Greetings! My name is Courtney Andreozzi and I am honored to be the GIS intern for CT Trailfinder for Summer 2022. I am a rising senior at UConn studying Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (EEB) with a minor in Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
During this previous school year I worked in conjunction with UConn’s CLEAR and Joshua’s Land Trust to add local trails to CT Trailfinder, and am excited to continue and expand my work through UConn Extension. In addition to using ArcGIS Pro to edit and analyze trails to be added to the website, the GIS work I am doing is assisting in building Connecticut’s first statewide layer of trails that are collected from a variety of land managers. Besides my interests in conservation, GIS, and finding local opportunities to get outside (especially since being affected by Covid), I am passionate about mental health visibility and advocacy, being active in the UConn chapter of NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness).
CT Trailfinder itself provides accurate, trail manager approved information on publicly accessible trail systems that can be quickly updated; increasing awareness and access to outdoor resources to all audiences, especially those that are not traditional trail users. With more than 200 postings and more than 1000 miles of trails already mapped on the website, this opportunity has opened my eyes to just how many opportunities there are across the state for both traditional and nontraditional trail uses (e.g. cross country skiing, bicycling, equestrian, paddling, etc.). I hope to also contribute to the site’s development of trailside services that will help connect the trail resources to the local communities. I am delighted to be able to contribute my skills in GIS to encourage others in Connecticut to find trail systems appropriate for their interests and explore all of the beautiful publicly accessible land around them.
Learn more about CT Trailfinder at https://www.cttrailfinder.com/
Are you a land manager? Learn how you can add your trails at https://cttrails.uconn.edu/trailfinder_add/