Resources for Teaching and Learning
Vice: Millions of People's Location Data Revealed a 'Universal' Pattern In Study - "A team modeled recurring visits to various city locations using billions of mobile phone datapoints across four continents." The new universal law from the Sensibility Lab at MIT suggests, "...the number of visitors to any location decreases as the inverse square of the product of their visiting frequency and travel distance.”
Apple Books: Human Geography Project - Michael Hernandez's free book teaches how to integrate digital storytelling into your curriculum. "Nationally award-winning teacher Michael Hernandez takes you behind the scenes of one of his most popular experiential learning projects for teachers and students: The Human Geography Project. Learn how to produce video documentaries, and how to integrate digital storytelling into your curriculum and learning community. See examples of student work, and hear from teachers who participated in this event as they share how digital storytelling transformed how they approach teaching and learning."
Aljazeera: Austrian Muslims to sue government over ‘Islam map’ - "Austrian Muslim groups slam the government over map identifying locations of mosques and Islamic associations around the country." Via @re_sieber.
Blue Marble Geographics: In August, the company will host a series of online events to showcase the company’s academic programs, including no-cost access to its software for universities and colleges in the US and Canada as well as free curriculum and teaching materials. Via NEARC-L.
CityLab: The Inequality of American Parks - "Neighborhoods of color have access to 44% less park space, according to a new analysis." The data is from a study by the Trust for Public Lands. Via Adam Carnow.
UCGIS: The 2021 Symposium was this past week and the student poster gallery is available until the end of the week.
Monterey Herald: Water: Amazing new map shows the path of every raindrop that hits the United States - The app River Runner "allows anyone to click on any place where a raindrop would fall in the United States, and then track its path through watersheds, into creeks, rivers, lakes and ultimately the ocean."
Sports Illustrated: Olympic Athletes Competing in Tokyo Games May Be Subject to GPS Monitoring - "The GPS will not track athletes' real-time movement. Instead, athletes will be tracked retroactively in case issues of COVID-19 arise."
Vanderbilt: Vanderbilt faculty collaborate to develop tools for teaching personal geography and spatial awareness "Mapping Self in Society (MaSelfS) is a collaboration among faculty in learning sciences, archaeology and spatial analysis at Vanderbilt University and Georgia State University. The team recently launched a public website offering teaching frameworks and curricular tools for educators working in different disciplines, including social studies and computer science."
Esri: This Spatial Data Science in Higher Education resource website provides tools, recorded webinars, teaching materials, and case studies for educators and researchers. "This web page is your first step in learning how to incorporate spatial data science into your curriculum through capabilities, examples, success stories, and training."
Programs and Courses
UN SPIDER: Launch of Phase II of the MOOC on the “Geospatial Applications for Disaster Risk Management" - "Phase II of this MOOC aims to strengthen the knowledge of disaster management professionals, experts, and students in understanding the role of Earth observation and geospatial information in order to achieve the targets of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement, stemming from the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)." The course debuted June 1.
GIS for wildlife conservation - Free beginner course uses QGIS and runs June 14 - July 11. It's from Verdant Learn and is part of Open Education for a Better World 2021.
GIS for wildlife conservation - Free beginner course uses QGIS and runs June 14 - July 11. It's from Verdant Learn and is part of Open Education for a Better World 2021.
Esri: The new Imagery in Action MOOC starts August 11. Learners will have the opportunity "to hear from Esri imagery experts and test-drive ArcGIS Pro, ArcGIS Image Analyst, and ArcGIS Image for ArcGIS Online in course exercises." Registration is open through August 25. Though I am not involved, I'll suggest this is "version 2" of Earth Imagery at Work, the first MOOC I worked on at Esri, back in 2016.
On and Off Campus
Global News: Student maps Saskatchewan’s growing opioid deaths: ‘It’s heartbreaking’ - "Dan Richert has used his map-making skills to illustrate the “heartbreaking” opioid crisis in Saskatchewan.
The Saskatchewan Polytechnic student chose an issue he was passionate about for an assignment while taking the geographic information science (GIS) certificate program." The StoryMap is here. Via Adam Carnow.
Twitter: Penn State GIScience Professor Alan MacEachren shares a thread on his "move into Emeritus status" coming at the end of June.
The Sentinel-Record: WATCH: Two local students named winners of mapping competition - "Mimi Reagler and Natalie Comstock, Hot Springs Junior Academy ninth-graders, recently won the 2021 GoMap Twenty-One competition. The competition is sponsored by the EAST Geospatial Support Team at CAST..."
Esri: "Happy World Ocean Day! To celebrate, Esri and the National Geographic Society announced the 2021 ArcGIS StoryMaps Challenge for Restoring Our Ocean. The challenge encourages high school and college students and individuals 18-24 to create impactful stories about ocean health–from current threats and impacts to potential solutions for restoration."
On and Off Campus
AUA: AUA Students Create GIS Story Maps in Various Courses - "The American University of Armenia (AUA) proudly presents an online exhibition of student story maps completed by AUA students in the Spring 2021 semester within the scope of the Geographic Information Systems course (CSE 145). The exhibition projects the multi-purpose application of GIS through stories that cross multiple disciplines and integrate knowledge acquired beyond the GIS course." The news release includes links to seven StoryMaps on a variety of topics.
Global News: Student maps Saskatchewan’s growing opioid deaths: ‘It’s heartbreaking’ - "Dan Richert has used his map-making skills to illustrate the “heartbreaking” opioid crisis in Saskatchewan.
The Saskatchewan Polytechnic student chose an issue he was passionate about for an assignment while taking the geographic information science (GIS) certificate program." The StoryMap is here. Via Adam Carnow.
People
GeoTech Center: 2021 GeoTech Center Awards - I don't know any of the recipients; that's an indication these are individuals we should all meet!
The Signpost (Weber State): WSU’s homegrown dean of college of behavioral & social sciences - Julie Rich is the new dean of Weber State University’s College of Social & Behavioral Sciences. "Rich started her education at WSU and, according to a WSU announcement, 'holds a bachelor’s in geography from Weber State, a master’s from the University of Utah and a Ph.D. in geography from St. John’s College, University of Oxford, England.'"
Opportunities
URISA: URISA's Vanguard Cabinet Announces the 2021 University Student and Young Professional Digital Competition - The competition will be held virtually in August, and the top three (3) presenters will be awarded a full GIS-Pro registration, $500 travel stipend, and the opportunity to present their work live at GIS-Pro 2021 in Baltimore, Maryland on October 3-6, 2021. Abstracts are due July 9.