SSI’s Khris Gonzalez Pebe wins USGIF scholarship

The United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF) has awarded SSI student Khris Gonzalez Pebe with the 2024 Black Cape Scholarship for Women in Geospatial Intelligence.

This $10,000 scholarship is awarded annually to an undergraduate female student studying geospatial intelligence or a related field. The purpose of this scholarship is to encourage and support women to pursue GEOINT careers and to promote gender diversity and empowerment.

Pebe is finishing her B.S. in public policy with a data analytics concentration while starting the M.S. in Human Security and Geospatial Intelligence on a progressive degree path with the USC Spatial Sciences Institute (SSI). Her college experience includes serving as an intelligence analyst intern with the United States Central Command (USCENTCOM J2) and a student graduate assistant for the 2024 Esri User Conference. She serves as the director of humanitarian service for the USC Delta Phi Epsilon Foreign Service Society (DPE) and has served as director of communications and a bilingual translator for the USC Gould Housing Law and Policy Clinic. And just last month, she was selected as one of 100 juniors nationwide to receive the Obama-Chesky Voyager Scholarship for Public Service.

“The USGIF scholarship is a significant step toward advancing my interests in GIS applications within illicit trade and humanitarian contexts,” said Pebe. She added, “In addition to financial support, it provides me with invaluable academic resources, networking opportunities and the chance to attend USGIF’s 2025 GEOINT Symposium next May. While my focus is on pursuing a career addressing drug trade, human trafficking and humanitarian assistance during crises in the Middle East and Eastern Europe through a spatial lens, I remain open to exploring various work environments and opportunities, as GEOINT is a vast and dynamic field. I am grateful to USGIF for acknowledging my efforts and dedication to this area.”

Dr. Darren M. Ruddell, professor (teaching) of spatial sciences and SSI’s director of graduate programs, is a co-director of the SSI Human Security and Geospatial Intelligence Lab. Ruddell said, “We are thrilled for Khris in many ways—for the recognition and distinction of being selected as a 2024-2025 USGIF Scholar, for the important work she has already contributed to the Intelligence Community in the area of human rights and for the bright future she is working towards to make meaningful contributions for the improvement of society. Congratulations, Khris!”

Learn more about the USC M.S. in Human Security and Geospatial Intelligence program.