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GIS and geospatial mapping are important tools for geographers and any student or researcher examining the location and distribution of people or resources. GIS enables us to examine patterns and processes in just about any field of study in which location is important. The purpose of this site is to share GIS knowledge, tools, and data gained from the experience of instructors, students, and other professionals in the field with the Vassar community and beyond.
Category Archives: Cool Stuff
Progress on Poughkeepsie Natural Resource Inventory
A natural resources inventory (NRI) is a document that catalogues the natural and cultural resources within a given locality (e.g., municipality, watershed, or region). NRIs are used by local leaders to make informed land use decisions. An effective NRI should … Continue reading
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GIS and Sustainability Project Exchange
Want to make a difference? Help out by taking on a project, or suggest one. If you want to do a thesis project or independent study that makes a difference, then start by finding out what is needed on campus. … Continue reading
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Poughkeepsie: A City Divided
In this post on Mid-Hudson Currents, the Benjamin Center (at SUNY New Paltz) Blog, Senior Research Associate, Joshua Simons, outlines the geographic and socioeconomic divides in the City of Poughkeepsie through a series of maps. “It is striking how the physical … Continue reading
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Vassar Arboretum Web Map
During the summer of 2015, URSI student Samuel Short ’16 and Prof. Mark Shlessman (Biology) used GPS to inventory the specimens based on past maps of the campus Arboretum. With the recent data collected, a new pamphlet map of trees on Vassar’s … Continue reading
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Maps for Publications
Maps can provide geographic context for academic studies in which location plays an important role. However, existing maps may not provide information at the scale, extent, and level of detail needed. Custom-designed maps are often required to highlight the specific features, patterns, and … Continue reading
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Got demographic and socioeconomic data?
At this point in the Spring semester students in Geog/Esci 224: GIS begin to ramp-up work on their final projects, and many of them are looking for data related to a topic or question they will be mapping and analyzing … Continue reading
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Mapping the UNDP Human Development Report 2014
For 25 years the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has been compiling information about human capabilities (opportunities and the availability of choices) that contribute to the The Human Development Approach, rather than simply the richness of the economy in which human … Continue reading
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Geospatial Mapping Faculty Conversation
A group of faculty who use or are interested in using spatial data in their classes and research are gathering on Monday, September 14th from 2pm to 5pm at the GIS Lab in Ely Hall to discuss some exciting developments that make … Continue reading
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The Atlantic Slave Trade in Two Minutes
Andrew Kahn at Slate.com has created a striking map-based animated graphic describing the Atlantic slave trade over 315 years. Slave-carrying ships represented as dots dart across a map of the Atlantic ocean from Africa to North and South America (and a few … Continue reading
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Real-time Air Quality Index Visual Map
The aqicn.org project is a non-governmental project started in 2007 and is based in Beijing, China. The group’s mission is to promote air pollution awareness and provide a unified air quality information source for the whole world, in real-time. The aqicn.org map uses … Continue reading
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