GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATIONS SYSTEMS (GIS) FO

Maps have long been used to explore and communicate spatial information for practical tasks such as navigation and more analytic pursuits such as understanding relationships at the intersection of social and natural sciences. Today, most data—whether in spreadsheets, documents, apps, or sensor logs—is tied to a location, making it “mappable”. Learning to analyze this spatial data allows us to discover patterns and quantify relationships which support data driven decisions. 

This course introduces students to Geographic Information Systems (GIS) as a modern end-to-end toolset to collect, store, analyze, and visualize spatial data. Through lectures, readings, guided discussions, weekly hands-on exercises (both in class and at home), and an individual term project, students practice core spatial analysis techniques and spatial data visualization. Weekly lectures will cover GIS applications in fields relevant to sustainability management as well as GIS theory and skills. Weekly assigned readings will match lecture topics on both applications and GIS theory/skills. The required term project allows each student to connect and apply GIS methods to a question of personal or professional importance, producing a polished spatial analysis and map product which will be presented to the class using StoryMaps.