USGIF Announces 2020 Stu Shea Endowed Scholarship Recipient

The United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF) recognizes Wendy L. Zeller Zigaitis as the recipient of the Foundation’s Stu Shea USGIF Endowed Scholarship. Zigaitis is a student at Pennsylvania State University (PSU), pursuing her Ph.D. in geography.

The scholarship honors K. Stuart Shea, one of the founders of USGIF and the first chief executive and chairman of the organization. The $15,000 scholarship is awarded annually to one Ph.D. student studying cartography, geography, or imaging science.

“I am very honored and excited to be receiving this award,” Zigaitis said. “Without it, I may not have been able to complete the fieldwork portion of my doctoral research. The Stu Shea award will enable my fieldwork research in South Africa (when COVID-19 restrictions are lifted), as well as in the near term allow for the purchase of software and equipment needed for my research. I will be utilizing the software and equipment locally until I am able to travel for the fieldwork portion of my doctoral research.”

Zigaitis earned a Bachelor of Science degree from PSU in Geography, with a minor in Natural Sciences. She also earned a Masters of Arts in Political Geography from the University of Maryland, and a Masters of Natural Resources from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. She was selected in 2007 as a Federal Research Fellow, where she focused her research on training on unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) data analysis. During this time Zigaitis was part of a team that received a Federal Government award for curriculum development.