitative study, based on interviews to 17 refugee families, attempts to identify the reasons behind the lack of integration of Colombian refugees in Costa Rica. The model of Immigrant Modes of Incorporation and the studies of Alejandro Portes and Julia Sensenbrenner about the sources of social capital on migrant communities provided the theoretical framework used to identify the roots of the integration challenges. The findings suggest that Costa Rican policies towards the reception and integration of Colombian refugees are exclusionary. The host labor market is marked by sentiments of xenophobia towards the sample population while reported cases of persecution in the country also inhibit this population's economic integration. The lack of social capital sources contributes to inhibit this community's development, despite their participation in informal networks. There were signs of collective action. Yet, the refugee community fails to come together, while it also seems alienated from the community of Colombian entrepreneurs in Costa Rica.