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Thursday, May 7, 2020

GIS Ed Weekly: Geography Finds a Home in New Credentials and Schools

Resources for Teaching and Learning

Columbia Journalism Review: The topography of local news: A new map - "This study builds on the work of others in our field in two key ways: first, by identifying the complete range of journalistic news providers (print, digital, and broadcast) serving an entire US state, and second, by mapping those news providers according to the communities they cover, rather than where they are headquartered, as some have done."

Visual Capitalist (blog): Incredible Map of Pangea With Modern-Day Borders - Massimo Pietrobon created a map of the supercontinent called Pangea with the approximate borders of present day countries.


Patch: Birmingham Public Library's Digitized Map Collection Puts the World at Your Fingertips - "Thanks to the support of the Sterne Agee Charitable Foundation, Inc., over 2,500 of our most significant maps have been cataloged and digitized and can be viewed online from the library’s digital collections."

Yale News: Yale, Field Museum map species diversity in South American National Parks - "The Biodiversity Dashboard lists almost 5,500 species found in and around national parks in three of the world’s most biodiverse countries: Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru." It offers "a virtual tour of species diversity" in an information dashboard created by researchers at Yale University and the Field Museum in Chicago. It's an outgrowth of the Map of Life.

UCLA Newsroom: LA County's biodiversity is on the map, thanks to UCLA - UCLA researchers "published the Biodiversity Atlas of Los Angeles, which will help scientists and residents alike better understand Los Angeles’ unique environment and see how native, nonnative and endangered species are distributed across the county."

Mapping May 4: The interactive map memorializes the "50th anniversary of the shooting at Kent State on Monday, May 4. It aims to build reconciliation by helping people hear stories, share stories, & connect across difference through places." Via @spaceforpeace.

Geographical: Geographical's top board games for geographers - "For the discerning geographer, however, there is a wealth of entertaining and educational board games out there to bring the family together"

Esri: Location Analytics in Business Education - The new landing page organizes Esri business education resources. Via Joseph Kerski.

Programs and Courses

KU Today: New climate change certificate program launches in fall 2020 - Shannon O’Lear, professor of geography at KU, who helped create the program explains "it’s a good overview from geography and atmospheric science.”

Nebraska Today: New School of Global Integrative Studies focused on student Opportunity - "With an eye on expanding educational and research opportunities, the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Department of Anthropology, and programs in geography and global studies have formed the School of Global Integrative Studies." The new school officially launched in February.

Marine Mammals Research Association: The association is offering free lessons in QGIS aimed at ecologists, but applicable to many kinds of users. There's an "intro" course (QGIS 1, 17 lessons) and a "beginner-intermediate" one (QGIS 2, 8 lessons). Via Tim Awbery on LinkedIn.

The Quadrangle (Manhattan College): Sociology Department to Introduce New Geography Minor - I noted this a few weeks ago; this coverage from the student newspaper, includes more about what might be ahead for the campus map: mapping free food.

gvSIG Blog: Extending free certification for online courses about Geographic Information Systems til September - The gvSIG Association announced free certification for topical online gvSIG Desktop courses some weeks ago. The Association announced an extension to the free offering until September 30, 2020. Each certification typically costs € 30.

Education News

SUNY Plattsburgh: Triplet Kids ‘Co-Author’ COVID-19 Study with Psychologist Dad - The seven year old triplets developed the data visualizations in crayon. H/T NPR.

On and Off Campus

WVIR: Albemarle High School class maps geographic information systems in the area - Senior Heather Wall, who's studying GIS, "developed a map to show which mobile carriers hotspots are best suited for where a student lives."
KX NEWS: BSC professors award student via drone - Allison Bargmann's award, for GIS student of the Year at Bismarck State College, came via drone thanks to professors Mark Steele, Solli Frank and Angie Milakovic.

The Echo News: T-shirt design embodies “not defined by geography” - Taylor University in Upland, IN features the quote and a map of Indiana on a shirt. The school currently offers a geography minor.

Penn State News: Challenge met: Geography department transitions to remote teaching and learning - "Within days of the University's shift to remote learning, faculty, instructors and teaching assistants in the Department of Geography moved 35 resident instruction courses into remote delivery mode to teach 1,947 students."

People

Irish Tech News: Bringing GIS to Irish Schools, Jennifer Stack - The interview with Stack, who teaches GIS, Digital Media, Coding and Art at CBS The Green Secondary School in Tralee, covers her background and what her current students do with GIS.

Western University: Western names Lesley Rigg as Vice-President (Research) - Lesley Rigg will join Western as Vice-President (Research) on Aug. 1.  She holds geography degrees from York, Colorado and Melbourne and will also serve as a professor of geography.

COVID-19 News

ASU Now: Experts explore digital contact tracing for COVID-19: Arizona State University’s School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning and Spatial Analysis Research Center (SPARC) brought together geospatial experts to explore the technical and ethical issues of digital contact tracing in response to COVID-19 in a session titled “Digital Contact Tracing and Surveillance: A National Conversation with Geospatial Experts,”

Tahlequah Daily Press: Restaurant partly reopen due to geographical quirk - Cantina Bravo Mexican Grille is technically located in Oklahoma's Cherokee county, rather than the in city of Tahlequah. Apparently, the venue is 60% in the county and 40% in the city, thus the final agreement is that it's allowed to open 60 percent until May 8, when it can fully reopen.

COVID-19 Resources: Esri will put you on a mailing list to keep up with new additions. Via Chris Nickola on LinkedIn.