Missouri Western State University: Geography club maps its course to local schools - "This semester the North Nodaway Elementary school received a geographical map from the Geography Club. This will be the fourth map the Geography Club has done since starting this program."UDaily (Delaware): New perspectives on Newark - UD’s Biden School team produced Newark’s new interactive Public Art Story Map.
WILX-TV: MSU Provost eliminates terms “foreign” and “alien” - The provost said the school will "eliminate from our collective lexicon the words ‘alien’ and ‘foreign’" and use "non-pejorative terms that describe geography.” Provost Woodruff suggested the terms "non-domestic” or “international.”
Maryville University: Maryville Team Wins Geospatial Hackathon - "A team of Maryville students known as the Maryville Ethical Hackers won the 2020 Open Source Geospatial Hackathon. Maryville earned first place in the college division and took the overall grand prize, winning $3,500!"
Resources for Teaching and Learning
Collin County Texas: Voting by Personal Appearance - This app shows who voted, in person, at each early voting location. You click on a voting the location and "spider lines" link it to the addresses of those who voted there. Via Tim Nolan on LinkedIn.
Data Classification in Mapping: High school teacher Michael Camponovo created this story map to "interactively show the impacts of different techniques." Note the UT Knoxville color scheme! Via @mcamponovo.
Twitter: Kenneth Field critiques a CNN map: "Nothing wrong, technically, with this @CNN map but classifying all counties into the top two classes, and colouring them scary red is certainly pushing a particular narrative."
Press Release: Alabama Historical Commission Launches Historic Preservation Map Initiative of Historic Properties of Alabama - The Alabama Historical Commission (AHC) announced a new digital public resource, the Historic Preservation Map Initiative. Right now it's an ArcGIS Online web map, but I suspect it will grow into something more.
NPR: Central Park Is Alive With The Sound Of Music, Thanks To A Site-Specific App - Ellen Reid, the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, has written new music for a GPS-enabled app called Soundwalk, specifically designed to accompany walks around Central Park.
Maple Ridge News: Seniors mapping program first for Maple Ridge - "A mapping program to help seniors navigate the city has been launched by the Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows Katzie Seniors Network." The maps can be printed and there are plans to train people in the community on how to use the program, "like at the library and the Seniors Activity Centre." Via @resieber.
Intel: Introducing Intel Geospatial - Intel announces a platform with analysis tools and data provided by a number of partners. See Gretchen Peterson's poll above!
Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA) GIS Conference: The free one day event Nov 13 is open to all and aims to bring GIS users from across disciplines together. Via HigherEd-L.
UMN Spatial Forum: "Celebrate GIS Day with us at the 2020 UMN Spatial Forum on November 18. The Spatial Forum is a yearly event highlighting spatial research, teaching, and outreach. This event is co-sponsored by the MGIS program, Geography, Environment & Society, U-Spatial, and DASH."
Rand McNally: Rand_McNally_Announces_New_Ownership (pdf) - "TELEO Capital has completed acquisition of the 164- year-old company and named Joseph Roark Chairman of Rand McNally.
Events
Penn State News: Penn State GIS Day virtual event to take place Nov. 12 - The virtual event runs from 4 to 5 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 12 with speakers Susan Powell, GIS and map librarian at the University of California, Berkeley, and Patricia Solís, associate research professor in the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning at Arizona State University. Complete information about the speakers and their presentations is available at the Penn State GIS Day website. Advance registration is required for both sessions, which are free and open to the public.
University of Redlands (Center for Spatial Business): The 2020-21 Speaker Series starts with an online event on Thursday November 12 at 6 pm PT with Nikki Paripovich Stifle, GIS Manager at Kohler. The following week Esri’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Este Geraghty speaks. Via HigherEd-L.
National Geographic: National Geographic Geo-Inquiry - On Dec 9, there's a session with Fay Gore, of National Geographic, on understanding the Geo-Inquiry Process. Via @owensscience.
People
Ohio Wesleyan University: Mapping Out the Future - Dustin Braden ’21, a double-major in Environmental Science and Geography, plans to combine his undergraduate degree with his interest in communication to help make science more accessible to everyone.
University of Victoria News: Grizzly bear conservation supported by computing - "Alejandra Zubiria Perez, who graduates this month with a master's in geography, focused her UVic studies on grizzly bear behavior."
WJLA: First woman CEO of DC's National Geographic Society looks beyond white male perspective - Jill Tiefenthaler was named CEO in August, after nine years as president of Colorado College.
Health
Daily Bruin (UCLA): Student’s craft business offers personalized necklaces, custom LED acrylic lights - "The fourth-year geography and environmental studies student [Yasmin Olvera] said her initial idea for her craft business originated when her coworker introduced her to the Cricut, a machine used to cut through all kinds of materials."
UDaily (Delaware): Mapping Delaware's Bays - "UD senior Katherine Warner is working as a Geographic Information System (GIS) Analyst for the Delaware Center for the Inland Bays. In her role, she is helping map the salt marshes, the total acreage and the conditions within the Delaware Inland Bays."
Very Well Health: Research Shows Moving May Increase Your Risk of Chronic Conditions - Key takeaways: "A person’s risk of an uncontrolled chronic condition increases when they move to a place where that condition is more prevalent. Where a person lives significantly impacts their likelihood of developing poor blood pressure or experiencing depressive symptoms. Moving between counties or states has a greater impact on health outcomes than moving within the same county."
Yale: Health Map Details Greatest Health Needs Across U.S. - "An interdisciplinary team of researchers at Yale and Columbia universities today unveiled an interactive map that guides policy makers and the public in deploying health care workers to communities most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The online map, Mapping the New Politics of Care, uses a wide array of up-to-date data. It shows that decisions about caring for those affected by the pandemic depend not just on surging or falling infection rates but instead on taking into account a range of pre-existing vulnerabilities in U.S. society."
Yale: Health Map Details Greatest Health Needs Across U.S. - "An interdisciplinary team of researchers at Yale and Columbia universities today unveiled an interactive map that guides policy makers and the public in deploying health care workers to communities most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The online map, Mapping the New Politics of Care, uses a wide array of up-to-date data. It shows that decisions about caring for those affected by the pandemic depend not just on surging or falling infection rates but instead on taking into account a range of pre-existing vulnerabilities in U.S. society."Men's Health: How Race, Class, and Geography Keep Some People From Great Workouts - "Physical proximity to a gym is important. It’s much easier to stick to a routine if you’re close to your gym, which is why 70 to 80 percent of gymgoers live within a 12-minute home or office commute of their gym, according to the International Health, Racquet, and Sportsclub Association (IHRSA)."
Programs and Courses
University of Wyoming: UW Students Learn How to Operate Drones in New Online Course - "An online graduate certificate program course, officially named 'UAS Ground School and Operations,' took place earlier this fall. Christopher Leatherman, owner and chief remote pilot for Aerial Solutions of Wyoming, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) company in Gillette, taught the course. '2020 was the third field school I have taught for the University of Wyoming. This is the first virtual school we had due to the pandemic,” Leatherman says. 'We worked with a flight simulator and controller from the company Little Arms Studios. I prefer to teach in person, but we must adjust with the times.'"
UMSL: UMSL launching National Security and Community Policy Collaborative to facilitate research with St. Louis geospatial ecosystem - "The National Security and Community Policy Collaborative will facilitate collaboration between UMSL researchers and St. Louis’ growing geospatial technology sector to support local communities and drive social change. "
Esri
ArcGIS Blog: Updates coming to American Community Survey Living Atlas - "On Dec. 10th, 2020, ACS [American Community Survey] will release the newest data values for their 5-year estimates. Within days, the Living Atlas ACS layers will be refreshed with these new data values."