Geospatial Brain Power
Does learning GIS improve spatial reasoning capabilities in high schoolers? A team from six universities is studying the students—and their brains—to find out. A group of researchers from six American universities are studying what effect spatial education has on the development of the spatial thinking and reasoning skills of high school students. The research team…
The Geography of Access to Health Services
According to a 1993 Institute of Medicine report, access to health services means "the timely use of personal health services to achieve the best health outcomes." Geographic access is listed as one of three distinct components of access (along with insurance coverage and finding a trusted provider). Without adequate access to healthcare and health services, people…
Beyond Compactness: A New Measure to Evaluate Congressional Districts
Redrawing congressional district boundaries, an activity that happens every ten years following the decennial census, may be the most consequential application of geography in the United States. As congressional elections have become less competitive, many are raising questions about the current boundaries of congressional districts, often citing lack of geographical compactness as their rationale. Geographical…
AI and GIS: Finally Delivering on the promise
The field of artificial intelligence (AI) isn't new, and neither are its grand promises. AI as an academic pursuit has its roots in the 1950s. Early AI researchers were filled with optimism, but—despite some initial work that appeared groundbreaking, such as the first artificial neural networks—the field saw slow progress over the next several decades.…
Rights of Nature: The New Paradigm
Rights of Nature is a short-hand term for a form of ecological governance that both provides for and prioritizes Nature’s right to flourish. It also provides for various subsidiary rights, such as the right to restoration, the right to its natural processes, and the right to ecosystem functioning without interference. The term “Rights of Nature”…
Deoxygenation of the Ocean Affects Everyone, So Act Now
By Dawn J. Wright, Esri, and Sylvia A. Earle, National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Did you know that more than half of the oxygen we breathe comes from the ocean? This oxygen is produced in large part by the photosynthesis of billions and trillions of small plants in the ocean called phytoplankton, as well as the blending…
Mapping chimps: Drones and the future of conservation
Chimpanzees are one of our closest cousins - and are at risk of extinction. Drone mapping is giving them another chance. Image courtesy of Allison Rogers. Professor Serge Wich, Dr. Alex Piel, Dr. Fiona Stewart and a team of PhD researchers from Liverpool John Moores University are working to save Tanzania’s chimpanzees. Their tools: homemade…
Stop Teaching GIS
Teach how to learn GIS instead. That was a guiding principle as I recently redesigned the gateway course to the Penn State Online certificate and master's degree programs in GIS. I began developing Nature of Geographic Information in 1998, at the outset of the Penn State Online ;I designed the course to serve adult students…
Teaching Modern GIS
As educators, we are always faced with challenges on how we structure our curriculum activities to ensure that we are in line with modern industry practices. This is easier said than done—for one, there is likely no consensus on what a "modern geographic information system (GIS)" means; and two, it takes a tremendous amount of…