GIS Ed Weekly: Should I get a GIS minor, certificate, or degree?

Resources for Teaching and Learning

BuzzFeed: We're Not Gonna Know Anything For Hours, So Here Are Some Funny Fake Electoral Maps People Are Making On Twitter - Some silly but stress reducing maps to explore. I like this one. What is it? "The electoral map if people voted their jean color."

UChicago: See how your congressional district has handled COVID-19 - The University of Chicago’s Center for Spatial Data Science launched the COVID Atlas interactive visualization earlier this year. It launched with county-level case numbers and daily hotspot statistics. "Now, the online resource also includes a congressional district overlay—a new feature that allows users to see how the impacts of COVID-19 might differ according to local government responses." 

Twitter: Alan McConchie details why you need to look at the data behind the map to be sure you don't misunderstand what it tells you. In this case, why you might think Canada has almost no COVID-19 cases, as noted in Fatherly.

 

Boston Globe: Old maps offer a sweet tour of Boston’s candy history - The Boston Public Library created the library’s digital Atlascope, a tool incorporating historic maps of urban Boston to be used to look at changes in the city over time. Rachel Mead, the public engagement coordinator at BPL’s Leventhal Map & Education Center, shared info about a different Boston confectionary locale every day on the Leventhal’s Instagram and Twitter accounts (@bplmaps). I for one loved driving by NECCO when I was a kid; it usually smelled like chocolate. One of my high school classmates was chief engineer there before the company was sold and the site was closed.

 

CityLab: Is New York’s New Subway Map a ‘Geographical Mess’? - "The MTA recently released a real-time digital map of the city’s subway network, to much fanfare. But some transit map devotees are not impressed."  

Careers and Credentials

Dave Parr Blog: Should I get a GIS minor, certificate, or degree? - The short answer: it depends. Who is Dave Parr? "I am currently on leave 2019-2020 as an Assistant Professor of Geospatial Sciences in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Metropolitan State University of Denver. I am a Senior Visiting Lecturer in the Department of Geography at Dartmouth College."

GISCI: GISCI Official Practice Exam 2020 - Now Available! - This practice exam challenges candidates with 50 questions covering the range of topics found in the ten content areas of the 2019 GISCI Exam Blueprint. There's a $30 fee to take the practice exam.

Programs and Courses

Lincoln Institute: Lincoln Institute of Land Policy Launches Center for Geospatial Solutions  - "The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy today launched a new enterprise to expand the use of advanced technology for land and water conservation—The Center for Geospatial Solutions (CGS). The center will give people and organizations the tools they need to manage land and water resources with precision, at the scale required to confront pressing challenges such as climate change, loss of habitat, and water scarcity." I had to look up the institute since I'd never heard of it.

App State: $500K grant funds mountain-to-mountain collaboration between App State and South Africa’s UFS  - "Appalachian State University and the UFS Qwaqwa Campus are partnering on a two-year mountain-to-mountain project funded through the U.S. Embassy and Consulates in South Africa. The project will engage faculty, staff and graduate students at both institutions in teaching, research, mentorship, scholarship and more." 

Events

UMN: UMN: Carl Steinitz to give 2020 Bochert Lecture. His talk is titled, “Re-thinking the Growth of London: An interactive multi-stakeholder perspective derived in geodesign and negotiation." The event is part of the GIS Day events to be held November 18, 2020. 12:00pm - 1:15pm CST. Via HigherEd-L.

Data

Parcel Outlet: Daniel Trone writes: "If anyone in my network needs parcel data, I've put together this resource: https://parcel-outlet.com. An easy way to view or download parcel data. 50% national coverage currently. All free, no signups, no ads, just get your data and move on with your life." Via @briantimoney.

Meanwhile in Education

Twitter: Carl Bergstrom, a UW biology teacher offers a thread about giving exams to students studying at home. I spoke with an AP Human Geography teacher doing remote teaching last week. He gave up on tests and instead is having his students do projects with ArcGIS Online. Via @audreywatters.

EdSource: Map: In-Person Instruction and Distance Learning in California - The data is by county and the categories have detailed, if confusing, definitions. Basically, this is a "mostly this," "mostly that" and a "mix of the two" choropleth map in yellow, orange and purple.

Meanwhile in our Industry

 

Medium: Open Letter to a Newly Formed Satellite Imagery Company - Joe Morrison writes: "The text below is adapted from an email sent to an up-and-coming satellite imagery provider. Some details have been omitted or adapted in order to preserve their anonymity. I hope the advice is generally useful to others in their position."

Meanwhile in Running News

BBC: Be a 'secret agent' and other new ways to exercise - The Zombies, Run! app, launched in 2012 and tried to get folks running by having "virtual" Zombies chase them. It is generic and not location-based. The beta of Running Stories, which uses GPS and real world data, is now available in Singapore, and includes episodic stories. Via reader Larry.

People

Trajectory: The Early GEOINTer -Elisa Luckabaugh discovered a passion for geography and geospatial technology as a senior at Fairfax High School and is featured in this podcast. She received a USGIF scholarship and attends the University of Mary Washington. Related: USGIF Launches Fifth Annual EdGEOcation Giving Campaign, 2021 Scholarship Program Now Open.

WQOW: UWEC expert explains importance of political geography in the election - "UW-Eau Claire political geographer Ryan Weichelt says pulling in rural voters in small districts could be the key to winning the state, and the election as a whole."

Esri

ArcGIS Blog: These ArcGIS Story Maps collections will inspire you -  Allen Carroll shares four ArcGIS StoryMap collection categories (story books, story aggregations, story lessons, and story guides) to motivate you to create and publish your own collections.

StoryMap: Call to Action to End Environmental Racism - An activist story from Harvard and Esri supports Senator Corey Booker's Environmental Justice Legacy Pollution Cleanup Act of 2020.Via LinkedIn.

StoryMap: The impact of President Trump's energy dominance agenda - A story from the Wilderness Society Action Fund illustrates "Our public lands and waters under Trump — in 7 maps." "Just as we hope this information encourages more of us to take action to support public lands, The Wilderness Society Action Fund is committed to stopping the worst attacks on, and building the politics for protecting our public lands and waters now and into the future."